Charitable organizations must meet listed eligibility rules to participate in a state employee charitable campaign, and federations or funds seeking statewide participation must apply to the state policy committee on time.
Sec. 659.146. ELIGIBILITY OF CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS IN GENERAL; ELIGIBILITY OF FEDERATIONS AND FUNDS FOR STATEWIDE PARTICIPATION. (a) To be eligible to participate in a state employee charitable campaign, a charitable organization must: (1) be governed by a voluntary board of citizens that meets at least twice each year to set policy and manage the affairs of the organization; (2) if the organization's annual budget: (A) does not exceed $250,000, provide a completed Internal Revenue Service Form 990 and an accountant's review that offers full and open disclosure of the organization's internal operations; or (B) exceeds $250,000, be audited annually in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; and (3) not spend more than 25 percent of its annual revenue for administrative and fund-raising expenses. (b) Repealed by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1310, Sec. 121(10). (c) A federation or fund that seeks statewide participation in a state employee charitable campaign must apply on behalf of itself and its affiliated agencies to the state policy committee during the annual eligibility determination period specified by the committee. The state policy committee shall review each application and may approve a federation or fund for statewide participation only if the federation or fund qualifies as a statewide charitable organization. The state policy committee may approve an affiliated charitable organization for statewide participation only if the organization qualifies as a statewide charitable organization. (d) The state policy committee may use outside expertise and resources available to it to assess the eligibility of a charitable organization that seeks to participate in a state employee charitable campaign. (e) An appeal from a decision of the state policy committee shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by the committee. The appeals process must permit a charitable organization that is not approved for statewide participation to apply for participation in the state employee charitable campaign only in a local campaign area. (f) The state policy committee shall develop guidelines for evaluation of applications based on eligibility criteria under this section and Section 659.150. The state policy committee shall make the guidelines publicly available. (g) A federation or organization that participated in the state employee charitable campaign before June 20, 2003, is not barred from participation in the program, both in terms of actual participation and the purposes for which the contributions are used, solely as a result of changes made by Sections 35, 36, 37, and 121(9) and (11), Chapter 1310 (H.B. 2425), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003. This subsection does not excuse a federation or organization from compliance with any other law, rule, or state policy. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.17(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1035, Sec. 41, eff. June 19, 1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1310, Sec. 36, 121(10), eff. June 20, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 347 (H.B. 2252), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2013. Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1315 (S.B. 217), Sec. 10, eff. September 1, 2013. Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1315 (S.B. 217), Sec. 10, eff. January 1, 2014.