Members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), and indeed all taxpayers, are entitled to know how NTU operates. Like our educational affiliate (the National Taxpayers Union Foundation [NTUF]), NTU adheres to a strong set of unwavering ethical and policy principles.
1. Independence. NTU welcomes donations, whether large or small, from all types of taxpayers, whether they are individuals or businesses. We strive to maintain a diversity of resources so as to preserve our independence and financial stability. No single source or entity provided more than 10 percent of NTU’s total revenue in 2016.
a. Policy toward Corporate Funding. Although powerful and deep-pocketed corporations may offer (and have offered) large financial contributions on numerous issues, NTU has rejected such attempts to enlist us in causes that do not serve taxpayers. And we always will. NTU accepts the fact that businesses and other entities that have supported us in the past may subsequently disagree with our position on a future matter and may cease their support. This has happened on a number of occasions and no doubt will again.
b. No Funding from Labor Unions. While a number of policy and advocacy groups on the political left in America obtain a substantial portion of their budgets from labor unions (including government employee unions with very specific public policy objectives), NTU has not requested and does not receive funding from these organizations.
c. No Funding from Government. As a matter of principle, NTU does not seek and would never accept any funding from government at any level (federal, state, or local).
d. Smaller Donations remain a key part of our Support. In 2016, the average individual gift to NTU from all sources was less than $50.
2. Policy Integrity.
a. Policy Is Always First. NTU makes decisions on whether and how to weigh in on a public policy question before seeking funding from any individual, foundation, or corporation. We never put the proverbial cart before the horse on policy.
b. No Employee Compensation from Outsiders Seeking Influence. No NTU employee has ever received outside personal compensation from a lobbyist, corporation, or other entity seeking to sway NTU's policy agenda.
3. Coalition Independence. When NTU engages in collaborative projects, we often work with groups that can be characterized as conservative or free-market. That said, we frequently ally ourselves with organizations that focus on the environment, international issues, or corporate welfare (none of these groups would accurately be described as "conservative"). Examples of issues where we cross traditional ideological lines in our coalition work include:
- Taxpayer subsidies of sports stadiums;
- Pork-barrel projects that waste taxpayer dollars and harm the environment;
- Tax administration reform;
- Government employee whistleblower rights;
- Corporate welfare;
- Agricultural program reform;
- Wasteful military spending projects;
- Government insurance programs;
- Open government;
- Reform of Congressional pay and perks; and
- Foreign aid.
4. Non-Partisanship.
a. Advocacy and Research for Taxpayers, Not Political Parties. NTU works on behalf of taxpayers, not parties.
NTU will support efforts to limit government whether they are initiated by Democrats (we long supported Representative Charles Stenholm's (D-TX) and Senator Paul Simon's (D-IL) efforts on behalf of a Balanced Budget Amendment) or Republicans (we likewise supported Senate Republicans’ “Consensus Balanced Budget Amendment”). Good ideas to protect taxpayers' wallets can come from either side of the aisle; Democrats have taken leadership roles in NTU-backed, bipartisan reforms to federal flood insurance, agricultural subsidies, government purchase cards, to name just a few examples. In 2006, we worked closely with then-Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and his colleagues in passing the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which provided greater public access to cost data on government grants and contracts.
Similarly, we will vigorously lobby against initiatives to expand government whether sponsored by Democrats (President Obama’s 2010 health care law, for instance) or Republicans (e.g., online sales tax collection legislation like the "Marketplace Fairness Act," among whose biggest boosters are several GOP lawmakers). In addition, NTU has stood against schemes by Members of both parties in Congress to raise federal spending, such as the deceptively named "Bipartisan Budget Act" of 2018.
When other elected leaders are pursuing policies that harm taxpayers, we will speak out regardless of their affiliation. NTU has criticized abusive IRS tactics stretching all the way back to the Reagan Administration, and has opposed many of the trade policy actions of the Trump Administration.
b. NTU's Rating. Many Senators and Representatives who score poorly in NTU's Rating of Congress try to turn the public's attention away from their voting records by claiming that the study is somehow partisan or biased. It is neither.
The most common accusation is that NTU's Rating is tilted against Democrats, but during the many decades of this study, in at least ten instances Democrats have achieved the top score in one body or another. A vote against the Republican leadership's Medicare prescription drug bill was the most heavily-weighted vote in our 2003 Rating, just as bipartisan attempts to undermine the Budget Control Act’s modest caps on federal discretionary spending were heavily weighted in the 2013 Rating.
Unlike the practice of many other advocacy groups, NTU does not "cherry-pick" votes for inclusion in our voting study. We include every single vote on taxes, spending, and key regulatory matters. The votes are weighted according to importance. A Member's score is then just a matter of tallying up whether they voted to support bigger or smaller government.
5. Respect for Privacy. NTU has long been involved in the fight for taxpayer privacy. Unless specifically requested by the donor otherwise, gifts to NTU are kept private and the names of specific individuals or organizations are not revealed to the public. Throughout the history of NTU, we have considered ourselves duty-bound to honor the confidentiality of contributors, some of whom have expressed fears of official or political retaliation for supporting causes such as reforming the IRS and curtailing pork-barrel spending projects.
6. Financial Integrity. While we are not required to do so, NTU undergoes an annual audit by an independent accredited public accounting firm to ensure we have not made any mistakes or violated legal or accounting ethics in conducting our work. Copies of these audited financial statements are available to the public upon request. By law, NTU also annually files IRS Form 990, which is available on our website.