BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2219
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2219 (Wagner) - As Amended March 31, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill clarifies that although all records reported by
charitable organizations to the Attorney General (AG) are
generally public, the following records are not public and must
be withheld from public inspection:
AB 2219
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1)Any report filed with any other governmental agency of this
state, another state, the United States, or any government
subdivision thereof which is required by law to be kept
confidential.
2)Upon request of a charity or charitable fiduciary, any part of
a document filed with the Attorney General that does not
relate to charitable purposes or charitable assets and that is
not otherwise a public record.
3)Donor information exempt from public inspection pursuant to
specified federal law, except:
a) In a court or administrative proceeding brought pursuant
to the AG's charitable trust enforcement responsibilities,
or
b) In response to a search warrant.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Any costs to the AG will be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. State law, including the Supervision of Trustees
and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act, vests the AG with
broad authority to monitor and regulate charitable
organizations and public benefit corporations, including the
power to require such organizations to furnish information and
reports. Pursuant to state regulations, charitable
organizations must file, among other things, a complete copy
of the IRS Form 990 they are required to file with the IRS,
AB 2219
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including a Schedule B that identifies their major donors.
Pursuant to the authority cited above, the AG's Office sent
letters to charitable organizations registered with the State
of California in 2014, instructing them to submit to the AG
complete and un-redacted copies of their Form 990s, including
Schedule B information about their donors. Two of the
organizations that received the letters, Americans for
Prosperity (AFP) and the Center for Competitive Politics
(CCP), refused to comply with the AG's request and sued in
federal court to enjoin enforcement of her demand.
The federal district court ruled against AFP on the merits of
all of its claims. The AFP case, argued and submitted to the
9th Circuit in December 2015, is pending decision by the Court
of Appeal. In Center for Competitive Politics v. Harris, CCP
argued that federal tax law preempted the Attorney General
from obtaining the Form 990 with complete donor information.
The court did not agree with CCP's argument and instead found
that federal law "may support an argument that Congress sought
to regulate the disclosures that the IRS may make, but they do
not broadly prohibit other government entities from seeking
that information directly from the organization."
The AG proposed regulations (notice published December 11,
2015) to clarify that any Form 990 reported to her pursuant to
her authority to regulate charitable organizations is not a
public record. The AG's office states that the proposed
regulations "codify the Attorney General's practice to exempt
donor information from public disclosure" but allow the
information to be disclosed in a court or administrative
proceeding brought pursuant to the Attorney General's
charitable trust enforcement responsibilities or in response
to a search warrant.
AB 2219
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2)Purpose. This bill merely clarifies what is likely already
implied in state law-that although all records retained by the
AG are presumed to be public and open, some records, including
Forms 990, are confidential because they are protected from
public disclosure by other state or federal law. There is no
opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081