AB 624 Timeline

May 12, 2008: The Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on AB 624. At the hearing, there was a good showing by foundations and at least equal, if not more, opposition than support.

In the end, Chairman Ridley-Thomas did not ask for a vote on AB 624. Instead, the Chairman asked the foundations to work with the authors of the legislation and others to come up with amendments to the bill to make it better. Given the time constraints that the Committee faces, it appears the Chairman is hoping for a compromise version of the legislation that the BP&ED Committee can vote on by the middle of June.

February 2007: At the urging of the Greenlining Institute, Assemblyman Joe Coto introduced legislation to require private foundations with assets over $250 million to annually collect and publicly disclose the race, gender and ethnicity of board members, foundation staff, and grantee recipients. AB 624 also requires private foundations to report the amount and percentage of grants to organizations where 50 percent or more of board members and staff are an ethnic or racial minority.

January 2008: The Judiciary Committee of the California Assembly, at the urging of Assemblyman Coto, passed AB 624 by a vote of 7-1. However, before receiving a formal floor vote, the measure was sent back to the Assembly Judiciary Committee where the scope of the legislation was broadened.

Specifically, Assemblyman John Laird (D-Monterey) broadened the bill to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender as one of the reporting standards required by AB 624. The legislation was further broadened to apply to public, private and corporate foundations. Shortly thereafter, AB 624 was again passed out of the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 7 – 1.

January 29th, 2008: The California State Legislature passed AB 624 by a vote of 45 – 29. The vote was split completely along party lines with all the “yeas” from Democrats and all the “noes” from Republicans. Additionally, we understand that several Democrats cast their vote in favor of the legislation with the understanding that there would be an opportunity to tweak some areas they found troublesome.

Unfortunately, very few groups registered their formal opposition to this legislation. We understand that only two groups “formally” filed their opposition to the legislation – the Nonprofit and Unincorporated Organizations Committee of the California State Bar and the California Family Council.

One of the open issues is whether the legislation applies to CA-only foundations or whether it is broader to apply to foundations that have some nexus to California. Indeed, the Judiciary Committee’s analysis of the bill suggests several areas that the author of the bill may “fine-tune” including “whether the bill covers all foundations making grants or otherwise doing business in California, or only those with a principal place of business in the state or perhaps those organized as California corporations.”

Mid-February - August 31, 2008: AB 624 awaits consideration in the California State Senate and may brought up for a vote at any time.

AB 624 Documents

• Click here for the text of AB 624
• Click here for Legislative Analysis of AB 624
• Click here for extended Legislative Analysis of AB 624

Press Coverage of AB 624

• Los Angeles Times – Asking Too Much
• Wall Street Journal – The Color of Charity
• Pacific Research Institute – Big Brother Targets Foundations and Nonprofits
• Chronicle of Philanthropy – California Assembly Votes to Make Foundations Disclose Key Information on Diversity

Views of Others in the Community

• Philanthropy Roundtable
• Council on Foundations
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• California Regional Association of Grantmakers
• Nonprofit and Unincorporated Organizations Committee of the State Bar of California