#and absolutely zero posts about. why it is bad for everybody for civil rights orgs / activist orgs to be exposed to this legislation.

[lemeute]

hr 9495 passed the house and is headed to the senate, so please contact your senators!

as an activist, this bill feels really grim for me because activist nonprofits have already dealt with a lot of financial repression lately, mostly in the form of SLAPP suits. first two examples that come to mind: during fights against Stop Cop City and Mountain Valley Pipeline, orgs doing things like bailing out arrested activists and buying supplies for rallies had their activities frozen by formal accusations of fraud and money laundering--and, less formally, of funding terrorism. the MVP suit failed and the Stop Cop City one (last I heard) is poised to do the same, but the amount of damage to activist momentum, resources, and courage is intense.

and that's via tools already (more-or-less) legal and already in use. hr 9495 would be over and above that. and like with SLAPP suits, even if a nonprofit targeted by hr 9495 were somehow able to get its status reinstated, a lot of the damage would still be done.

yes, it could be used against any nonprofits. it's designed to be used against tiny, courageous collections of activists who often can't get grants or pull in heavy-hitter individual donors to begin with, and who are putting themselves at risk to prevent harm to all of you.

so, yes, download your fics. stand up for your museums, schools, and so on. think of whatever is most often close to your heart.

but please also think of the many thousands of us who, unknown to you, have put ourselves at risk (legal risk, physical risk, social risk, financial risk, etc) for your well-being, who are prying apart systems in order to better your world, who have felt such love for you although you too are unknown to us, who have defended you from the shadows--and take a turn protecting us.

HR 9495 is going back up for voting. All non-profit orgs are in danger.

The Committee on Rules is meeting at 1600 EST on 18 Nov 2024. The agenda includes HR 9495.

If this bill passes, the Secretary of the Treasury would have the power to strip any non-profit group of it's tax-exempt status with no due process.

If you are part of the fandom community and you are in America, please contact your reps and ask them to vote NO on HR 9495.