What's happening
This bill restricts lobbyists' political contributions to $250 per candidate per election and limits when state officials can accept such contributions.
Why it matters
Significantly curtails lobbyists’ influence on elections. by capping contributions to a low $250 per candidate per election, making it harder for lobbyists to sway candidates through large donations.
Narrows the window for lobbyist contributions to state officials,. allowing them only between July 1 and December 31, which reduces the potential for donations to coincide with legislative sessions or critical decision-making periods.
Imposes parallel restrictions on both lobbyists and public officials,. making it illegal not only for lobbyists to give more than the limit, but also for officials to knowingly accept or solicit contributions above this amount or outside the restricted time frame.
Enhances transparency and reduces potential conflicts of interest. by clearly delineating when and how much lobbyists can donate, helping to rebuild public trust in the integrity of state and municipal government decisions.
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
Limit Lobbyist Campaign Donations
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 26
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to ethics and internal governance
- Referred to ethics and internal governance
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2321
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 24, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KAVANAGH -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Ethics and Internal Governance
AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation to restrictions on political contributions from lobbyists
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Sections 1-u and 1-v of the legislative law, section 1-v as relettered by chapter 1 of the laws of 2005, are renumbered sections 1-w and 1-x and two new sections 1-u and 1-v are added to read as follows:
§ 1-u. Restrictions on political contributions by lobbyists. A lobbyist shall not solicit, make or transmit a contribution or a request for a contribution from or to any person, including a political committee for the benefit of a public official or party committee, for election to any state or municipal corporation office; except that a lobbyist may make a political contribution up to two hundred fifty dollars per candidate per election; provided however, that for state level public officials, such contribution may only be made between July first and December thirty-first.
§ 1-v. Restrictions on acceptance of political contributions by public officials. A public official shall not knowingly accept, solicit, or transmit a contribution or a request for a contribution for himself or herself or any public official, political committee, or candidate from or on behalf of any lobbyist regulated by this article, except that a public official may accept political contributions from a lobbyist, up to two hundred fifty dollars per election; provided however, that for state level public officials, such contribution may only be made between July first and December thirty-first.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07302-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to restrictions on political contributions from lobbyists
Purpose
The bill limits the dollar amount of political contributions that lobby- ists can give to members of the legislature and that members can receive from lobbyists, and when the contributions can be given.
Summary of provisions
The bill adds new sections 1-u and 1-v to the legislative law.
Section 1-u prohibits lobbyists from giving more than $250 per candidate per election and restricts contributions to July 1st through December 31st.
Section 1-v places the same limits on what and when public officials can accept campaign contributions from lobbyists.
Section 2 provides for the effective date.
Justification
This bill targets the large number of fundraising events held in and around the capitol attended almost exclusively by lobbyists and their clients whose interests are before the legislature. In order to restore public trust in government, this legislation would ban lobbyists from soliciting contributions and public officials from accepting contrib- utions from lobbyists during session. During the off session, lobbyists would only be able to contribute $250.00 per candidate per election.
Legislative history
2018: S7106 - REFERRED TO FINANCE 2017: S2029 - REFERRED TO FINANCE 2016: S156/A5692 - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS/ referred to governmental operations 2015: S156/A5692 - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS/ referred to governmental operations
Fiscal impact on the state
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.