Notable State Legislation
Charities may have to register in
Iowa
In February 2010,
Iowa
filed House Study Bill 687 and Senate Study Bill 3191 (they are
identical) which would amend the Charitable Solicitations Act to
require charitable organizations to register with the Attorney
General prior to soliciting contributions or participating in
charitable sales promotions in the state. Iowa is one of ten states that do not require registration
of soliciting charities; however, Iowa does currently require registration of
professional fundraisers and organizations that use professional
fundraisers. Under the proposed legislation, a charitable
organization would be required to: (i) register with the attorney
general prior to soliciting contributions in the state and (ii)
file a financial report which includes
information for the charitable organization. Filing fees
would be based on the amount of receipts collected by the charitable
organization. In addition, the bills would provide for a number of
exemptions from the registration requirements, including exemptions
for religious organizations, political parties, political
candidates, and political action committees, organizations that
receive contributions from 10 persons or less, and foundations,
including those associated with the state board of regents, and
community colleges. The bills would also modify provisions related
to the registration of professional commercial fundraisers by
eliminating a number of requirements under current law including: (i)
the option to forgo registration by promising to provide financial
disclosure information to a person or government entity requesting
the information and (ii) a provision requiring the confidentiality
of client lists owned by a professional commercial fundraiser. The
bills would also increase the registration fee for commercial
fundraisers from $10 to $100.
California to
allow enforcement of charitable pledges without consideration
Also in
February, California Assembly Bill 2237 was introduced.
The proposed bill
would amend the Civil Code relating to contracts and would provide that a promise to make a gift, bequest,
or devise of cash or other property to a tax-exempt charitable
organization would be an enforceable contract without consideration
if the promisor indicated in writing an intent that the promise be a
binding legal obligation.
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