Scofflaw nonprofits on parade

Funneling billions of tax dollars through nonprofits for social work is a bad idea – and here in Oregon, it's gone beyond bad. But it really sticks in your craw to know that many of the recipients of these public grants openly disregard the laws that require them to register their organizations with the government and file annual reports on their activities.

I've gotten into this topic here before. There's an outfit called "Race Talks" in Portland that solicits contributions as a nonprofit but apparently flouts even the most basic requirements for reporting to the government. They claim to be represented by Perkins Coie – go figure.

But now one of these outfits is up for a $1.5 million grant from the state's "toxic" health department to run a mental health "respite center." The organization is a corporation called Black Mental Health Oregon, and it's run by someone named Taunya Golden-David, apparently out of her house. But beyond that, you'll find little to nothing about it on the public record, despite its being in existence since 2019. The only other name associated with the group that I can find is someone named Vega Tom, identified as "CFO" on the one and only annual report the corporation has apparently ever filed with the IRS, for 2019, back when it had $5 of assets.

Charitable organizations are supposed to file an annual report, on Form 990, with the IRS, which in some cases can be a postcard. They're also required to file an annual report with the state corporation division, and another one with the state Justice Department. Black Mental Health Oregon apparently can't be bothered with these chores, despite reportedly being warned repeatedly about its failures by state bureaucrats. 

Maybe if the IRS and the state started imposing some of the applicable penalties on these rogue nonprofits, their behavior would change. The penalties can run into many thousands of dollars, and some of them can be imposed on the individuals responsible for the noncompliance. 

But even if the enforcers don't want to start asserting penalties, government entities should not be running public money through scofflaws. The taxpayers deserve at least a minimal amount of transparency and accountability from the nonprofits. Oregon is badly in need of a state law that forbids any transfer of contract or grant funds from any level of government to any entity that has not demonstrated, or at least certified under oath, its current compliance with all of its filing requirements, federal and state. For nonprofits, that's three forms a year, which is hardly too much to ask when you're getting a $1.5 million handout.

No 990, no contract. No 990, no grant. This isn't complicated.