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A07337 Summary:

A07337 Actions:

A07337 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A7337
 
SPONSOR: Pichardo

 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to
prohibiting lobbyists who are convicted of or plead guilty to class D
felonies or higher level crimes from acting as a lobbyist for a period
of three years from the date of the conviction
 
 
PURPOSE:  This bill would prohibit those convicted of a class D felony
or higher from lobbying for a period of three years. In addition, this
bill would allow the Joint Commission on Public Ethics ("JCOPE") to
suspend a lobbyist who has pled guilty or is convicted of a felony for

three years if the felony is deemed to substantially relate to such
person's duties or clients as a lobbyist.
 
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:  This bill amends section 1-o of the legisla-
tive law to add a new section(a) that bars a person from lobbying for
three years if they are convicted of a class D felony or higher. The
bill would apply to all crimes across the board.
 
Amends section 1-0 of the legislative law to add a new section (b) that
bars a person from lobbying for three years if they are convicted of or
plead guilty to a felony and JCOPE, upon notice determines such criminal
behavior to relate to his or her duties as a lobbyist. The bill would
apply to all crimes across the board. If a final conviction or sentence
is reduced or reversed on appeal, then such lobbyist shall be able to
re-register with the commission and re-commence lobbying.
 
 
EXISTING LAW: New legislation.
 
 

JUSTIFICATION:  In comparison to other states such as New Jersey and
Nevada, New York State's regulations on lobbying and those allowed to
register as lobbyists are lax. Recent events have outlined some gaping
holes in these regulations. Currently, New York does not provide a mech-
anism for the suspension or outright prohibition of lobbying when some-
one is convicted of serious crimes, especially crimes that indicate a
blatant lack of respect for the law. Under current New York State law,
an individual convicted of certain felonies, incarcerated or on parole
would be denied the right to vote- and yet still retain the right to
serve as a lobbyist. This is an unfortunate loophole that this bill
proposes to close by prohibiting the practice of lobbying for those
convicted of class D felonies or higher. In addition this bill gives
JCOPE the discretion to suspend lobbyists from the practice if the
crimes committed relate to such duties.
 
 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill.
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to the state.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after
it shall have become a law.

A07337 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          7337
 
                               2015-2016 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                       May 6, 2015
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. PICHARDO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Governmental Operations
 
        AN  ACT  to amend the legislative law, in relation to prohibiting lobby-
          ists who are convicted of or plead guilty to class D felonies or high-
          er level crimes from acting as a lobbyist for a period of three  years
          from the date of the conviction
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 1-o of the legislative law, as added by chapter  14
     2  of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
     3    §  1-o. Penalties. (a) Any lobbyist convicted of or pleading guilty to
     4  a class D felony or higher level crime shall be barred from acting as  a
     5  lobbyist for a period of three years from the date of the conviction.
     6    (b)  Upon  completion  the commission shall re-evaluate the suspension
     7  and determine whether or not such suspension should be extended  for  an
     8  additional  period of time. In no event shall such extension be for more
     9  than two more years.  Any  lobbyist  wishing  to  re-register  with  the
    10  commission  and  re-commence  his  or  her practice of lobbying shall be
    11  entitled to a hearing upon application to determine  if  the  suspension
    12  should be extended under this subdivision.
    13    (c)  (i) Any lobbyist, public corporation, or client who knowingly and
    14  wilfully fails to file timely a report or  statement  required  by  this
    15  section  or  knowingly and wilfully files false information or knowingly
    16  and wilfully violates section one-m of this article shall be guilty of a
    17  class A misdemeanor; and
    18    (ii) any lobbyist, public corporation, or  client  who  knowingly  and
    19  wilfully  fails  to  file  timely a report or statement required by this
    20  section or knowingly and wilfully files false information  or  knowingly
    21  and wilfully violates section one-m of this article, after having previ-
    22  ously  been convicted in the preceding five years of the crime described
    23  in paragraph (i) of this subdivision, shall be guilty of a class E felo-
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05810-01-5
        A. 7337                             2
 
