A North Carolina legislator has had enough of organizations reacting to the state’s bathroom bill, by Gawd, and is ready to do something about it.
An N.C. House Republican says the NCAA and ACC have “stepped out of bounds” by moving sports championships out of North Carolina over House Bill 2.
Rep. Mark Brody, a Republican from Monroe, announced in a Facebook post Sunday that he’ll file a bill this week to address the boycotts.
Brody says his “Athletic Association Accountability Act” will “determine whether the NCAA and the ACC have violated their tax-exempt status by engaging in political or lobbying activities.”
“The NCAA and the ACC have allegedly engaged in excessive lobbying activities that exceeded their respective charters by using economic retaliation against NC for the purpose of forcing the General Assembly to adopt social legislation that is not connected to their core mission,” Brody wrote.
Tell us more, dude.
It’s unclear how Brody’s proposal would work, and his Facebook post offers no further details about his bill. According to the IRS website, nonprofit groups can’t have tax-exempt status “if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation.” The groups “may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.”
Brody isn’t the first Republican politician to question whether the boycotts should be considered excessive lobbying under Internal Revenue Service standards.
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson of Concord brought up the issue when the ACC announced its boycott last year. “This blatant political move – less than two months before the election – brings into question their tax-exempt status,” he said in a news release at the time. “This is an avenue we intend to explore.”
As long as they don’t have to go exploring down Constitution Boulevard, anyway. I doubt he really cares about the “more” part, anyway. It’ll make for some tasty red meat to throw the bathroom-obsesseds’ way and that’s what really counts for now. In the meantime, Stacey Osburn has no comment.
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UPDATE: The nerve of some people… poor ol’ Pat.