Relates to compensation of members of the legislature; provides each member shall receive compensation in an amount equal to the salary of the members of the United States Congress for the same calendar year; prohibits members of the legislature from receiving outside earned income which exceeds fifteen percent of the gross annual salary of members.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5002
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 6, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL, LIFTON -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation to compensation of
members of the legislature and prohibiting members of the legislature
from receiving certain outside income
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 1 of section 5 of the
2 legislative law, as amended by chapter 635 of the laws of 1998, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 Effective January first, [nineteen hundred ninety-nine] two thousand
5 eighteen, each member of the legislature shall receive a salary [of
6 seventy-nine thousand five hundred dollars per annum] in an amount equal
7 to the salary of the members of the United States Congress. Such salary
8 of a member of the legislature shall be payable in twenty-six bi-weekly
9 installments provided, however, that if legislative passage of the budg-
10 et as defined in subdivision three of this section has not occurred
11 prior to the first day of any fiscal year, the net amount of any such
12 bi-weekly salary installment payments to be paid on or after such day
13 shall be withheld and not paid until such legislative passage of the
14 budget has occurred whereupon bi-weekly salary installment payments
15 shall resume and an amount equal to the accrued, withheld and unpaid
16 installments shall be promptly paid to each member.
17 § 2. The legislative law is amended by adding a new section 5-b to
18 read as follows:
19 § 5-b. Prohibition on outside earned income for members. 1. Starting
20 in calendar year two thousand eighteen, a member of the legislature may
21 not have outside earned income attributable to such year which exceeds
22 fifteen percent of the gross annual salary of members of the legisla-
23 ture, pursuant to section five of this article.
24 2. a. For the purposes of this section, the term "outside earned
25 income" includes, but is not limited to, wages, salaries, fees, and
26 other forms of compensation for services actually rendered.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09470-01-7
A. 5002 2
1 b. For the purposes of this section, the term "outside earned income"
2 does not include:
3 (1) salary, benefits, and allowances paid by New York state;
4 (2) income attributable to service with the military reserves or
5 national guard;
6 (3) income from pensions and other continuing benefits attributable to
7 previous employment or services;
8 (4) income from investment activities, where the member's services are
9 not a material factor in the production of income;
10 (5) income from a trade or business in which the member or their fami-
11 ly holds a controlling interest, where the member's services are not a
12 material factor in the production of income;
13 (6) copyright royalties, fees, and their functional equivalent, from
14 the use or sale of copyright, patent and similar forms of intellectual
15 property rights, when received from established users or purchasers of
16 those rights; and
17 (7) compensation for services actually rendered prior to January
18 first, two thousand eighteen, or prior to being sworn in as a member of
19 the legislature.
20 3. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary,
21 members of the legislature are prohibited from:
22 a. receiving compensation for affiliating with or being employed by a
23 firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other entity that
24 provides professional services involving a fiduciary relationship,
25 except for the practice of medicine;
26 b. permitting their name to be used by such a firm, partnership, asso-
27 ciation, corporation, or other entity;
28 c. receiving compensation for practicing a profession that involves a
29 fiduciary relationship except for the practice of medicine;
30 d. receiving compensation as an officer or member of the board of an
31 association, corporation, or other entity;
32 e. receiving compensation for teaching, without prior notification to
33 and approval from the legislative ethics commission;
34 f. receiving advance payments on copyright royalties, fees, and their
35 functional equivalents.
36 4. A member of the legislature who knowingly and willfully violates
37 the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty in an
38 amount not to exceed forty thousand dollars. Assessment of a civil
39 penalty shall be made by the legislative ethics commission. The legisla-
40 tive ethics commission, acting pursuant to subdivision eleven of section
41 eighty of this chapter, may, in lieu of or in addition to a civil penal-
42 ty, refer a violation to the appropriate prosecutor and upon such
43 conviction, but only after such referral, such violation shall be
44 punishable as a class A misdemeanor.
