Section 2650.20  Recognition

The following conditions shall regulate any petition drive for any charitable organization seeking to become a qualified charitable organization.

a)         Representatives of non-qualified organizations shall be entitled to use public access areas of an agency to set up information dissemination points and to request employee and annuitant participation in petition drives.

b)         It is the responsibility of any operating agency to verify through the Corporate Division of the Office of the Secretary of State the validity of a non-qualified charitable organization conducting a petition drive to determine whether such organization is chartered as a not-for-profit (501(c)(3)) corporation in the State of Illinois and to verify that the charitable organization has filed required periodic reports with the office of the Attorney General as provided in the Solicitation for Charity Act [225 ILCS 460] and to verify if the organization's petition forms have been approved by the Office of the Comptroller.

c)         Qualify for direct withholding as provided in the Act.

d)         No agency shall discriminate against any charitable organization seeking recognition unless that organization has not filed as a non-profit corporation with the Office of the Secretary of State.

e)         No employee or annuitant shall circulate any petition on behalf of any charitable organization during working hours in the work place.

(Source:  Amended at 26 Ill. Reg. 5761, effective April 4, 2002)