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History
- Referred to codes
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the executive ethics and compliance commission; to amend the legislative law, in relation to prohibition on gifts and the joint legislative commission on ethics standards; to amend the public officers law, in relation to business or professional activities by state officers and employees and party officers and the code of ethics and business dealings with lobbyists; and to repeal certain provisions of the executive law relating thereto
Purpose
This legislation provides for further reform within the Executive Ethics and Compliance Commission and Joint Legislative Commission on Ethics Standards. Specifically, legislators will no longer sit on the Joint Legislative Commission on Ethics Standards nor will elected officials have direct appointments to the commissions that supervise them. This bill also demands more transparency of its public officers with the required disclosure of attorney clients and other professions' clients within the annual financial disclosure statement. Additionally, public officers will now be required to file all business dealings with lobbyists. Civil penalties for violations by lobbyists have been increased. Finally, classes of public officers who have been exempted from the gift provisions have been eliminated.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 repeals subdivision (2) of section 94 of the Executive Law and creates a new subsection 2 which creates a designating panel to appoint the members to the executive ethics and compliance commission and provides for the makeup of such panels.
Read the full memo (898 words)
Section 2, 3 and 4 amend subdivisions 3, 5 and 7 section 94 of the Executive law to make technical corrections regarding the designating panels appointment powers.
Section 5 amends subdivision 9 of section 94 of the executive law, as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2010, to provide for an exemption for disclosure of clients on the annual disclosure form if disclosure would violate a privilege or create an unreasonable hardship.
Section 6 amends subdivision 13 of section 94 of the executive law, as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2010 to expand reporting penalty provisions to include failure to report business dealings with lobbyists and allows for greater discretionary referral powers of violations by the ethics commission.
Section 7 amends section 1-m of the legislative law to expand the prohibition of giving gifts to state officers, commissions, councils, public authorities and public benefit corporations.
Section 8 amends paragraph (ii) of subdivision (a) of section 1-o of the legislative law to increase the penalties for lobbyists that violate the lobbying laws.
Section 9 amends paragraph (iii), (iv) and (v) of subdivision (b) of section 1-o of the Legislative Law to increase the penalties for lobbyists that violate the lobbying laws.
Section 10 amends paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), and (j) of subdivision 2 of section 80 of the legislative law as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2010 to allow the governing board be appointed by the members on the joint legislative commission on ethics standards.
Section 11 amends Section 81 of the Legislative Law as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2010 create a designating panel to appoint board members for the joint legislative commission on ethics standards and includes prohibitions on disclosure of clients on financial disclosure forms when doing so would violate a privilege.
Section 12 amends subdivision 19 of section 73 of the public officers law, as added by chapter 14 of the laws of 2007 and renumbered by a chapter of the laws of 2010 to allow for greater discretionary referral powers of violations by the ethics commission.
Section 13 amends Subdivision 3 of section 73-a of the public officers law, amended by a chapter of the laws of 2010 amends financial disclosures to include attorney-client disclosures.
Section 14 adds a new section 74-b to the public officers law requiring reporting of business dealings with lobbyists.
Section 15 contains a separability clause.
Section 16 contains the effective dates.
Existing law
This act amends Section 94 of the executive law. Section 1-m, 1-o as well as sections 80 and 81 of the legislative law are amended. Section 73 and 73-a of the public officers law are amended and a new section, 74-b, is added to the public officers law.
Justification
This legislation improves upon the reforms made by S.6457 to further ensure that all elected officials, public employees and those who seek to influence government face further scrutiny. This bill also eliminates blanket exemptions of disclosure currently available to elected officials. Elected officials will now have to disclose all their clients as well as any business dealings they may have with lobbyists. The creation of designating panels to select members to the ethical oversight commissions that enforce the disclosure requirements of elected officials ensures more independence. These needed and important reforms will transform New York government and improve how the state is governed.
Legislative history
This is new legislation.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect January 1, 2011; provided, however, that sections one, two, three, four, five, six, ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen of this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a chapter of laws of 2010 amending the executive law and other laws relating to governmental ethics and compliance, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.6457 and A.9544, takes effect.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.