45 § 3. Subdivision 7 of section 80 of the legislative law is amended by
46 adding a new paragraph f-1 to read as follows:
47 f-1. Promulgate guidelines for members of the legislature to request
48 permission from the commission to accept compensation for teaching, and
49 promulgate guidelines for the commission to evaluate and issue a deter-
50 mination for such requests;
51 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 9 of section 80 of the legislative
52 law, as amended by section 9 of part A of chapter 399 of the laws of
53 2011, is amended to read as follows:
54 (a) An individual subject to the jurisdiction of the commission with
55 respect to the imposition of penalties who knowingly and intentionally
56 violates the provisions of subdivisions two through five-a, seven,
A. 5002 3
1 eight, twelve, fourteen or fifteen of section seventy-three of the
2 public officers law or section five-b of this chapter or a reporting
3 individual who knowingly and wilfully fails to file an annual statement
4 of financial disclosure or who knowingly and wilfully with intent to
5 deceive makes a false statement or gives information which such individ-
6 ual knows to be false on such statement of financial disclosure filed
7 pursuant to section seventy-three-a of the public officers law shall be
8 subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed forty thousand
9 dollars and the value of any gift, compensation or benefit received as a
10 result of such violation. Any such individual who knowingly and inten-
11 tionally violates the provisions of paragraph a, b, c, d, e, g, or i of
12 subdivision three of section seventy-four of the public officers law
13 shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed ten thou-
14 sand dollars and the value of any gift, compensation or benefit received
15 as a result of such violation. Assessment of a civil penalty hereunder
16 shall be made by the commission with respect to persons subject to its
17 jurisdiction. In assessing the amount of the civil penalties to be
18 imposed, the commission shall consider the seriousness of the violation,
19 the amount of gain to the individual and whether the individual previ-
20 ously had any civil or criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this
21 section, and any other factors the commission deems appropriate. For a
22 violation of this section, other than for conduct which constitutes a
23 violation of subdivision twelve, fourteen or fifteen of section seven-
24 ty-three or section seventy-four of the public officers law, the legis-
25 lative ethics commission may, in lieu of or in addition to a civil
26 penalty, refer a violation to the appropriate prosecutor and upon such
27 conviction, but only after such referral, such violation shall be
28 punishable as a class A misdemeanor. Where the commission finds suffi-
29 cient cause, it shall refer such matter to the appropriate prosecutor. A
30 civil penalty for false filing may not be imposed hereunder in the event
31 a category of "value" or "amount" reported hereunder is incorrect unless
32 such reported information is falsely understated. Notwithstanding any
33 other provision of law to the contrary, no other penalty, civil or crim-
34 inal may be imposed for a failure to file, or for a false filing, of
35 such statement, or a violation of subdivision six of section seventy-
36 three of the public officers law, except that the appointing authority
37 may impose disciplinary action as otherwise provided by law. The legis-
38 lative ethics commission shall be deemed to be an agency within the
39 meaning of article three of the state administrative procedure act and
40 shall adopt rules governing the conduct of adjudicatory proceedings and
41 appeals taken pursuant to a proceeding commenced under article seventy-
42 eight of the civil practice law and rules relating to the assessment of
43 the civil penalties herein authorized. Such rules, which shall not be
44 subject to the promulgation and hearing requirements of the state admin-
45 istrative procedure act, shall provide for due process procedural mech-
46 anisms substantially similar to those set forth in such article three
47 but such mechanisms need not be identical in terms or scope. Assessment
48 of a civil penalty shall be final unless modified, suspended or vacated
49 within thirty days of imposition, with respect to the assessment of such
50 penalty, or unless such denial of request is reversed within such time
51 period, and upon becoming final shall be subject to review at the
52 instance of the affected reporting individuals in a proceeding commenced
53 against the legislative ethics commission, pursuant to article seventy-
54 eight of the civil practice law and rules.
55 § 5. This act shall take effect January 1, 2018.
