Relates to the business or professional activities of state employees

Title of bill

An act to amend the public officers law and the executive law, in relation to the business or professional activities of state employees

Purpose

To increase the amount of transparency from and disclosure by legislators and other public officers in their reporting of income earned outside of the legislature.

Summary of provisions

The bill makes changes to the form prescribed under the public officers law for the annual disclosure of financial information by certain public officers by requiring broader disclosure of large clients and customers, by both legislators and their firms, when those clients have business before the State. The additional information required to be provided in the annual statement form would need to be provided by every reporting individual who personally, or whose firm, earned more than $10,000 during the reporting period for which services, generally, were rendered in relation to a matter or matters before the State of New York. The annual statement of financial disclosure would be changed further so that the expanded disclosure requirement would apply not just to members of the legislature and other public officers who are either lawyers, real estate agents or brokers, or lobbyists, but, instead, to any and every member of the state legislature and other public officers who exceeded the outside earning threshold. In addition to requiring greater disclosure of outside income received by members of the legislature, the bill further requires individuals to report, with greater specificity than required under current law, the identity of their outside client(s) and the nature of the services rendered on behalf of the outside client(s), along with a particularized disclosure of the value of the outside income or fees earned by the public officer or his or her firm.

Existing law

Subdivision 3 of section 73-a of the public officers law provides for the information required to be contained in the annual statement of financial disclosure.

Justification

In its December 2013 preliminary report to the governor, the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption (the "Moreland Commission") reflected on its investigation of the influence of money in politics and the need for greater transparency and accountability in the disclosure of outside income by legislator. Furthering the public trust, promoting democracy and the accountability of elected officials to the voters required robust reform of the financial disclosure laws under which members of the legislature currently operate.

This bill incorporates recommendations made by the Moreland Commission, in its December 2013 report, to increase the required disclosure for elected officials, in order to cast aside the corruption and appearance of corruption that thrive "when actual and potential conflicts of interest are shrouded in darkness." While, as the Moreland Commission found, "many legislators earn substantial outside income, but disclose only a general description of what they do," this bill places some sunshine on that dark income by requiring broader disclosure of large clients and the work performed to earn the outside income or fees, both by legislators and their firms, when those clients or customers have business before the State of New York.

Legislative history

A new bill.

Fiscal implications

None to the state

Effective date

Immediately.