A charity in name only?

If a charity claimed to provide scholarships and held a huge gala dinner every year to raise money but didn’t give away a dime, it’s a pretty good bet New York authorities would have some questions — all the more so if the group was doing its fundraising in the shadow of the state Capitol.

But when such a group is run by New York state legislators, the state seems to be curiously incurious.

This past weekend marked the annual conference of the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators, the nonprofit arm of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. Package tickets for the conference were priced at $445. A sponsorship cost $10,000.

The Sunday night gala, the centerpiece of the weekend, cost $225 a person. Here’s how the association’s website describes it:

“The Dinner Gala is the NYSABPRL major fundraising source, because NYSABPRL founders believed — and its current leadership is committed to the belief — that the common good and general welfare of any community are best promoted by providing access to higher education for aspiring students in need of economic assistance to achieve their dream of earning a college degree and becoming successful leaders and role models in our community. Towards that end, NYSABPRL scholarships provides financial assistance to students selected by its members, from across the state, from the net proceeds of tickets sold for its Annual Scholarship Dinner Gala.”

Sounds good, except the association didn’t give out a single scholarship last year, as far as its treasurer, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, could recall when the Times Union asked him about it in December. It’s unclear if it gave students any aid the year before, either. Or whether it will this year. Officials of the group refuse to talk about it.

The group typically takes in more than $500,000 a year, largely from the dinner. But a Times Union look at the association’s finances in 2017 found that it had shared less than 10 percent of its revenue. In 2015, the last time it was known to have given out money, it was less than 6 percent. That’s far from the minimum 30 to 35 percent that charitable groups are expected to devote to their stated purpose. The group in 2015 said it would double the amount of scholarships, but that doesn’t appear to have happened.

One would expect this sort of track record to raise red flags with state attorney general’s charities bureau — which doesn’t appear to have even received an annual report from the association since 2015. But there is no indication the state has taken an interest in the group’s finances.

To not question whether a half-million dollars a year or more in charitable contributions are being spent properly is a disservice to every donor, to all the young people for whom the scholarships are intended, and to every nonprofit out there that does have to play by the rules or be held accountable by state watchdogs. Attorney General Letitia James should make it clear that no nonprofit is above the law — even one run by lawmakers.