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
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 and the penal law, in relation to penalties for unlawful campaign contributions to party or constituted committees
Purpose
To enhance penalties for certain solicitations of political contributions for unlawful purposes.
Summary of provisions
Section one adds a new subdivision to the election law to make punishable as a class D felony any person who solicits a contribution to any political committee for the benefit of a candidate to whom a direct contribution of such amount is unlawful.
Section two adds this conduct to the definition of "transaction" under the penal code definition of money laundering.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Existing law
§ 2. Subdivision 3 of section 470.00 of the penal law is amended to include any act prohibited by section 14-126 of the election law, except that "transaction" shall not include payments to attorneys for legal services.
Justification
It is unlawful to contribute money any political committee for the benefit of a specific candidate to whom one can't donate money directly, and it is further unlawful to attempt to hide the identity of a donor. This legislation will further criminalize this egregious behavior by punishing with a class D felony those individuals who solicit and direct these unlawful contributions in violation of contribution limits in the election law. Any "straw" contributions directed in this manner will also qualify as money laundering pursuant to this legislation.
Enhancing the penalty for this conduct to a class D felony will further punish and deter individuals from attempting to circumvent legal contributions limits in this manner.
Legislative history
None
Fiscal implications
None
Local fiscal implications
None
Effective date
To take effect immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.