A08304 Summary:
| BILL NO | A08304A |
| SAME AS | No same as |
| SPONSOR | Silver (MS) |
| COSPNSR | O'Donnell |
| MLTSPNSR | |
| Add Part A S3-a, Chap of 2011 (as proposed in S.5679 and A.8301); amd S73-a, Pub Off L; amd S94, Exec L; amd SS1-h & 80, Leg L | |
| Enacts chapter amendment making technical corrections to provisions within the public integrity reform act of 2011 relating to the joint commission on public ethics and legislative ethics commission. | |
A08304 Actions:
| BILL NO | A08304A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 06/10/2011 | referred to governmental operations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 06/17/2011 | amend (t) and recommit to governmental operations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 06/17/2011 | print number 8304a | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 01/04/2012 | referred to governmental operations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A08304 Memo:
Go to topNEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend part A of a chapter of the laws of 2011, establishing the public integrity reform act of 2011, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.5679 and A.8301, in relation to making technical corrections thereto; and to amend the executive law, in relation to the joint commission on public ethics and the legislative law, in relation to the legislative ethics commission and reports by lobbyists PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF THE BILL: Makes technical and conforming changes to the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 (A.8301). SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Legislative employees who are not subject to the financial disclosure provisions of section 73-a of the public officers law would have to file their financial disclosure state- ment with the Legislative Ethics Commission who would provide the state- ment to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics for filing on or before the first day of March. Makes multiple technical corrections pertaining to legislative candi- dates to clarify who has jurisdiction over the candidates in certain circumstances. The Legislative Ethics Commission may delegate review of financial disclosure forms to the Executive Director of the Legislative Ethics Commission. JUSTIFICATION: This chapter amendment would clarify provisions of the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011. PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:; New bill. FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None. EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as part A of a chapter of the laws of 2011 establishing the public integrity reform act of 2011, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5679 and A. 8301, takes effect.
A08304 Text:
Go to topSTATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8304--A 2011-2012 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY June 10, 2011 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SILVER, O'DONNELL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend part A of a chapter of the laws of 2011, establishing the public integrity reform act of 2011, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.5679 and A.8301, in relation to making technical corrections thereto; and to amend the executive law, in relation to the joint commission on public ethics and the legislative law, in relation to the legislative ethics commission and reports by lobbyists The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Part A of a chapter of the laws of 2011 establishing the 2 public integrity reform act of 2011, as proposed in legislative bills 3 numbers S.5679 and A.8301, is amended by adding a new section 3-a to 4 read as follows: 5 § 3-a. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 6 of section 73 of the public 6 officers law is relettered paragraph (d) and a new paragraph (c) is 7 added to read as follows: 8 (c) Every legislative employee not subject to the provisions of 9 section seventy-three-a of this article shall file such statement pursu- 10 ant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision with the legislative ethics 11 commission which shall provide such statement to the joint commission on 12 public ethics for filing on or before the first day of March. 13 § 2. The opening paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of 14 section 73-a of the public officers law, as amended by section 5 of part 15 A of a chapter of the laws of 2011 establishing the public integrity 16 reform act of 2011, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5679 and 17 A. 8301, is amended to read as follows: 18 Every statewide elected official, state officer or employee, member of 19 the legislature, legislative employee and political party chairman and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13085-04-1A. 8304--A 2 1 every candidate for statewide elected office or for member of the legis- 2 lature shall file an annual statement of financial disclosure containing 3 the information and in the form set forth in subdivision three of this 4 section. On or before the fifteenth day of May with respect to the 5 preceding calendar year: (1) every member of the legislature[, every6candidate for member of the legislature] and legislative employee who is 7 subject to the provisions of this section, shall file such statement 8 with the legislative ethics commission which shall provide such state- 9 ment along with any requests for exemptions or deletions to the joint 10 commission on public ethics for filing and rulings with respect to such 11 requests for exemptions or deletions, on or before the thirtieth day of 12 June; and (2) all other individuals required to file such statement 13 shall file it with the joint commission on public ethics, except that: 14 § 3. Subparagraph (ix) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 15 73-a of the public officers law, as added by section 5 of part A of a 16 chapter of the laws of 2011 establishing the public integrity reform act 17 of 2011, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5679 and A. 8301, 18 is amended to read as follows: 19 (ix) [with respect to all candidates for member of the legislature,20the legislative ethics commission shall within five days of receipt21provide the joint commission on public ethics the statement filed pursu-22ant to subparagraphs (v), (vi), (vii) and (viii) of this paragraph] 23 every candidate for member of the legislature who is required to file 24 such statement pursuant to subparagraphs (v), (vi), (vii) and (viii) of 25 this paragraph, shall file such statement with the legislative ethics 26 commission which shall provide such statement along with any requests 27 for exemptions or deletions to the joint commission on public ethics for 28 filing and rulings with respect to such requests for exemptions or 29 deletions within five business days of receipt of such statement. 