Relates to reporting of certain independent expenditures and penalties for failing to report such expenditures; includes certain communications which use language or imagery substantially associated with a candidate's campaign, platform, background, or publicly stated positions, such that a reasonable viewer would understand the communication as designed to influence the outcome of such general, special, or primary election in the definition of independent expenditure.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10663--A
IN SENATE
July 15, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to independent expendi-
tures
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 14-107 of
2 election law, as amended by chapter 595 of the laws of 2025, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 (a) "Independent expenditure" means an expenditure made by an inde-
5 pendent expenditure committee in the form of (i) an audio or video
6 communication via broadcast, cable or satellite, (ii) a written communi-
7 cation via advertisements, pamphlets, circulars, flyers, brochures,
8 letterheads or (iii) other published statements, where such expenditure
9 is conveyed to five hundred or more members of a general public audi-
10 ence, or in the form of any paid internet or digital advertisement
11 targeted to fifty or more members of a general public audience, or in
12 the form of a public-facing website, which: (i) irrespective of when
13 such communication is made, contains words such as "vote," "oppose,"
14 "support," "elect," "defeat," or "reject," which call for the election
15 or defeat of the clearly identified candidate, (ii) refers to and advo-
16 cates for or against a clearly identified candidate or ballot proposal
17 on or after January first of the year of the election in which such
18 candidate is seeking office or such proposal shall appear on the ballot,
19 or (iii) within sixty days before a general or special election for the
20 office sought by the candidate or thirty days before a primary
21 election[,]:
22 (A) includes or references a clearly identified candidate;
23 (B) uses such candidate's name, voice, likeness, or another descriptor
24 that would be understood by a reasonable viewer to refer to such candi-
25 date; or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15921-03-6
S. 10663--A 2
1 (C) regardless of whether the communication identifies or references a
2 clearly identified candidate, uses language or imagery substantially
3 associated with a candidate's campaign, platform, background, or public-
4 ly stated positions, such that a reasonable viewer would understand the
5 communication as designed to influence the outcome of such general,
6 special, or primary election. An independent expenditure shall not
7 include communications where such candidate, the candidate's political
8 committee or its agents, a party committee or its agents, or a consti-
9 tuted committee or its agents or a political committee formed to promote
10 the success or defeat of a ballot proposal or its agents, did authorize,
11 request, suggest, foster or cooperate in such communication.
12 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 14-107 of election law is amended by
13 adding two new paragraphs (h) and (i) to read as follows:
14 (h) For purposes of this section, "entity" means a corporation, limit-
15 ed liability company, partnership, limited liability partnership, unin-
16 corporated business entity, political committee, political party, party
17 committee, constituted committee, labor organization, association, club,
18 or other organization.
19 (i) For purposes of this section, "true source" refers to when an
20 individual uses such individual's personal assets and income, or when an
21 entity uses monies received in commercial transactions in the ordinary
22 course of such entity's regular trade, business, or investments, or when
23 an entity uses membership or union dues belonging to the entity that do
24 not exceed five thousand dollars from any one individual or entity in a
25 calendar year.
26 § 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 4 of section 14-107 of the election
27 law, as amended by section 4 of part A of chapter 286 of the laws of
28 2016, is amended and two new paragraphs (c) and (d) are added to read as
29 follows:
30 (b) The disclosures required by paragraph (a) of this subdivision
31 shall include, in addition to any other information required by law:
32 (i) the name, address, occupation and employer of the person making
33 the statement;
34 (ii) For each expenditure or payment made: (1) the dollar amount paid
35 for each independent expenditure, the name and address of the person or
36 entity receiving the payment, the date the payment was made and a
37 description of the independent expenditure;
38 (2) the election to which the independent expenditure pertains and the
39 name of the [clearly identified] candidate or the ballot proposal refer-
40 enced and whether the candidate or ballot proposal is supported or
41 opposed; and
42 (3) A list of all expenditures made by and liabilities incurred for
43 services rendered during the relevant reporting period.
44 (iii) For each contribution received the name, address, occupation and
45 employer of any person providing a contribution, gift, loan, advance or
46 deposit of one thousand dollars or more for the independent expenditure,
47 or the provision of services for the same and the date it was given.
48 (iv) for each entity that has contributed one thousand dollars or more
49 in the aggregate to the independent expenditure committee:
50 (1) the name and employer of each individual who exerts operational or
51 managerial influence or control over such entity, including at least one
52 natural person; and
53 (2) if such entity contributed fifty thousand dollars or more to such
54 committee in the twelve months preceding the election to which an inde-
55 pendent expenditure made by such committee pertains:
S. 10663--A 3
1 (A) the identity of any entity or individual who contributed twenty-
2 five thousand dollars or more to such entity in the twelve months
3 preceding the election;
4 (B) for each further entity identified under subclause (A) of this
5 clause, the identity of any entity or individual who contributed twen-
6 ty-five thousand dollars or more to such further entity in the twelve
7 months preceding the election, as well as the name and employer of each
8 individual who exerts operational or managerial influence or control
9 over such further entity, including at least one natural person, contin-
10 uing in the same manner for each entity so identified;
11 (C) the dollar amount that each individual or entity identified under
12 subclauses (A) and (B) of this clause contributed; and
13 (D) for each entity described in or identified under this clause for
14 which no contributor is identified under this clause, a statement of
15 whether such entity was the true source of the funds it contributed or
16 instead served, in whole or in part, as an intermediary for funds origi-
17 nating with another individual or entity.
