What's happening
This bill prohibits the use of campaign funds to pay legal fees for most civil or criminal actions against candidates or officials.
Why it matters
Limits personal benefit from campaign donations. By prohibiting the use of campaign funds for most legal defenses, the bill restricts candidates and officials from treating campaign accounts as a personal legal safety net, reinforcing the idea that campaign contributions should serve electoral—not personal—purposes.
Raises the bar for financial accountability and transparency. The measure seeks to reduce the risk of misuse or misreporting of campaign expenses, potentially decreasing opportunities for corruption or the appearance that political donors are indirectly funding the private legal troubles of politicians.
Narrowly defines exceptions to the rule. The only permitted use of campaign funds for legal fees is for civil actions under Article Sixteen of the Election Law (typically election-related matters), ensuring funds are available for legitimate campaign-related legal needs but not for broader personal or criminal issues.
May influence candidate behavior and public trust. By removing a financial shield for legal troubles, the bill could deter unethical conduct among public officials and candidates, while also aiming to rebuild public confidence in the political process by showing campaign funds are less likely to be misused.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Campaign Cash for Legal Fees
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to elections
- 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.
Ban Campaign Funds for Legal Fees
In Assembly Committee · Election Law · Sponsor Charles Lavine
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
88
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 4, 2017
Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN, ADDABBO, AVELLA, DILAN, KRUEGER, LATIMER, PERKINS, SQUADRON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 14-130 of the election law is amended by adding a new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
7. No campaign funds shall be used to pay attorney's fees or any costs of defending against any civil or criminal action, investigation or prosecution for alleged violations of state or federal law alleged to have been committed by a candidate, public or party official, members of their immediate family or domestic partner unless such expenditure is used exclusively for costs related to civil actions instituted pursuant to article sixteen of this chapter.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the state board of elections shall notify all registered campaign committees of the applicable provisions of this act within thirty days after this act shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05306-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the election law, in relation to the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees
Purpose
The purpose of this legislation is to explicitly prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees or other costs associated with criminal or civil litigation.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends section 14-130 of the election law to expressly prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees or costs of defending against civil or criminal investigation or prosecution for alleged violations of state or federal law. The only exception would be for costs related to civil actions for alleged violations of Article 16 of the Election Law.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
Justification
Currently, New York's election law, allowing candidates to spend campaign funds for "any lawful purpose," is among the most lax in the nation. While spending campaign funds for personal use is technically prohibited, the lack of any definition for what constitutes a personal use renders the provision meaningless. This shortcoming in the law is striking when compared to the detailed restrictions issued by the Federal Election Commission.
Campaign donors have a reasonable expectation that their contributions will be used for the candidate's election efforts and the execution of his or her duties. They do not expect their contributions to subsidize attorney's fees or litigation costs that have nothing to do with the nomination or election of the candidate to whom they made a donation. This legislation would therefore clarify that campaign funds may not be used for this purpose while preserving candidates' ability to use campaign funds for legal fees directly involved with nomination or election to office.
Legislative history
S.338-A of 2015-2016 (Hoylman): Died in Elections (2015)/Died in Investigations & Government Operations (2016) A.9331 of 2016 (Lavine): Died in Election Law S.5094 of 2013-2014 (O'Brien): Died in Elections
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the state board of elections shall notify all registered campaign committees of the applicable provisions of this act within thirty days after this act shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.