     1  ny. Any lobbyist convicted of or pleading guilty to a felony  under  the
     2  provisions  of this [section] subdivision may be barred from acting as a
     3  lobbyist for a period of one year from the date of the  conviction.  For
     4  the  purposes  of  this subdivision, the chief administrative officer of
     5  any organization required to file a statement or  report  shall  be  the
     6  person responsible for making and filing such statement or report unless
     7  some other person prior to the due date thereof has been duly designated
     8  to make and file such statement or report.
     9    [(b)]  (d) (i) A lobbyist, public corporation, or client who knowingly
    10  and wilfully fails to  file  a  statement  or  report  within  the  time
    11  required  for  the  filing  of  such  report  or  knowingly and wilfully
    12  violates section one-m of this article  shall  be  subject  to  a  civil
    13  penalty  for  each such failure or violation, in an amount not to exceed
    14  the greater of twenty-five thousand dollars or three  times  the  amount
    15  the   person  failed  to  report  properly  or  unlawfully  contributed,
    16  expended, gave or received, to be assessed by the commission.
    17    (ii) A lobbyist, public  corporation,  or  client  who  knowingly  and
    18  wilfully  files  a false statement or report shall be subject to a civil
    19  penalty, in an amount not  to  exceed  the  greater  of  fifty  thousand
    20  dollars  or  five times the amount the person failed to report properly,
    21  to be assessed by the commission.
    22    (iii)(A) A lobbyist or client who knowingly and wilfully violates  the
    23  provisions  of subdivision one of section one-n of this article shall be
    24  subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten  thousand  dollars  for  an
    25  initial violation.
    26    (B)  If,  after  a  lobbyist or client has been found to have violated
    27  subdivision one of section one-n of this article, a lobbyist  or  client
    28  knowingly  and  wilfully  violates  the provisions of subdivision one of
    29  section one-n of this article within four years  of  such  finding,  the
    30  lobbyist  or  client  shall  be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed
    31  twenty-five thousand dollars.
    32    (iv) Any lobbyist or client that knowingly and wilfully fails to  file
    33  a  statement  or  report within the time required for the filing of such
    34  report, knowingly and wilfully files a false  statement  or  report,  or
    35  knowingly  and  wilfully  violates  section one-m of this article, after
    36  having been found by the commission to have knowing and wilfully commit-
    37  ted such conduct or violation  in  the  preceding  five  years,  may  be
    38  subject  to  a  determination  that the lobbyist or client is prohibited
    39  from engaging in lobbying activities, as that term is defined  in  para-
    40  graph  (v)  of  subdivision  (c) of section one-c of this article, for a
    41  period of one year.
    42    (v) Any lobbyist or client that  knowingly  and  wilfully  engages  in
    43  lobbying  activities, as that term is defined in paragraph (v) of subdi-
    44  vision (c) of section one-c of this article, during the period in  which
    45  they  are  prohibited from engaging in lobbying activities, as that term
    46  is defined in paragraph (v) of subdivision (c) of section one-c of  this
    47  article  pursuant to this subdivision, may be subject to a determination
    48  that the lobbyist or client is  prohibited  from  engaging  in  lobbying
    49  activities,  as that term is defined in paragraph (v) of subdivision (c)
    50  of section one-c of this article, for a period of up to four years,  and
    51  shall  be  subject  to  a  civil  penalty  not  to exceed fifty thousand
    52  dollars, plus a civil penalty in an amount equal to five times the value
    53  of any gift, compensation  or  benefit  received  as  a  result  of  the
    54  violation.
    55    (vi)  A  lobbyist,  public  corporation,  or  client who knowingly and
    56  wilfully fails to retain their records pursuant to  paragraph  three  of
        A. 7337                             3
 
     1  subdivision  (c)  of  section one-e of this article, subparagraph (v) of
     2  paragraph five of subdivision (b) of section one-h of this  article,  or
     3  paragraph five of subdivision (b) of section one-j of this article shall
     4  be  subject  to a civil penalty in an amount of two thousand dollars per
     5  violation to be assessed by the commission.
     6    [(c)] (e) (i) Any assessment or order to  debar  shall  be  determined
     7  only  after  a  hearing  at which the party shall be entitled to appear,
     8  present evidence and be heard. Any assessment or order to debar pursuant
     9  to this section may only be imposed after the commission sends by certi-
    10  fied and first-class mail written notice of intent to assess  a  penalty
    11  or  order  to debar and the basis for the penalty or order to debar. Any
    12  assessment may be recovered in an action brought by the attorney  gener-
    13  al.
    14    (ii)  In  assessing  any fine or penalty pursuant to this section, the
    15  commission shall consider: (A) as a mitigating factor that the lobbyist,
    16  public corporation or client has not previously been required to  regis-
    17  ter,  and  (B) as an aggravating factor that the lobbyist, public corpo-
    18  ration or client has had fines or penalties assessed against it  in  the
    19  past. The amount of compensation expended, incurred or received shall be
    20  a factor to consider in determining a proportionate penalty.
    21    (iii) Any lobbyist, public corporation or client who receives a notice
    22  of intent to assess a penalty for knowingly and wilfully failing to file
    23  a  report or statement pursuant to subdivision [(b)] (d) of this section
    24  and who has never previously received a notice of  intent  to  assess  a
    25  penalty  for  failing  to file a report or statement required under this
    26  section shall be granted fifteen days within which to file the statement
    27  of registration or report without being subject to the fine  or  penalty
    28  set  forth in subdivision [(b)] (d) of this section. Upon the failure of
    29  such lobbyist, public corporation or client to file within such  fifteen
    30  day period, such lobbyist, public corporation or client shall be subject
    31  to a fine or penalty pursuant to subdivision [(b)] (d) of this section.
    32    [(d)]  (f) All moneys recovered by the attorney general or received by
    33  the commission from the assessment of civil penalties authorized by this
    34  section shall be deposited to the general fund.
    35    § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    36  have become a law.