Created by: Candace Hollingsworth
Modified on: November 11, 2022
Lobbying Restrictions
Restrictions on legislative lobbying and partisan politics.
*This document was sent from the CNCS General Counsel to All CNCS Grantees and supporting organizations on 3/10/2014
http://www.nationalservice.gov/Restrictions-Legislative-Lobbying-Partisan-Political-Activity.
*This memorandum is for those overseeing, operating, and serving in, national and community service programs supported by the Corporation. It covers the rules concerning legislative lobbying and partisan politics.
You should keep in mind the following rule: Grantee staff and program participants may not
- attempt to influence legislation or
- participate in, or endorse, political events or activities, if they are doing so while charging time to a Corporation-supported program, accumulating service or training hours towards an education award, or otherwise performing activities supported by the Corporation.
Individuals may exercise their First Amendment rights, including participating in the political process, on their own initiative, on their own time, and using non-Corporation funds and resources. But in doing so, it is very important to avoid even a perception that national and community service staff or participants are engaging in political activities in those capacities. For example, if your organization engages in lobbying activities you must be careful to document that such activities are outside the scope of your Corporation-funded program. Separate accounting for costs is crucial on this particular point. As another example, wearing AmeriCorps gear while participating in a political event may result in an allegation that the AmeriCorps program is supporting political activities, even if that is not the case. If your organization signs a public petition advocating some legislative action, you should be sure it identifies itself by its organizational name rather than as an AmeriCorps program. It is paramount that AmeriCorps and all of our national and community service programs proceed with utmost care to avoid perceptions that Federal resources are being misdirected to political activities.
Below are frequently asked questions on this topic. If you need additional guidance, please contact your program officer at the Corporation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Our program’s annual report shows the value of national and community service and is designed, in part, to persuade our community to support our program and other programs supported by the Corporation. Is this permitted?
The restrictions on legislative lobbying do not apply to efforts like this to educate the general public, provided that the materials are not specifically designed to generate lobbying activities.
What if I provide a factual, technical presentation to a legislator who is visiting our program and at the end the legislator makes an unexpected announcement that he or she has decided to co-sponsor legislation to support national service?
There is nothing wrong with hosting an informational site visit by an elected official. If your presentation is informational and focuses on a topic directly related to your organization’s performance under a grant program, the fact that a legislator reaches and announces this conclusion spontaneously does not in itself make the presentation unallowable.
May a local program supervisor visit elected officials in Washington, D.C.?
The threshold question is whether the costs of such a trip would be a reasonable and necessary program expense given your approved budget and the specific purposes of your grant award. In addition, assuming this first criterion is met, the OMB Cost Principles for nonprofits and institutions of higher education have an additional requirement: travel, lodging, and meal costs may be allowed only if they are incurred to offer testimony at a regularly scheduled Congressional hearing pursuant to a written request for such presentation made by the hearing’s convener. Because such costs are allowable under very limited circumstances, you should seek guidance from your program officer at the Corporation ahead of time.
As a program director, I periodically travel to Washington, D.C. to educate our elected officials about our program’s achievements. What happens if the Corporation determines that the costs of my visits are not reasonable and necessary expenses of the program?
If the Corporation determines that the costs are not reasonable and necessary, the costs would be disallowed as a program expense and your organization would not be reimbursed for them.
An elected official who is running for re-election wants to have a campaign publicity event at our service site. Is this type of site visit permitted?
No, you should steer clear of any event that could appear to be partisan in nature.
While I am in Washington, D.C. attending a program director’s conference, am I prohibited from visiting my elected officials during a break in the conference?
No so long as such activities are incidental to your primary purpose in traveling to Washington for a training event. But don’t charge the cab fare to your grant!
I work for a national non-profit organization that receives a grant to operate an AmeriCorps program. My position is partially funded under the AmeriCorps grant and partially funded by non-federal sources. Can I lobby on issues related to AmeriCorps when I am not on AmeriCorps time?
The restrictions apply only to the use of Federal grant funds (including matching funds) and to projects and programs supported by the Corporation. You should be careful to document that any lobbying is done during the time that is not charged to your Corporation grant and that your lobbying activities are not part of the AmeriCorps program.
I am the executive director of a State Commission. Our Cost Principles say nothing about legislative lobbying being an unallowable cost. What are the rules for States?
For States that receive grants from the Corporation, the absence of guidance in the OMB Cost Principles requires you to review your grant award’s provisions. For example, the Corporation has made it a condition of grant awards to State Commissions that its Subgrantee AmeriCorps programs (including staff and participants) may not engage in any effort to influence legislation.
