Chap. 403.—An ACT to amend and reenact Sections 1 and 2 of Chapter 355,
of the Acts of Assembly of 1924, approved March 20, 1924, the sections and
chapter relating to the regulation of the solicitation of contributions from the
public, and to arthend such chapter by adding new sections numbered 1-a
and 1-b, imposing certain duties upon the State Corporation Commission
with regard to such solicitations, requiring the filing of certain reports and
requiring certain certificates as a prerequisite to solicitation of funds. [H 122]

Approved April 1, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections one and two of chapter three hundred fifty-five of
the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred twenty-four, approved March
twenty, nineteen hundred twenty-four, be amended and reenacted and
that the chapter be amended by adding thereto new sections numbered
one-a and one-b, the amended and the new sections being as follows:
Section 1. Every person, firm, corporation or association, soliciting
subscriptions or contributions to any cause or thing, except as herein-
after provided, shall keep adequate books showing all sums of money
collected and how, to whom, and for what disbursed. Receipts shall be
kept itemized to as great an extent as may be practicable, and disburse-
ments shall in all cases be itemized and not shown merely by totals.

The books aforesaid shall be kept at some reasonably accessible
place within the limits of this State and shall at all times be open to the
inspection of the State Corporation Commission. The books herein
mentioned, however, need not be preserved for a longer period than
two years after solicitation has ceased.

Section l-a. Effective August one, nineteen hundred forty-eight,
no person, firm, corporation or association, except as may be otherwise
provided in this act, shall solicit in this State subscriptions or contribu-
tions of funds from the public, all or substantially all of which, less neces-
sary expenses of administration, are to be devoted to medical care or
medical research, unless it first obtains a certificate so to do from the
State Corporation Commission. Every application for a certificate shall
be accompanied by,.in the case of a firm, corporation or association, (1)
its constitution, articles of agreement or association, or certificate of
incorporation and its by-laws; rules and regulations, covering the con-
duct of its affairs; (2) a list of its partners, board of directors, governing
board, officers, or trustees, to show the persons, responsible for the
conduct of its affairs; and (3) the name and address of some person,
if any, in this State, who conducts its affairs herein. Each such applica-
tion shall also be accompanied by a statement of the funds raised within
this State in the year preceding that for which the certificate is sought,
the percentage of funds retained in this State and the percentage sent
outside this State, and, if any were sent outside this State, to whom
and for what; a detailed financial statement showing the cost of raising
such funds and the manner in which the funds were spent in this State
in such detail as to show all administrative and other expenses. In the
case of an organization seeking a certificate when it has not heretofore
operated in this State, it shall file a statement of prospective financial
operations. In all cases the State Corporation Commission may require
such other information as it deems necessary in passing upon the appli-
cation. The fee for any such certificate shall be twenty-five dollars a year.
Provided, however, where any such firm, corporation or association has
more than one group or chapter in this State said firm, corporation or
association shall only be required to obtain one such certificate.

When upon the basis of a financial report for the preceding year,
or a report of prospective financial operations for the succeeding year,
it appears that the expenses of raising and administering the fund
amounted to, or will amount to, more than twenty per centum of the
entire fund collected, the Commission shall refuse to issue a certificate
for the solicitation of funds.
Section 1-b. There is hereby created within the State Corporation
Commission an advisory board on solicitations composed of seven mem-
bers. The Board shall be composed of the State Commissioner of Health,
the Commissioner of Public Welfare, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, the Commissioner of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals, a
representative of the Medical Society of Virginia appointed by the Gov-
ernor, and two members of the public appointed by the Governor from
the State at large. The two members appointed from the State at large
shall receive a per diem of ten dollars a day and expenses for each day
spent in performing the work of the Board; the other members of the
Board shall defray their own expenses in such fashion as may be pro-
vided by their respective departments or societies.

The representatives of the Medical Society of Virginia and the
members appointed from the public at large shall serve for terms of one,
two, and three years, respectively, as designated by the Governor, all
commencing July one, nineteen hundred forty-eight. Subsequent ap-
pointments, except to fill vacancies shall be for terms of three years.

It shall be the duty of the Board to advise and consult with the
State Corporation Commission upon the applications for certificates to
solicit funds in this State and to aid the Commission in such fashion as
the Commission may desire.

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association,
after July thirty-one, nineteen hundred forty-eight, to solicit any funds
in this State as herein provided without first obtaining a certificate so
to do from the Commission. Any violation hereof shall constitute a
misdemeanor.

Section 2. This act shall not apply to subscriptions or contributions
solicited by any church or other purely religious body or congregation, or
political party nor shall it apply in any case where less than one hundred
and twenty-five persons are jointly or severally solicited for subscriptions
or contributions nor shall it apply to purely business enterprises.