Restricts certain corporations from participating or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A623
SPONSOR: Paulin (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the tax law, in relation to limita-
tions on political activity
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To codify the federal prohibition on not-for-profit corporations partic-
ipating or intervening in political campaigns.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 1116 of the tax law to provide that a corpo-
ration of any kind to which this chapter applies shall not participate
in, or intervene in, any political campaign on behalf of or in oppo-
sition to any candidate for public office. The provisions of this para-
graph regarding political campaign activity shall be interpreted in the
same manner as section 501(c)(3) of the United States internal revenue
code has been interpreted as of the effective date of the chapter of the
laws of two thousand eighteen that amended this paragraph.
Section two provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Johnson Amendment to 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code
provides that a 501(c)(3) organization, which is exempt from taxation,
may not "participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or
distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in
opposition to) any candidate for public office." While this critical
protection has been in place since the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was
enacted, there have been efforts by Congress to repeal it.
Repeal of the Johnson Amendment would politicize non-profits, including
religious organizations, which would then be able to endorse candidates
and make donations to campaigns. The vast majority of religious organ-
izations and non-profits oppose the repeal, including more than 100
faith groups and more than 5,700 nonprofits which have signed letters to
Congress expressing their opposition(1).
Codifying the Johnson Amendment into New York law will ensure that,
should Congress repeal it, not-for-profit corporations in our state
would still be prohibited from engaging in political activity.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2018: Referred to Ways & Means / S.8366A Committed to Elections
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
