The CalNonProfits is organizing a movement to stop Assemblyman Jim Frazier’s (D-Oakley) Assembly Bill 2855 which they say is a harmful bill for non-profits and urging the community to come together to stop it.

The move comes a week before Jim Frazier is co-sponsoring a seminar for non-profits, faith based and exempt organizations in Brentwood on April 19 at the Brentwood Community Center.

According to their website, they are calling the bill “harassment” and as of April 6, they have more than 200 organizations who have signed on in their letter of opposition. They are asking more non-profits to add their name to the letter by contacting their policy director Nancy Berlin.

The organization says AB 2855 is a bill that would burden nonprofits with unfair and unnecessary requirements, and levy harsh penalties if you don’t comply. We’re asking that nonprofits help stop this bill by signing a letter to the Chair of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee where it will be heard, voicing our strong opposition to the bill. You can read the letter to Assemblyman Ed Chau here.

Here’s why the bill is so dangerous:

Nonprofits would have to put a link to financial disclosures in the upper right hand corner of EVERY page on their websites. The bill even states that the following wording — Click here to read a full disclosure of the finances, including the salaries and expenses, of this organization — must be in 14 point bold non-serif font. As just one example, the website of the Humane Society of the United States has 12,000 pages, and every one of them would have to have this phrase and a link.

All nonprofits would also have to put on their financial disclosure pages, not only their Forms 990, but also the “percentage of the charity’s funding that is spent on the sum total of the salaries, other compensation and employee benefits of the charity’s executive director and board of directors and all of the charity’s other administrative overhead expenses, as reported on the charity’s most recent Internal Revenue Service Form 990 filing.” (emphasis added)

Failure to comply with the many requirements in the bill would be subject not only to a fine or other sanction, but would be elevated to being a crime, and result in revocation of tax-exempt status.

By requiring these disclosures, such notification strongly implies that percentages of expenses are an accurate indicator of the effectiveness and value of the nonprofit. THIS IS NOT TRUE.

They are asking non-profits to add their organization’s name to the letter and join the growing number of California nonprofits that oppose this bill. Those interested should contact Policy Director Nancy Berlin as soon as possible.

Follow the progress of AB 2855 on our Legislation Tracker here. Let’s stop this harmful bill!