This leaves situations when the State Commission is acting solely on its own behalf. If the activity is not charged to the administrative grant provided to the State Commission by the Corporation, the activity is outside our oversight authority. If the activity is charged to the Corporation grant, the standard is whether the proposed activity or cost is reasonable and necessary given your approved budget and the purpose of the grant. You should direct any specific question on this point to your Corporation program officer.
If a particular activity is not specifically disallowed under the applicable OMB Cost Principles or grant terms, does that mean it is allowed?
Not necessarily. OMB Cost Principles do not authorize costs or expenditures; they merely limit the allowability of costs or expenditures. The burden is on the grantee to demonstrate that a particular cost is consistent with the approved budget and properly chargeable to the grant as reasonable and necessary — not merely that it is not on the list of disallowed costs. This is ultimately a determination for the Corporation to make.
Doesn’t the Domestic Volunteer Service Act give programs specific statutory authority to lobby concerning appropriations or authorization legislation?
You are right about the authority in the DVSA, but DVSA programs are currently subject to a superseding proviso in their annual appropriations statute which prohibits the use of appropriated funds to engage in any activity that is designed to influence legislation or appropriations pending before the Congress or any State legislature.
May a Corporation-funded program sponsor or endorse an event, such as a debate between candidates, which itself is not partisan, but which likely will include advocacy for or against political parties, platforms, candidates, proposed legislation or elected officials?
Corporation-funded programs should avoid any connection with such political events, and individuals enrolled in a national service program who attend such events should avoid any appearance that they are doing so as part of the national service program.
Does that mean an organization receiving Corporation funds may not take part in the political process?
No, but an organization that receives Corporation funds may only sponsor or endorse political events if it does so without using Corporation support, and if it avoids the appearance that it is doing so in its capacity as a Corporation grantee or that the event has any connection to the Corporation-funded project.
On a conference call designed to get more organizations involved in service, a caller asks how to get volunteers involved in a legislative lobbying effort. What should we do if we’re hosting the call?
You should remind the participants on the call that its purpose is to get more people and organizations involved in service addressing community needs and that it would be inappropriate to use the call for any other purpose. TCN has added the following FAQs from: https://www.nationalservice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Lobbying_Restrictions_FAQ%20.pdf..
These frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) are intended to provide guidance to organizations that receive assistance from CNCS on how to provide appropriate information about the impact of CNCS’s programs while avoiding impermissible lobbying.
These FAQs are meant to accompany the Compilation of Restrictions on Lobbying by CNCS Financial Assistance Recipients. Please note that this document doesn’t discuss the illegality of using federal funds for partisan political activities.
QUESTIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL CNCS GRANTEES
What is “lobbying” in the context of these restrictions?
For purposes of the restrictions that arise because you accept CNCS funding, “lobbying” generally can refer to— -request for others to conattempt to influence an agency, Congress, or staff member of Congress on federal awards, such as a contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.
In context, these restrictions can be broader or more limited. You can find more detailed information in the Compilation of Restrictions on Lobbying by CNCS Grantees and Financial Assistance Recipients.
Our organization’s annual report shows the value of national and community service and is designed, in part, to persuade our community to support our program and other programs supported by CNCS. Is this permitted?
Yes. The restrictions on legislative lobbying do not apply to efforts to educate the general public about national service programs, provided that the materials do not include a request to affect pending legislation.
We’re hosting a conference call related to our CNCS grant that’s designed to get more organizations involved in service. During the call, a participant asks how to get volunteers involved in a lobbying effort. How should we respond?
You should remind the participants of the purpose of the call (i.e., to get more people and organizations involved in national service addressing community needs) and that it would be inappropriate to use the call to discuss lobbying. You may suggest that such conversations be handled separately, and remind the participants any such separately held conversations should not be charged to federal or matching funds.
How can I properly use CNCS funding to interact with elected officials? I am an employee of a CNCS-funded program and my compensation is directly charged (in whole or in part) to our CNCS grant (as either Federal share or matching funds).
Your program may host an elected official for informational and educational purposes, such as inviting the elected official for an informational tour of the project, a coordinated grant announcement, an opportunity to hear member/volunteer impact stories (but see the specific questions below applicable to AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers), or other presentations of factual information related to your program. Your presentation must remain informational and focus on a topic directly related to your organization’s service under a grant program, including your community impact. You may not use federal or matching funds to make any legislative requests.
