Prohibits the disclosure of the names, addresses and telephone numbers of contributors and the amounts contributed that are reported on financial disclosure reports of certain not-for-profit organizations.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1141A
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to prohibiting the
disclosure of certain information required on financial disclosure
reports of certain not-for-profit organizations
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To eliminate the requirement for charitable 501(c) (3) organizations
that file an annual financial statement with the New York Attorney
General's Charities Bureau to file the same financial statement with the
Department of State, and to ensure that personal and private data such
as names, addresses and telephone numbers of those who choose to
contribute to 501(c)3 not-for-profits are protected from unnecessary
disclosure.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 8 of section 172 of the Executive Law to
ensure that when certain sensitive data concerning 501(c)3 Not For
Profits is reported to the Office of the Attorney General it shall be
used solely for the purpose of conducting investigations and litigation
to enforce existing laws- but constitutionally protected personal and
private data such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers of individ-
ual contributors shall not be part of the public record and shall remain
private and not be subject to disclosure.
Section 2 amends subdivision 9 of section 172-b of the Executive Law to
eliminate the requirement for registered charitable organizations which
are required to file annual financial statements with the Office of the
Attorney General under subdivisions 1 or 2 of section 172-b to file the
same annual financial statements with the Department of State.
Section 3 provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Most 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations are required to file their
federal tax filing with the New York Attorney General's Charities
Bureau, annually. However, as of January 1, 2021, those organizations
have to file identical documents with the Department of State in addi-
tion to the Charities Bureau.
The additional requirement for 501(c)(3) organizations to file with the
Department of State in addition to the Charities Bureau is both redun-
dant and burdensome for not-for-profits. Therefore, this bill would
remove the added filing requirement with the Department of State for
those charitable 501(c)(3) organizations that file with the Charities
Bureau.
This bill would also protect the privacy of donors to charitable
501(c)(3)organizations which do not engage in lobbying or political
activities, by prohibiting the publication of financial disclosure
records that include the names, addresses, or telephone numbers of
donors and the amounts donated by them. If identifiable information is
not redacted from public record, it is likely that potential donors who
want to contribute to nonpolitical 501(c)(3) organizations but prefer to
maintain their anonymity will be discouraged from donating altogether.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.11154 of 2020, referred to governmental operations
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1141--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 7, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, MAGNARELLI, McDONOUGH, J. M. GIGLIO,
GONZALEZ-ROJAS, EPSTEIN, BURDICK, O'DONNELL -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Governmental Operations -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to prohibiting the
disclosure of certain information required on financial disclosure
reports of certain not-for-profit organizations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 172 of the executive law, as
2 amended by chapter 43 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 8. Forms, financial reports, professional fund raisers' contracts, and
5 other documents required to be filed pursuant to this article become
6 public records of the attorney general, except that where such records
7 are forms including the names, addresses or telephone numbers of
8 contributors and amounts contributed by them, such names, addresses, and
9 telephone numbers of contributors and amounts contributed by them shall
10 not be a public record and shall not be subject to disclosure pursuant
11 to article six of the public officers law, and the attorney general
12 shall keep such information confidential, except when authorized by a
13 court order, and use it solely for the purpose of conducting investi-
14 gations and litigation to enforce the not-for-profit corporation and
15 religious corporation laws, the provisions of this article, article
16 eight of the estates, powers and trusts law, and the attorney general's
17 other authority to oversee charities and charitable assets.
18 § 2. Subdivision 9 of section 172-b of the executive law, as added by
19 section 1 of part UU of chapter 55 of the laws of 2020, is amended to
20 read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02800-04-1
A. 1141--A 2
1 9. Any registered charitable organization [that is required to file an
2 annual financial report pursuant to subdivision one or two of this
3 section, or] that is required to file a funding disclosure report pursu-
4 ant to section one hundred seventy-two-e of this article, and/or a
5 financial disclosure report pursuant to section one hundred
6 seventy-two-f of this article for a reporting period during the applica-
7 ble fiscal year shall also be required to file such annual financial
8 report, including all required forms and attachments, with the depart-
9 ment of state.
10 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
