What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to elections
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to corporate political contributions
In Assembly Committee · Election Law · Sponsor Luis R. Sepúlveda
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the election law, in relation to corporate political contributions
Purpose
To ensure political expenditures and contributions of corporations reflect the desires of shareholders, and to provide transparency and accountability.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends subdivision 2 of section 14-116 of the election law by adding four new paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) providing:
(a) Corporations shall not spend any resources on political campaigns and candidates without showing a prior majority vote of shareholders authorizing political spending by management and expressing the partisan political preferences of the shareholders.
(b) All corporate political expenditures or contributions must be posted on the company website within 48 hours.
(c) If a majority of a company's shares are owned by large institutional investors that cannot take political positions, the corporation shall not make political expenditures or contributions.
(d) Shareholders have the right to request a pro rata rebate for the portion of their investments spent by the corporation on any political expenditures and contributions they disagree with.
Section 2 provides this act shall take effect immediately.
Existing law
Corporations can spend their resources to influence election outcomes.
Justification
Unchecked, the principle of corporate personhood poses an existential threat to our democracy. Corporations can effectively squeeze ordinary people out of the political process. It is therefore imperative to ensure, at the minimum, that corporate expenditures and contributions reflect the desires of shareholders, i.e., the actual people who comprise a corporation. Corporations should be subjected to at least the same level of regulation as labor unions.
Legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None
Local fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.