What if, during such a visit by an elected official, the legislator makes an unexpected announcement that he or she has decided to co-sponsor legislation to support national service?
Again, your organization may properly host an informational site visit for an elected official focusing on topics directly related to your organization’s service under a CNCS grant program. The fact that the elected official independently, and without any prompting or prior coordination by you, decided to announce that he or she is co-sponsoring legislation does not make the presentation unallowable. However, you should not respond to or elaborate on the announcement during the event.
What if an elected official tells me that he or she wants to arrange a visit to announce their sponsorship or support of a legislative action that would benefit CNCS-funded programs?
You should advise the elected official of your organization’s need to ensure that it does not engage in prohibited lobbying activities, and that such a staged announcement may create the impression that your program is engaged in lobbying. Your organization can participate in the announcement, but no costs can be charged to your grant, and you may not reference that your organization is a recipient of CNCS funding.
I work for a nonprofit organization or institution of higher education that receives CNCS grant funds. What are the restrictions on legislative lobbying under our CNCS grant awards? For instance, may I use grant funds to visit elected officials in Washington, D.C., our State capital or elsewhere?
The threshold question is whether the costs of such a trip would be a reasonable and necessary for the performance of your CNCS grant award, and be allocable to the award, under OMB Cost Principles (2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E). Any cost which was specifically included within your approved grant budget has been pre-approved as being reasonable and necessary.
However, the burden is on the grantee to demonstrate that any particular cost is allowable according to the Cost Principles, and CNCS makes the final determination. That determination is going to depend on a number of factors, such as how much it costs to make the trip, and whether or not the trip is in response to a specific invitation. While a very low-cost trip to a local office of an elected official will likely be allowable, an expensive trip to Washington, D.C., that was initiated by your organization will almost never be allowable. It’s always best to discuss any question with your CNCS program officer or grants officer.
Beyond the threshold questions, OMB Cost Principles place extra restrictions on nonprofits and educational institutions. Those extra restrictions specifically disallow costs for influencing enactment or modification of any pending federal or state legislation, including legislative liaison activities. See 2 C.F.R. §200.450.
Keep in mind that these restrictions apply generally, not just to travel to visit legislative officials. Excepted from these restrictions are:
Factual presentations on topics related to the performance of a grant in response to a documented request made by the Member of Congress or legislative body;(1) Any lobbying in order to influence state legislation in order to directly reduce the cost, or to avoid material impairment of the nonfederal entity’s authority to perform the grant;
(2) Any activity specifically authorized by statute to be undertaken with funds from the federal award; and Other activities exempted from the definition of lobbying or influencing legislation, such as
- nonpartisan analysis, study, or research reports, and examinations;
- discussions of broad social, economic and similar problems; or
- information provided upon request by a legislator for “technical advice and assistance”(3).
__________________________
(1) Under this exception, the costs for travel, lodging or meals are unallowable under OMB Cost Principles unless they are incurred to offer testimony at a regularly scheduled Congressional hearing pursuant to a written request for such presentation made by the Chairman or Ranking Minority Member of the Committee or Subcommittee conducting the hearings. See 2 C.F.R. §200.450(c)(2)(i).
(2) However, because of the specific restrictions in the National and Community Service Act of 1990, these activities cannot be performed by AmeriCorps members.
(3) The term “technical advice and assistance” is specifically defined by section 4911(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code and 26 CFR 56.4911-2(c)(1-(c)(3).
Because costs to visit elected officials are allowable under very limited circumstances, the wise course is to seek guidance from your CNCS program officer or grants officer in advance.
I work for a state or local government agency that receives CNCS grant funds. What are the restrictions on legislative lobbying under our CNCS grant awards?
The OMB Cost Principles (2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E) do not explicitly prohibit state and local governments from charging costs associated with influencing the enactment or modification of any pending federal or state legislation, or legislative liaison activities. However, costs charged to CNCS grants to state or local agencies are subject to the same threshold considerations discussed in the context of trips to visit elected officials above. You should direct any specific question on this point to your CNCS program officer or grants officer.
In addition, you should remember that the broader restrictions on lobbying activities for non-profit organizations and institutions of higher education will apply to sub-awards that are made by states or local governments.
Finally, there may be laws specific to your State or local government which limit your lobbying activity. You should check to make sure you are aware of all applicable restrictions.
I periodically travel to Washington, D.C., my state capital, or elsewhere to educate our elected officials about our organization’s achievements. What happens if CNCS determines that the costs of my visits are not reasonable and necessary expenses for the performance of our grant award?
