Supporting Political Activism
Hi, all,
A big issue on campus is whether student organizations will be able to get funding for politically active events. I believe that political action is a critical component to the University of Michigan experience and reflects the University's mission to "develop leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future." Therefore, I wrote a resolution last month to work towards funding political activism, again (MSA used to fund political activism until it was discovered that past MSA treasurers hadn't been doing our taxes correctly, and a spending tracking method was needed to fix that problem). This resolution should have passed for a variety of reasons, but unfortunately, it failed 12-12-1. I'll continue to work on this issue and defend student organizations' rights.
There is a lot of misinformation going around about the resolution, supposedly due to concerns with the resolution being too risky. These comments are totally false: please take a look at the resolution and notice:
* it PROTECTS, not threatens, MSA's tax-exempt status ...
... Currently MSA spends money on events, THEN guesses whether or not the spending would violate MSA's tax-exempt status. If the IRS were to audit us, we could be in big trouble. By creating a front-end, instead of back-end, approach to track lobbying expenses, MSA can keep better records of its spending and conserve its tax-exempt status.
* It states several times that MSA would only fund lobbying if it were LEGAL, ADMINISTRATIVELY FEASIBLE, and DIDN'T THREATEN MSA'S TAX STATUS
* It references past meetings with the administration, as well as the intention to continue to meet with them
* After a meeting with MSA's Administrative Advisor and Student Activities and Leadership Advisor to talk about the General Counsel's thoughts, I adopted all recommendations from the Office of the General Counsel on this resolution so that they could feel comfortable with this proposal.
Thanks,
Rese
Click *READ MORE* to read the resolution
Resolution to Support MSA’s Progress and Plans to Fund Lobbying
Sponsors: Rese Fox, MSA-Rackham Rep
Whereas, as a 501(c)(3) organization, the Michigan Student Assembly has the legal ability to fund lobbying activities, provided that a comprehensive system be set in place to comply with federal, state and other restrictions;[1] and,
Whereas, members of the Assembly have been working diligently to create a law-abiding lobbying funding mechanism and have been in consultation with stakeholders and experts such as MSA & University tax attorneys, the General Counsel’s office, MSA staff, and relevant student organizations; and,
Whereas, many students decide to come to the University of Michigan due to its reputation of being politically active and stimulating;[2] and,
Whereas, many of the Michigan Student Assembly’s duties and responsibilities relate directly or indirectly to lobbying, including, but not limited to, duties and responsibilities related to the External Relations Committee, the LGBT Commission, Minority Affairs Commission, Women’s Issues Commission, Peace and Justice Commission, Environmental Issues Commission, International Student Affairs Commission, Health Issues Commission, Campus Affairs Commission, etc;[3] and,
Whereas, the Michigan Student Assembly supports a variety of student organizations that affect policy at the local, state, federal and international level; and,
Whereas, there are student political issues at the local, state, federal and international level that the Michigan Student Assembly could address.
Therefore, be it resolved thatthe Michigan Student Assembly supports the efforts of Assembly members to create a mechanism to fund and track lobbying expenditures, which may allow the Michigan Student Assembly to fund student organizations’ lobbying activities and the Assembly’s lobbying activities, which must be administratively feasible and within the bounds of the law; and,
Be it further resolved thatthe Michigan Student Assembly supports the creation and modification of funding mechanisms, tracking mechanisms and any other relevant mechanisms to allow the Michigan Student Assembly to fund lobbying activities to the fullest extent allowed by the law and within administrative feasibility, with all involved parties taking due care to ensure that the Michigan Student Assembly's tax status will not be endangered by these funding mechanisms; and,
Be it further resolved that the previous clause of this resolution does not expressly obligate the Michigan Student Assembly to use all of its legal allowance to lobby, as every semester the MSA Treasurer proposes an itemized budget that the Assembly debates and approves; and,
Be it further resolved that the Michigan Student Assembly supports the creation and modification of funding mechanisms, tracking mechanisms and any other relevant mechanisms that allow MSA to fund lobbying activities at the local, state, federal and international level when this activity is not prohibited by law.
Be it finally resolved that the Michigan Student Assembly will continue to work with stakeholders (MSA & University tax attorneys, the General Counsel’s office, MSA staff, etc) on creating a mechanism to track and fund lobbying, and these members will notify the stakeholders in person, by phone, by email or by letter to express that Michigan Student Assembly supports these efforts.
[1] “Section 501(c)(3) Organizations: Lobbying Expenditures.” Publication 557 (3/2005), Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization. Internal Revenue Service. (March 2005) www.irs.gov/publications/p557/ch03.html#d0e7391 (20 January 2006).
