Welcome to Disclosure DigestFebruary 2, 2021Explore the legislation, litigation, and advocacy surrounding nonprofit donor disclosure with The Disclosure Digest, a Ballotpedia newsletter. Under federal law, nonprofits are generally not required to disclose to the public information about their donors. State laws, however, may require such disclosure. Some say expanded donor disclosure provisions minimize the potential for fraud and establish public accountability. Meanwhile, others say that disclosing to the public information about donors violates privacy rights and can inhibit charitable activity. Iowa lawmakers consider bill limiting disclosure of nonprofit donor informationLast month, we spotlighted three states (Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee) considering bills that would bar public agencies from publicly disclosing identifying information about nonprofit donors. This week, we take a closer look at the Iowa legislation. What the bill proposes Iowa SSB1036 would bar any public agency (including state and municipal government units and courts) from:
The legislation would not prohibit disclosures made pursuant to court warrants. It would also allow for disclosures if a public agency and a nonprofit mutually agree to such disclosures. Under the proposal, an individual alleging a violation of the law could bring a civil action seeking damages of at least $2,500 for each violation. For intentional violations, this amount would increase to a maximum of $7,500. The legislation also defines criminal penalties for knowing violations of the law: imprisonment for up to 90 days, a fine of up to $1,000, or both Legislative status Introduced on Jan. 13 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, SSB1036 was assigned to a subcommittee comprising Sens. Craig Johnson (R), Joe Bolkcom (D), and Tom Shipley (R). On Jan. 27, the subcommittee unanimously recommended passage of the bill. A companion bill, HSB28, was introduced in the House on Jan. 13 and referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it was assigned to a subcommittee. That subcommittee, comprising Reps. Brian Lohse (R), Christina Bohannan (D), and Steven Holt (R), reported favorably on the bill on Jan. 21. Reactions At a subcommittee hearing on Jan. 27, Pete McRoberts, policy director for the Iowa affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, spoke in favor of the bill: "There is a long history of people using donor information to get people fired, or their businesses boycotted or worse. This is why the U.S. Supreme Court in 1958 ruled unanimously in the landmark First and Fourteenth amendment case that the state of Alabama could not require the NAACP to turn over its membership lists." Chuck Hurley, vice president and chief counsel of Family Leader, and Keenan Crow, policy director of One Iowa, also supported the bill. Family Leader is a nonprofit whose self-described mission is to "strengthen families by inspiring Christ-like leadership in the home, the church, and the government." One Iowa, another nonprofit, says it "advances, empowers, and improves the lives of LGBTQ Iowans statewide." In their testimony, both Hurley and Crow noted the ideological diversity of the groups supporting the legislation. Hurley said, "We’re on the opposite sides of a lot of issues, but we have the same sort of existential threat from those who don’t like us." Crow said, "We are in support of this bill as well, I think it’s always a very interesting position that we’re in, we’re on the same side as the Family Leader and several other groups." News reports do not indicate whether anyone spoke against the bill. In general, opponents of bills like SSB1036 argue that donor disclosure provisions minimize the potential for fraud and establish public accountability, particularly for politically active nonprofits. For example, the Campaign Legal Center's Erin Cholpak wrote the following in opposition to a similar bill in Michigan in 2018: "While other states have been working to close loopholes that have allowed the increasing role of dark money in election campaigns, SB 1176 would codify those loopholes as enforceable law in Michigan. … And even if SB 1176 ultimately exempts campaign finance disclosure requirements from its broad disclosure ban, the bill will still make it easier for Michigan lawmakers to hide any conflicts of interest and could facilitate a rise of pay-to-play politics by shielding such arrangements from public scrutiny." What comes next Having cleared the subcommittee, SSB1036 next goes to the full Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration. The same is true for HSB28, which will now advance to the full House Judiciary Committee. It is not clear when the committees will meet to consider their respective versions of the legislation. What We're Reading
The Big PictureNumber of relevant bills by state: We're currently tracking 20 pieces of legislation dealing with donor disclosure. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we're tracking. Number of relevant bills by current legislative status: Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s): Recent Legislative ActionsFor complete information on all of the bills we are tracking, click here.
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