ALBANY — A prolonged inquiry by state Attorney General Letitia James’ office found that a legislative nonprofit failed to properly document some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars it raised, was slow to pay promised scholarships to high school students and was undermined by a lack of oversight by the state legislators on its board.
But the Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, Asian and Latino Legislators won’t face any significant consequences after it cooperated with the investigation and agreed to make changes to its governance and structure, according to a copy of the agreement the nonprofit signed last month.
The charity is the nonprofit arm of the state Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. Each winter in Albany, it hosts a weekend-long gathering with various events, workshops and parties funded by expensive sponsorships — which are regularly paid for by entities with business before the Legislature.
The organization held its 52nd annual convention this past February, which included a performance by the Sugarhill Gang.
The investigation, which started in 2019, found that the charity did not have any full-time employees and lacked sufficient oversight, factors that contributed to a breakdown in leadership. It also repeatedly filed delayed and inaccurate financial audits and disclosures with the attorney general’s office.
The association will make a number of changes, including electing a new board of directors, adopting amended bylaws, and formalizing its scholarship program, as part of its agreement with the attorney general’s Charities Bureau.
James’ office noted some of the measures required in the agreement have already been adopted.
Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesman for the organization, said in a statement the issues raised in the report amounted to “little more than requests for minor bookkeeping changes,” and…
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