CLPI's Larry Ottinger Pleads Nonprofit Advocacy in Wake of Citizens United

Last Updated (Wednesday, 17 February 2010 16:13) Written by Administrator Wednesday, 17 February 2010 15:32

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

On Tuesday, CLPI President Larry Ottinger participated in a very engaging panel discussion at the Hudson Institute on the impact of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC on nonprofits. 

C-SPAN covered the event live. Click here to see the full video. 

Larry was the second speaker on the panel after Abby Levine of Alliance for Justice and before Professor Allison Hayward of George Mason Law School. The panel also included Cleta Mitchell of Foley & Lardner with additional commentary by Common Cause President Bob Edgar.

In pleading his case for increased engagement in the policy arena by nonprofits, Ottinger said "thus, in the wake of the Citizens United decision, it is time to revisit the rules and culture that have held back mainstream philanthropy and charities from the policy and political arena far too much for far too long, even on a nonpartisan issue basis."

There was strong support from the election law panelists who support the Supreme Court's decision for simplifying and strengthening charitable advocacy rules. We believe this strengthens out efforts to build a broad ideological coalition again for positive reforms in this area.