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SACRAMENTO – On Tuesday, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) unveiled legislation aimed at maintaining consumer confidence in charitable giving.
The bill would close a loophole in disclosure requirements for paid commercial fundraising campaigns and include for-profit fundraising firms and other third parties who engage in misconduct in the Attorney General’s 10-year statute of limitations.
“Californians should have complete confidence that the donation they make to a charitable organization will go toward the cause they support, and feel secure knowing their gift won’t be diverted to the pockets of a third-party, for-profit fundraiser,” said Attorney General Harris. “I thank Assemblymember Irwin for standing with me to increase transparency and empower Californians with the information they need to donate wisely.”
Assembly Bill 556 closes a loophole in existing charitable giving transparency requirements that currently allows third parties to solicit funds from donors without disclosing whether a portion of their gift will be diverted to a paid company by establishing their operations as “fundraising counsel” instead of “commercial fundraisers.”
Attorney General Harris’ office recently released a report summarizing the results of charitable solicitation campaigns conducted by commercial fundraisers in 2013, which reveals the alarming extent to which charitable donations are often diverted to for-profit companies.
For-profit third party fundraisers played a role in a recent charity enforcement case, People v. Help Hospitalized Veterans, where a charitable fraud scheme included directing nearly three-quarters of the gross revenue made to for-profit fundraising campaigns in which the charity’s “fundraising counsel” was not required to disclose in their direct mail pieces that a paid professional fundraiser was profiting from each donation.
In addition, because of a gap in the Government Code’s statute of limitations for charitable misconduct lawsuits, not all parties responsible for the fraud in the Help Hospitalized Veterans case were able to be held accountable.
AB 556 will expand the statute to include enforcement actions against commercial fundraisers, fundraising counsel, and other third party entities that aid and abet the exploitation of charitable assets.
This ten-year window is often necessary in such cases, which are complex, fact-intensive, and cover misconduct occurring over an extended period of time.
“As a city councilmember and board member of local nonprofits in Ventura County, I saw the enormous positive impact that charities have on our communities,” said Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks). “AB 556 will help keep bad behavior by a few from undermining the confidence that Californians have in the more than 70,000 active nonprofit organizations doing great work in California. I commend Attorney General Kamala Harris for her work on this issue and look forward to working with her on AB 556.”
In late 2014, a comprehensive report on California’s non-profit sector, Causes Count, was issued by the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits), a “chamber of commerce” representing 9,200 nonprofits. According to the report, California’s charitable organizations contribute 15 percent — or one-sixth — of California’s Gross State Product.
“California nonprofits are trusted institutions,” said Jan Masaoka, CEO of CalNonprofits. “We support legislation like AB 556 that closes gaps in the law that no legitimate charity needs to exploit to fulfill its mission. We appreciate that Attorney General Harris and Assemblymember Irwin support the non-profit sector’s role in California as an economic driver, an innovation leader, and a champion for hope and opportunity, always looking toward a better future.”
Legislative text is available at http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB556 .
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SAN FRANCISCO – On Thursday, May 1, 2014, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced a $3.75 million settlement with eBay over allegations the company violated state anticompetitive laws by making a “no-poach” agreement with Intuit between 2006 and 2009.
If you lived in California between January 1, 2005 and May 1, 2014 and were employed by eBay or Intuit during that time, you may be eligible for payment from a parens patriae settlement negotiated on your behalf by the attorney general of California.
Eligible employees, current and former employees of eBay and Intuit have until Feb. 25, 2015, to submit a claim for restitution.
If you believe you are eligible but did not receive a notice, please visit the claims website for more information.
Claims submitted after Feb. 25, 2015, will not be processed, so eligible individuals should submit claims through the claims website or by mail as soon as possible.
A portion of the settlement fund is being used to pay restitution to individuals employed in California by eBay or Intuit since 2005.
Restitution payments will be made to three distinct pools of current and former employees. The first pool of approximately forty individuals who were employed by Intuit and considered for but not offered a position at eBay, will receive between $5,000 and $10,000 each.
The second pool of approximately 950 individuals who were employed by Intuit and applied for but were not offered a position at eBay, will receive between $1,000 and $1,500 each.
The third pool includes current and former employees who fall within the terms of the settlement but are not included in the first or second pool.
While these individuals did not apply for jobs at the other company, they may have been indirectly affected by the anticompetitive conduct and will receive a maximum payment of $150.
For more information, please visit the claims Web site at http://www.agtechemploymentsettlement.com/ where claims can be submitted either electronically or by downloading and printing a paper form.
This statement is a followup to the initial settlement announcement available at http://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-reaches-4-million-settlement-ebay-over .
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LUCERNE, Calif. – The Lake County Regional Economic Development Committee announces that, due to unforeseen circumstances, it is postponing its first mini-Summit Seminar event, “Speed Date Your Business,” originally scheduled for Friday, Feb. 20, at Marymount California University’s Lakeside campus.
An April reschedule date is anticipated.
When a new date for the “Speed Date” event is determined, additional Summit mini-seminar series dates will also be announced.
Anticipated seminars include a hands-on social media tutorial, a “Show Me the Money” financial resources seminar, and an entrepreneurship event.
The Summit events are created and produced by the Lake County Regional Economic Development Committee, a countywide group whose members include leaders from Lakeport and Clearlake city governments, the county of Lake, representatives from a variety of community organizations, chambers of commerce, educational and health institutions, and workforce development offices.
This group presented the sold-out Lake Leadership Summit in late 2014, an event that gathered local business owners, community leaders, and entrepreneurs for a dynamic program of speakers, break-out sessions, and film clips that encouraged attendees to expand their respective enterprises and help grow Lake County.
The committee was also the mastermind behind the “I Love Lake County” chalkboard wall that appeared in downtown Lakeport preceding the Summit.
The forthcoming mini-Summit Seminars are a spin-off of the 2014 Lake Leadership Summit and aim to provide existing Lake County businesses with the tools that they need to thrive in our community.
The “Speed Date Your Business” seminar will offer participants the opportunity to interact with a variety of motivated people from a range of different backgrounds and businesses who crave more than conventional networking.
The event is highly-structured – just like speed dating – with the sole purpose of sparking creative collaborations between businesses.
“While we have no other option but to postpone our ‘Speed Date’ session, we look forward to introducing a whole new slate of activities and events to Lake County when we reschedule,” said Summit co-creator, Michelle Scully, executive director of Marymount California University’s Lakeside campus.
“Our committee constantly receives feedback from Summit attendees and from the business community who convey that they’re craving novel ways to relate with one another,” Scully said. “We believe that the best ambassadors to attract new businesses to Lake County are existing, flourishing businesses, so we want to do everything that we can to provide our industries with what they need.”
The “Speed Date” event will be limited to 75 participants. For more details, send an email to
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Chamber of Commerce will showcase 18 of its members in an event on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
The showcase will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Theater Building at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 401 Martin St. in Lakeport.
This event is open to the public; it is free of charge and each visitor to the event will receive a free drawing ticket for prizes to be awarded during the evening.
“This is an opportunity for members of the public to become acquainted with businesses they may not have been aware of,” said Chamber President Ted Mandrones.
A feature of the chamber showcases is an appetizer competition between the showcase businesses.
All attendees will vote for their favorite appetizer and the business which wins the competition will be refunded their space rent.
A no-host bar will be available for visitors to the showcase.
Music will be provided by DJ Tony Barthel, owner of the Featherbed Railroad B&B in Nice.
The chamber also will have an information booth at which nonmember businesses can gain insights on what benefits are available to them should they decide to join the Lake County Chamber.
For further information contact the chamber office at 707-263-5092.