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| May 13, 2010 A proposal to expand the number of charitable organizations required to file annual reports withered during a rule review hearing Monday, but a key lawmaker said the measure could be appropriate for inclusion in a pending bill on casino operations. Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review Chairman Sen. Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond) said the proposed rule from the Attorney General's Office would likely have exceeded its statutory authority. The agency withdrew the proposal prior to the hearing. However, the senator said the idea could be appropriate for pending action in the General Assembly. "My recommendation to them was to propose a statutory fix, and one possible vehicle for that could be the casino implementation language if we deal with charitable gaming as part of that bill," he said in an interview after the hearing. "It still has to go through the public hearing process, but at this point it appears to be fairly innocuous," he said about the AG's proposal. "It seems like it is appropriate to raise the threshold and reducing oversight in those areas where it's not necessary." Sen. Niehaus said lawmakers and interested parties had not yet agreed whether to address charitable gaming in the measure. Passage of the casino amendment has generated a number of proposals designed to slacken restrictions on bingo operations for charitable groups. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, February 17, 2010) "What people are saying is that since we do have to do the casino implementation language, it might make some sense to also look at that issue at the same time. But that has not been decided," he said. The measure to implement last year's constitutional amendment authorizing casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo must be completed before summer recess. Ted Hart, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said the proposal to raise the reporting threshold for charitable organizations was designed to ease the administrative burden on smaller non-profit groups. In addition, the measure would make Ohio's administrative rules more consistent with IRS guidelines, he said. Current rules require charitable trusts to file annual reports if their gross receipts exceed $5,000 or they have gross assets in excess of $15,000, according to JCARR staff. The AG proposed raising the threshold to $25,000 for both categories. Sen. Niehaus said the two chambers were making progress on what topics to include the casino implementation proposal and swift action on the legislation appears likely. |
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