ASSEMBLY, No. 1781

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MARCH 25, 1996

By Assemblyman GEIST

An Act concerning the renewal of registrations by certain charitable organizations and amending P.L.1994, c.16.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Section 6 of P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17A-23) is amended to read as follows:

    6. a. A charitable organization, unless exempted from registration requirements pursuant to section 9 of this act, shall file a registration statement with the Attorney General on forms prescribed by the Attorney General.

    b. It shall be unlawful for any charitable organization to solicit contributions or have contributions solicited in its behalf before the Attorney General has been given the opportunity to review the registration statement pursuant to section 5 of this act. A renewal statement [must] , or verification statement if permitted by subsection e. of section 8 of P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17A-25), shall be filed annually within six months after the close of the charitable organization's fiscal year. For good cause shown, the Attorney General may extend the time for the annual filing of the renewal statement or verification statement and financial report for a period not to exceed 180 days, during which time the previous registration shall remain in effect. The request for an extension shall be in writing and received by the Attorney General before the filing deadline.

    c. All registration statements shall be signed by two authorized officers, including the chief fiscal officer of the organization, who shall certify that information contained in the registration statements [are] is correct.

    d. The Attorney General shall prescribe all fees for the filing of all registration statements according to the provisions of this act. The fees for the filing of registration statements by charitable organizations may be graduated based upon the amount of contributions received during the previous fiscal year. A parent organization filing on behalf of one or more local units shall pay a single annual registration fee for itself and a fee for each local unit included in the registration statement.

(cf: P.L.1994, c.16, s.6)

    2. Section 8 of P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17A-25) is amended to read as follows:

    8. a. The following charitable organizations shall be required to file a short form registration on forms prescribed by the Attorney General:

    (1) Charitable organizations or organizations engaging in a charitable fund raising campaign which do not receive gross contributions in excess of $25,000 during a fiscal year, if all of their functions including fund raising activities are carried on by volunteers, members, officers or persons who are not compensated for soliciting contributions; except that, if the gross contributions, whether or not all is received by any charitable organization during any fiscal year, are in excess of $25,000 it shall, within 30 days after the date on which it shall have received the contributions, register with and report to the Attorney General as required by section 7 of this act;

    (2) Fraternal, patriotic, social or alumni organizations, historical societies, and similar organizations organized under the provisions of Title 15 of the Revised Statutes or Title 15A of the New Jersey Statutes, when solicitation of contributions is confined to their membership and solicitation is performed by members of that organization;

    (3) Persons requesting any contributions for the relief of any individual, specified by name at the time of the solicitation, if all of the contributions collected, without any deductions whatsoever, are turned over to the named beneficiary;

    (4) Any local post, camp, chapter or similarly designated element, or a county unit of that element, of a bona fide veterans' organization which issues charters to the local elements throughout this State, or to any veterans' organization chartered under federal law or to any service foundation of such an organization recognized in its bylaws.

    b. The short form shall contain the following:

    (1) Name and address of the organization;

    (2) Whether the organization has engaged an independent paid fund raiser, fund raising counsel or commercial co-venturer;

    (3) The purpose for which the charitable organization is organized;

    (4) The purposes for which the funds are raised;

    (5) The tax status of the charitable organization;

    (6) The reason the organization is eligible to file a short form registration;

    (7) A copy of the organization's most recent Internal Revenue Service Form 990 and Schedule (A)990 if the organization filed these forms;

    (8) Any other information as may be prescribed by rules adopted by the Attorney General.

    c. In order to register its qualified local units pursuant to subsection c. of section 9 of this act, a parent organization registered pursuant to this section shall include with its initial registration, a copy of the parent organization's charter, articles or organization, agreement of association, instrument of trust, constitution or other organizational instrument and bylaws, and shall include with its initial registration and annual renewal statement a separate statement that provides the following:

    (1) The name, principal street address, and phone number of all local units within this State that it is registering;

    (2) The amount of gross contributions received by each such unit and the purpose or purposes for which these funds were raised in the preceding fiscal year;

    (3) A statement asserting that each such local unit has provided the parent organization with a written statement reporting the information included on its behalf and asserting that the local unit meets all of the requirements of subsection c. of section 9 of this act.

    d. Nothing in subsection c. of this section shall be construed to require a parent organization to register any or all of its local units.

    e. Any charitable organization which has filed a short form registration statement pursuant to this section may file an annual verification statement with the Attorney General in lieu of an annual renewal statement, if the information provided pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (6) of subsection b. of this section in the most recently filed registration statement has not changed. A charitable organization filing a verification statement shall file the information required pursuant to paragraph (7) of subsection b. of this section, or the amount of gross contributions raised by the charitable organization and an itemization of expenditures in the preceding fiscal year, if required by the Attorney General.

(cf: P.L.1994, c.16, s.8)

    3. Section 23 of P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17A-40) is amended to read as follows:

    23. Fees shall be established, prescribed or charged by the Attorney General pursuant to his regulatory authority to the extent necessary to defray all proper expenses incurred by the Attorney General and any staff employed to administer this act, provided that fees shall not be fixed at a level that will raise amounts in excess of the amount estimated to be so required and provided, further, that any fees set by the Attorney General shall not exceed the following amounts:

    a. A charitable organization which is required pursuant to section 8 of this act to file a short form registration statement and received gross contributions of not more than $10,000 during the most recently filed fiscal year shall not be required to pay an annual registration fee.

    b. A charitable organization which is required pursuant to section 8 of this act to file a short form registration statement and received gross contributions in excess of $10,000 during the most recently filed fiscal year of the organization shall pay an annual registration fee of not more than $30 a year, and shall pay an annual renewal fee of not more than $5 a year if filing a verification statement pursuant to subsection e. of section 8 of P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17A-25).

    c. A charitable organization which is required pursuant to section 7 of this act to file a long form registration statement and received gross contributions of not more than $100,000 during the most recently filed fiscal year of the organization shall pay an annual registration fee of not more than $60 a year.

    d. A charitable organization which is required pursuant to section 7 of this act to file a long form registration statement and received gross contributions of more than $100,000 but not more than $500,000 during the most recently filed fiscal year of the organization shall pay an annual registration fee of not more than $150 a year.

    e. A charitable organization which is required pursuant to section 7 of this act to file a long form registration statement and received gross contributions of more than $500,000 during the most recently filed fiscal year of the organization shall pay an annual registration fee of not more than $250 a year.

    f. Contract filing fees established pursuant to this act shall be set at not more than $30 for each such fee.

    g. A parent organization that registers local units in accordance with the provisions of subsection e. of section 7 or subsection c. of section 8 of this act shall pay an additional fee not to exceed $10 for each local unit.

    All fees payable to the Attorney General and any civil penalties imposed by the Attorney General in accordance with the provisions of this act shall be paid to the Attorney General and shall be forwarded to the State Treasurer and become part of the General Fund. These fees and penalties shall be available to the Attorney General on a nonlapsing basis to effectuate the purposes of this act.

(cf: P.L.1994, c.16, s.23)

    4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill provides that charitable organizations entitled to file a short form registration statement pursuant to the "Charitable Registration and Investigation Act," P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17-1 et seq.) may file an annual verification statement if the information filed with their last registration statement has not changed. The bill requires a $5 fee for the filing of a verification statement. A charitable organization filing a verification statement must also file a copy of its most recently filed Internal Revenue Service Form 990 and Schedule (A)990, or the amount of gross contributions raised by the charitable organization and an itemization of expenditures in the preceding fiscal year, if required by the Attorney General.