Establishes new contribution limits, expands the types of organizations prohibited from making contributions and aggregates certain contributions

3 Co-sponsors

• Liz Krueger
• José M. Serrano
• Toby Ann Stavisky

Title of bill

An act to amend the election law, in relation to establishing new contribution limits, expanding the types of organizations prohibited from making contributions and aggregating certain contributions

Purpose of bill

To establish new limits on political contributions and expand upon the types of organizations prohibited from making political contributions under current laws as well as to aggregate certain other types of contributions.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of the bill amends section 14-100 of the election law by adding three new subdivisions (12-14) to ensure that various corporate forms-related limited liability companies and related limited liability partnerships, as well as partnerships and limited liability companies (LLCs)-are covered by contribution limits, and defines "single source" to clarify that individuals and the corporate entities they control are considered to be a single entity for the purpose of contributions.

Section 2 of the bill amends 14-116 of the election law to apply the $5,000 contribution limit to all additional business entities, including limited liability companies (LLCs), and bans all contributions from corporate summaries.

Section 3 of the bill amends subdivision 2 of section 14-120 of the election law, as added by chapter 79 of the laws of 1992, to apply the $5,000 contribution limit to partnership, related corporations, and LLCs.

Section 4 of the bill adds a severability clause.

Section 5 of the bill establishes the effective date.

Justification

It is widely believed that our campaign finance laws need substantial changes to ensure the integrity of elections in our state. This bill does not address the broad range of issues that might be addressed in a comprehensive reform package. However, this bill would close an enormous loophole in the current system by clarifying that separate LLCs and partnerships and the individuals that control these corporate entities, are considered a single source for the purposes of the maximum allowable contribution to a political campaign. since a single individual or a small group of individuals often control multiple corporate entities-in some cases a very large number of such entities-the treatment of these entities as separate contributors effectively allows one or more individuals to make a virtually unlimited amount of campaign contributions. This bill would correct this by attributing contributions from these entities to the members of the LLC, in the same way the law currently attributes contributions from partnerships to the individual partners. The bill also makes limited liability companies and related limited liability partnerships subject to the same restrictions to ensure that the contribution limitations cannot be easily circumvented.

Legislative history

None.

Fiscal impact on the state

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that all amendments to article 14 of the election law made by this act, which establish new contribution limits, shall take effect January 1, 2011; provided, further, that contributions legally received prior to the effective date of this act may be retained and expended for lawful purposes and shall not provide the basis for a violation of article 14 of the election law, as amended by this act; and provided, further, that the state board of elections shall notify all candidates and political committees of the applicable provisions of this act within thirty days after this act shall have become a law.