California State University, Stanislaus, has been an interesting news item the past week or so. The College Foundation engaged Sarah Palin as a fundraising speaker; tickets started at $500, a mite high for students and probably faculty budgets. Both the university and the foundation have refused to release the fee for Palin's speech, claiming the foundation is exempt from public records regulations.

I am not an admirer of Governor Palin, but neither would I limit the amount of money she can make as a speaker, writer or anything else. And the foundation has the right to pay any fee it desires as long as it was a bona fide fundraising rather than political event. Palin has commanded fees as high as $100,000. What she got at Cal State remains a mystery though some enterprising students found bits of her draft contracts in the university garbage which is kind of funny because it sounds like "Spy vs. Spy." I think we can assume the fee was sufficiently high that someone got nervous about telling hundred-dollar-a-year donors to the foundation how their money had been spent.

I object, as someone who has been involved in nonprofit organizations for nearly 50 years, to any argument that nonprofits are exempt from reporting large outlays of cash. Cal State is probably not yet breaking any state or federal laws, but following the letter of the law while ignoring the spirit of it is simply not appropriate in the nonprofit world. I am well aware of local instances here in Idaho in which nonprofit groups have stonewalled requests for information.

With the exception of churches, nonprofit organizations have legally binding reporting requirements that are enforced by the IRS. For one thing, they must complete an annual tax return (usually form 990) which reports income and expense, in broad categories. I favor reporting requirements that are even more stringent.

Why does the IRS require tax reports from organizations that benefit the public welfare and generally do not have any tax liability, anyway? Simply stated, under our tax laws, anyone has a right to examine the transactions of any nonprofit group. Not long ago, some national charities got into hot water because executive salaries and benefits got pretty high. The only manner by which the public can evaluate performance versus compensation is through open reporting. Form 990 requires that anyone who makes more than $50,000 in any one year be identified. If Ms. Palin was paid in excess of $50,000, it should show up on the foundation's 2010 tax return. So why would the university or the foundation hide behind a technicality? They are hoping the controversy will go away.

In most cases like this one, someone on the board will sense the futility of resisting and make sure the requested information is released. I think Governor Palin's fee will become public quite soon; foundation contributors will want to know the amount even if the event made a huge profit, which I doubt because the overall take was only $200,000. NIC's Really Big Raffle is a much larger fundraising event and the expenses and income are quite accessible.

The IRS requires that nonprofit organizations keep copies of form 990 in their offices for anyone who wishes to see them. Some organizations in North Idaho have in the past refused such requests. I hope to read soon that Cal State at Stanislaus has complied voluntarily with the request to release Sarah Palin's fee but more than that, I hope all Idaho nonprofit organizations will follow the spirit of disclosure laws.

E-mail linotype.hunt785@gmail.com.