BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1765 (Irwin) - CaliforniaVolunteers: nonprofit public
benefit corporation
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|Version: April 19, 2016 |Policy Vote: G.O. 13 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1765 would authorize CaliforniaVolunteers to form a
nonprofit public benefit corporation or other tax-exempt entity
for fundraising purposes. The nonprofit's mission would be to
support the funding of CaliforniaVolunteers programming and
administrative costs, as well as other priorities identified by
the CaliforniaVolunteers executive board or the Governor.
Fiscal
Impact:
Estimated CaliforniaVolunteers administrative costs of
approximately $200,000 and one PY to staff the nonprofit
foundation. (General Fund, private funds)
Background: Existing law, pursuant to Executive Order S-24-06, establishes
California Volunteers in the Governor's Office (housed within
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the Office of Planning and Research) with the following duties
and responsibilities: (1) to recruit and mobilize citizens for
volunteer service by identifying service opportunities
throughout the state and by recognizing citizen contributions as
volunteers and participants in public service; (2) to serve as
the state's lead agency for community service and volunteerism,
as specified; and (3) to partner with other public agencies at
the state, county, and local levels, and the private and
not-for-profit sectors, to leverage greater resources and create
more opportunities for service and volunteerism.
Existing federal law establishes the National and Community
Service Trust Act of 1993, which requires each state governor to
create and appoint a commission to administer the AmeriCorps
volunteer program. AmeriCorps engages Americans in intensive
service each year at nonprofits, schools, public agencies, and
community and faith-based groups across the country.
CaliforniaVolunteers administers the state AmeriCorps program,
issuing annual requests for applications and awarding federal
grants in a competitive process to eligible applicants,
including local governments and nonprofit organizations. The
grants support community partnerships that engage AmeriCorps
members to meet state and local challenges through service and
volunteer action.
CaliforniaVolunteers also administers other programs that engage
volunteers and foster partnerships to address community needs,
such as the Disaster Volunteering and Preparedness program, the
Service Enterprise Initiative, and the Business Partners
Program.
Proposed Law:
AB 1765 would authorize CaliforniaVolunteers to form a
tax-exempt public benefit nonprofit corporation or other
tax-exempt entity that is qualified to raise revenues and
receive financial support from public or private sources, for
the purpose of undertaking or funding authorized activities.
Any grants or financial support received by the nonprofit
fundraising entity must be used solely for governmental purposes
approved by CaliforniaVolunteers for activities within its
authority, and no more than 10 percent of those funds could be
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used for the nonprofit entity's administrative costs.
The bill also specifies that the mission of the nonprofit entity
would be to support the funding of CaliforniaVolunteers
programming and administrative costs, and to support any
priorities set forth by the Governor or the CaliforniaVolunteers
board of commissioners. The authority to establish the
nonprofit fundraising entity would expire if the Governor
rescinds the establishment of CaliforniaVolunteers or the
executive order that created it.
Related
Legislation: AB 706 (Bonilla), which was vetoed by the Governor
last year, would have established the California AmeriCorps
-science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) program,
administered by CaliforniaVolunteers. AB 706 would have also
authorized the formation of a nonprofit public benefit
corporation similar to the authority provided in this bill. The
Governor's veto message stated the following:
This bill establishes the California AmeriCorps STEM
program and authorizes California Volunteers to form a
non-profit foundation for fundraising purposes. I applaud
the author for promoting math and science through
volunteerism in California, but without a funding source
the program established in this bill would not be viable.
Staff
Comments: This bill would provide CaliforniaVolunteers with the
authority to establish a nonprofit entity for fundraising
purposes to raise supplemental public and private money that
could be used fund a broader range of programs and provide
necessary matching funds to enhance AmeriCorps opportunities in
rural and low-income communities. Staff assumes that
CaliforniaVolunteers would need additional staff with
fundraising expertise for the nonprofit foundation, at an annual
cost of approximately $200,000. Although these costs would
initially be paid from the General Fund, they could be partially
or fully offset in future years by a portion of funds raised by
the nonprofit entity (up to 10 percent of any grants or
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financial support received by the nonprofit may be used for
administrative purposes).
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