18 For purposes of this paragraph and paragraph (c) of this subdivision,
19 all funds that an entity receives from another individual or entity,
20 other than funds of which it is the true source and loans made in the
21 regular course of the lender's business, shall be treated as contributed
22 by such individual or entity.
23 (c) An independent expenditure committee that receives a contribution
24 from an entity described in clause two of subparagraph (iv) of paragraph
25 (b) of this subdivision shall not use such contribution, directly or
26 indirectly, for independent expenditures until such time as such commit-
27 tee has disclosed all of the information required by subparagraph (iv)
28 of paragraph (b) of this subdivision to the state board of elections.
29 Such committee shall further be barred from making any independent
30 expenditure that would reduce its funds on hand below the total of such
31 contributions that have yet to be disclosed pursuant to subparagraph
32 (iv) of paragraph (b) of this subdivision.
33 (d) No individual or entity shall structure, or assist in structuring,
34 any contribution, transfer, or other transaction, and no individual or
35 entity shall establish or use any entity, for the purpose of evading the
36 requirements of this section.
37 § 4. Subdivision 8 of section 14-107 of the election law, as added by
38 section 5 of part A of chapter 286 of the laws of 2016, is amended to
39 read as follows:
40 8. (a) All criminal liability related to this section shall require
41 knowing and willful violations in accordance with section 14-126 of this
42 article.
43 (b) A [knowing and willful] violation of the provisions of subdivi-
44 sions three and four of this section shall subject the person to a civil
45 penalty [equal to five thousand dollars] of up to one million dollars
46 per day of the violation or the cost of the communication, whichever is
47 greater, and a knowing and willful violation of such provisions shall
48 subject the person to a civil penalty of up to five million dollars per
49 day of the violation or the cost of the communication, whichever is
50 greater, which shall be recovered in a special proceeding or civil
51 action brought by the state board of elections chief enforcement coun-
52 sel. No penalty shall be imposed under this paragraph for the omission
53 of information required by clause two of subparagraph (iv) of paragraph
54 (b) of subdivision four of this section while the independent expendi-
55 ture committee complies with paragraph (c) of subdivision four of this
56 section.
S. 10663--A 4
1 § 5. Subdivision 3 of section 14-126 of the election law, as amended
2 by chapter 87 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
3 3. (a) Any person who falsely identifies or [knowingly] fails to iden-
4 tify any independent expenditure as required by subdivision two of
5 section 14-107 of this article or any political communication as
6 required in section 14-106 of this article shall be subject to a civil
7 penalty up to [one thousand dollars] one million dollars per day of the
8 violation or up to the cost of the communication, whichever is greater,
9 in a special proceeding or civil action brought by the state board of
10 elections chief enforcement counsel pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdi-
11 vision five of section 3-104 of this chapter. For purposes of this
12 subdivision, the term "person" shall mean a person, group of persons,
13 corporation, unincorporated business entity, labor organization or busi-
14 ness, trade or professional association or organization or political
15 committee.
16 (b) Any person who knowingly and willfully falsely identifies or
17 knowingly and willfully fails to identify any independent expenditure as
18 required by subdivision two of section 14-107 of this article or any
19 political communication as required in section 14-106 of this article
20 shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to five million dollars per
21 day of the knowing and willful violation, or up to the cost of the
22 communication, whichever is greater, in a special proceeding or civil
23 action brought by the state board of elections chief enforcement counsel
24 pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision five of section 3-104 of this
25 chapter. For purposes of this subdivision, the term "person" shall mean
26 a person, group of persons, corporation, unincorporated business entity,
27 labor organization or business, trade or professional association or
28 organization or political committee.
29 (c) Such chief enforcement counsel shall further be empowered to
30 pursue injunctive relief to enjoin an unlawful disclosure or communi-
31 cation described in this subdivision.
32 (d) Where a person knowingly and willfully falsely identifies or know-
33 ingly and willfully fails to identify any independent expenditure as
34 required by subdivision two of section 14-107 of this article or any
35 political communication as required in section 14-106 of this article
36 and an individual is injured thereby, such individual may bring an
37 action for actual damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, reason-
38 able attorneys fees and costs, and other such remedies as a court may
39 deem appropriate.
40 § 6. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision,
41 section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent
42 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
43 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
44 to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof
45 directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have
46 been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature
47 that this act would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions
48 had not been included herein.
49 § 7. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
50 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
51 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
52 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
53 on or before such effective date.
