A bill to bring more transparency to charities operating in Florida is close to passing the Legislature. It follows a Tampa Bay Times investigation into the country’s worst charities. The report looked at the ones that spend a lot of money on solicitors.
Tia Mitchell in the Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau says the legislation is a massive rewrite of the state’s rules governing charities.“The state’s website, if you look up charities, it will have more detailed information about who they are and how to contact them and what they do. There will be licensing requirements for people who are paid to solicit donations. There will be financial reporting of what the charities do and where their money goes.”
The proposed law also says that clothing donation bins must clearly show where the donated items are going. For-profit companies operate many of the clothing receptacles you see in random parking lots.