If CNCS determines that the costs are not reasonable and necessary under the OMB Cost Principles, the costs would be disallowed as expenses charged to the grant award, and your organization would not be reimbursed for them. This could result in your organization having to return funds to CNCS.
While I am in Washington, D.C., attending a grant-related conference, and the cost of the travel is being charged to my federal grant, can I visit my elected officials during a break in the conference?
Yes, so long as such a visit is incidental to your primary purpose in traveling to Washington, D.C. But don’t charge the cab fare to your grant!
Can I lobby on issues related to national service and/or CNCS’s programs when I am not on “CNCS time”?
Yes. The restrictions on lobbying only apply to the use of Federal award funds (including matching funds). However, you must document that any lobbying is done during the time that is not charged to your CNCS grant, and that your lobbying activities are not part of the CNCS-funded program.
If a particular activity is not specifically disallowed under the OMB Cost Principles (2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E) or under grant terms, does that mean the cost is allowed?
Not necessarily. While OMB’s Cost Principles (found in 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E) set both general and certain specific criteria for when costs are allowable, they do not authorize any specific cost or expenditure; they merely limit the allowability of types of costs or expenditures. The burden is on the recipient to demonstrate that any particular cost is allowable according to the factors listed at 2 C.F.R. §200.403. This means that the recipient must be able to show that the cost is consistent with the approved budget and properly chargeable to the grant as reasonable and necessary—not merely that it is not on the list of disallowed costs. Allowability is ultimately a determination made by CNCS.
Can an AmeriCorps member or a Senior Corps volunteer be part of a group that makes a trip for a meeting with elected officials so long as the member only gives an informational or factual presentation on topics related to the performance of a grant?
Maybe. Like the other trips discussed above, the threshold issue is whether the costs of the trip would be reasonable and necessary for the performance of your CNCS award, and be allocable to the award under OMB Cost Principles (2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E). If the cost of the trip is generally allowable, then an AmeriCorps member or a Senior Corps volunteer may present information about their programs, projects, and impact stories with elected officials.
However, the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (NCSA) prohibits the “use” of AmeriCorps State and National members in any attempt to influence legislation, and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (DVSA) prohibits AmeriCorps VISTA members and Senior Corps volunteers from being used to influence the passage or defeat of legislation or proposals. Even if the AmeriCorps member or the Senior Corps volunteer is not on “on duty” (i.e., not accumulating service or training hours, or not receiving a stipend) and only provides a factual presentation about the impact of their service, their participation in a meeting where prohibited lobbying activity occurs will be in violation of the NCSA or the DVSA.
When does “lobbying activity” occur in a meeting with elected officials, and how can I make sure that it does not happen in a meeting involving AmeriCorps members or Senior Corps Volunteers?
“Lobbying activity” occurs during a meeting if someone presents to an elected official (or the elected official’s staff) a request to take legislative action or a statement intended to influence a legislative action. It makes no difference whether the statements are made orally or presented (or left behind) in writing. It also makes no difference whether the statements are in support of or oppose the legislation at issue.
Can we as an organization have our AmeriCorps members or Senior Corps volunteers describe the importance and impact of their service and also engage in “lobbying activity” (which is not being charged to the grant) and not violate the restrictions in the NCSA or DVSA?
As a general rule, your organization cannot direct or arrange for an AmeriCorps member or Senior Corps volunteer to engage in lobbying activity even if such activity is done in the context of describing the importance and impact of service and even if the activity is not being charged to the grant. However, CNCS will not consider an AmeriCorps member or Senior Corps volunteer as having been used to influence legislation (i.e., not engaged in lobbying activity), if their factual presentations are sufficiently distinct—such as being at separate times or locations–from any associated lobbying activity that they are not a part of. The facts and circumstances of the presentations and the lobbying activities must allow a reasonable person to conclude that the factual presentations by the AmeriCorps members or Senior Corps volunteer were not solely or specifically intended to influence specific legislative decision-making, and the AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers did not participate in any lobbying activity.
As an AmeriCorps member or Senior Corps Volunteer, am I barred from conducting any lobbying whatsoever?
No, you are not. AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers may exercise their rights as private citizens on their own time and may ask elected officials to either support or oppose legislative actions. However, you must engage in those activities at your own initiative, and cannot conduct the activities while performing your service as a member or volunteer or by using CNCS funds. You should also not wear any AmeriCorps or Senior Corps logo while doing so.
