Kenai, Alaska – Representative Paul Seaton’s bill to allow greater participation in the wildly popular Permanent Fund Dividend “Pick.Click.Give.” charitable giving program was signed into law by Alaska Governor Sean Parnell today.
House Bill 75 changes an onerous statute requiring a full financial audit by a certified public account, making it apply only to organizations that file a federal audit. These organizations exceed $500,000 or more in federal grant awards per year.
“We heard from groups across the state that have budgets just over $250,000 that the cost of an audit, $7,000-$15,000, just eats up their resources to do their work,” Seaton, R-Homer, said. “Smaller, community-focused entities wouldn’t be able to recoup their front-end cost.
Seaton said that there’s also an adverse effect for the organizations that aren’t listed by the program, since donors assume their charity no longer meets eligibility requirements for tax-deductible contributions. Those requirements are set by the federal Internal Revenue Service, not the State.
HB 75 also treats all University of Alaska system campuses as equal to other organizations, requiring them to submit the same application fee that others do. In addition, seven percent of the payouts to organizations will now be set aside in a fund to allow the “Pick.Click.Give” program to become self-sustaining for marketing and coordination purposes.
“Thank you to the governor for signing the bill, my colleagues in the House and Senate for passing the bill, and to all of the individuals who helped. I’m proud we were able to help solve this problem,” Seaton said.
HB 75 takes effect Oct. 27.
