Liberal activists who have successfully pressured major corporations to cut ties with American Legislative Exchange Council are also taking aim at the conservative group’s tax-exempt status, says NPR.

The network of state lawmakers, known as ALEC, has come under fire for its support of “stand your ground” laws like that invoked in the Trayvon Martin shooting and voter-ID measures that civil-rights groups say disenfranchise minorities. The council said this week that it would no longer advocate on public-safety and social-policy issues.

Campaign-finance watchdog group Common Cause contends ALEC is a lobbying organization and has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether it should have 501(c)(3) charity status. Marcus Owens, a tax attorney and former head of the IRS nonprofit division, said lobbying “appears to be all of what ALEC does.”

The council contends its critics are just ideological opponents.