May 15, 2013 11:56 AM UTC

IRS Sent Same Letters To Liberal Groups (Like Us)

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• by: ProgressNow Colorado

(This doesn't jive with the outrage – promoted by Colorado Pols)

The ProgressNow family of state organizations has been around since 2004, and we at ProgressNow Colorado were the first such organization of what now comprises over 20 state affiliates–all focused on our common goal of providing solutions to community problems, and holding the right wing accountable at the state level.

As reports continue over alleged abuses by the Internal Revenue Service "targeting" conservative groups, the experience of our Texas state affiliate Progress Texas is highly instructive–and raises questions about whether there were partisan intentions in play at all in the IRS's scrutiny of groups applying for the appropriate status under the tax code. ProgressNow state affiliates are not generally known as "conservative." 

Here's the Bloomberg story today:

The Internal Revenue Service, under pressure after admitting it targeted anti-tax Tea Party groups for scrutiny in recent years, also had its eye on at least three Democratic-leaning organizations seeking nonprofit status.

One of those groups, Emerge America, saw its tax-exempt status denied, forcing it to disclose its donors and pay some taxes. None of the Republican groups have said their applications were rejected.

Progress Texas, another of the organizations, faced the same lines of questioning as the Tea Party groups from the same IRS office that issued letters to the Republican-friendly applicants. A third group, Clean Elections Texas, which supports public funding of campaigns, also received IRS inquiries…

An Austin, Texas-based group, Progress Texas, received a letter from the IRS in February 2013 when it sought nonprofit status. The letter came from the agency’s Laguna Niguel, California, office, which sent essentially the same queries to Republican-leaning groups.

As with the Tea Party groups, the IRS sought copies of promotional materials, backgrounds of officers, meeting minutes and specifics about activities, such as get-out-the-vote drives, that the organization said it would conduct.

Matt Glazer, former executive director, said the questionnaire was time-consuming though not intrusive.

“It is up to the IRS and the government to do the due diligence necessary,” Glazer said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I’m not saying it was fun but it was important.”

The experience of our partners at Progress Texas doesn't tell the whole story, but neither does the reporting that omits what they went through in their IRS application. As a public engagement and education nonprofit with a long record of involvement in Colorado politics, ProgressNow Colorado would condemn any attempt to intimidate groups like our own, or obstruct public participation.

But that may not be what really happened.

IRS Request for More Information – Progress Texas, Feb 2012 by Dave Weigel