New York plans charity law reform to cut red tape

[The Northerner]

(Reuters) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced plans on Tuesday to reform cumbersome laws and regulations burdening the state's charities in a bid to ease what he called a looming funding crisis.

Schneiderman said he would form a working group of nonprofit, government and labor representatives to develop proposals and recommend reforms. He also appealed to New York City's corporate leaders to take a role.

New York's nonprofits employ 500,000 people -- up to 18 percent of the state's workforce -- while finance and insurance companies in New York City employ about 341,000 people.

"New York's statutory requirements governing charities are so burdensome that one leading not-for-profit lawyer has stated that it is essentially malpractice to advise a not-for-profit client to incorporate in New York," Schneiderman told the nonprofit Association for a Better New York.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/26/us-newyork-philanthropy-idUSTRE73P6CE20110426