Personal income taxes: voluntary contributions: California Youth Leadership Fund.

The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds. This bill would additionally allow individuals to designate on their tax returns that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the California Youth Leadership Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would require money in that fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature and depending on the amount of donations collected, to be allocated to specified nonprofit civic youth organizations as annual grants to operate civic education and mock legislative programs, as prescribed, and the balance of the money to the California YMCA Youth and Government Program, for the purpose of funding the activities of the California YMCA Youth and Government Model Legislature and Court Program and to the Joint Committee on Rules of the Legislature, for the purposes of funding the activities of the California Youth Legislature, as prescribed. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board, when another voluntary contribution designation is removed, to revise the form of tax returns to provide for the designation created by this bill, and would allow, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Franchise Tax Board, and the Controller to receive a portion of the funds designated to cover costs incurred in collecting and administering the funds. The bill would provide that these provisions would remain in effect only until January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the first appearance of the California Youth Leadership Fund on the tax return, but would further provide that if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will not equal or exceed the minimum contribution amount, as defined, for the calendar year, these provisions would be repealed with respect to taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of that calendar year. This bill would become operative only if Senate Bill 516 of the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature is chaptered and becomes operative.