30 § 4. The second undesignated paragraph of subparagraph (b) of para- 31 graph 8 of subdivision 3 of section 73-a of the public officers law, as 32 added by section 5 of part A of a chapter of the laws of 2011 establish- 33 ing the public integrity reform act of 2011, as proposed in legislative 34 bills numbers S. 5679 and A. 8301, is amended to read as follows: 35 If the reporting individual personally provides services to any person 36 or entity, or works as a member or employee of a partnership [or], 37 corporation or entity that provides such services (referred to herein- 38 after as a "firm"), then identify each client or customer to whom the 39 reporting individual personally provided services, or who was referred 40 to the firm by the reporting individual, and from whom the reporting 41 individual or his or her firm earned fees in excess of $10,000 during 42 the reporting period for such services rendered in direct connection 43 with: 44 § 5. Subdivision 14 of section 94 of the executive law, as amended by 45 section 6 of part A of a chapter of the laws of 2011 establishing the 46 public integrity reform act of 2011, as proposed in legislative bills 47 numbers S. 5679 and A.8301, is amended to read as follows: 48 14. An individual subject to the jurisdiction of the commission who 49 knowingly and intentionally violates the provisions of subdivisions two 50 through five-a, seven, eight, twelve or fourteen through seventeen of 51 section seventy-three of the public officers law, section one hundred 52 seven of the civil service law, or a reporting individual who knowingly 53 and wilfully fails to file an annual statement of financial disclosure 54 or who knowingly and wilfully with intent to deceive makes a false 55 statement or fraudulent omission or gives information which such indi- 56 vidual knows to be false on such statement of financial disclosure filedA. 8304--A 3 1 pursuant to section seventy-three-a of the public officers law shall be 2 subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed forty thousand 3 dollars and the value of any gift, compensation or benefit received as a 4 result of such violation. An individual who knowingly and intentionally 5 violates the provisions of paragraph a, b, c, d, e, g, or i of subdivi- 6 sion three of section seventy-four of the public officers law shall be 7 subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed ten thousand 8 dollars and the value of any gift, compensation or benefit received as a 9 result of such violation. An individual subject to the jurisdiction of 10 the commission who knowingly and willfully violates article one-A of the 11 legislative law shall be subject to civil penalty as provided for in 12 that article. Except with respect to members of the legislature, candi- 13 dates for member of the legislature and legislative employees, assess- 14 ment of a civil penalty hereunder shall be made by the commission with 15 respect to persons subject to its jurisdiction. With respect to a 16 violation of any law other than sections seventy-three, seventy-three-a, 17 and seventy-four of the public officers law, where the commission finds 18 sufficient cause by a vote held in the same manner as set forth in para- 19 graph [(b)] (a) of subdivision thirteen of this section, it shall refer 20 such matter to the appropriate prosecutor for further investigation. In 21 assessing the amount of the civil penalties to be imposed, the commis- 22 sion shall consider the seriousness of the violation, the amount of gain 23 to the individual and whether the individual previously had any civil or 24 criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this section, and any other 25 factors the commission deems appropriate. Except with respect to 26 members of the legislature, candidates for member of the legislature and 27 legislative employees, for a violation of this subdivision, other than 28 for conduct which constitutes a violation of section one hundred seven 29 of the civil service law, subdivisions twelve or fourteen through seven- 30 teen of section seventy-three or section seventy-four of the public 31 officers law or article one-A of the legislative law, the commission 32 may, in lieu of or in addition to a civil penalty, refer a violation to 33 the appropriate prosecutor and upon such conviction, such violation 34 shall be punishable as a class A misdemeanor. A civil penalty for false 35 filing may not be imposed hereunder in the event a category of "value" 36 or "amount" reported hereunder is incorrect unless such reported infor- 37 mation is falsely understated. Notwithstanding any other provision of 38 law to the contrary, no other penalty, civil or criminal may be imposed 39 for a failure to file, or for a false filing, of such statement, or a 40 violation of subdivision six of section seventy-three of the public 41 officers law, except that the appointing authority may impose discipli- 42 nary action as otherwise provided by law. The commission may refer 43 violations of this subdivision to the appointing authority for discipli- 44 nary action as otherwise provided by law. The commission shall be deemed 45 to be an agency within the meaning of article three of the state admin- 46 istrative procedure act and shall adopt rules governing the conduct of 47 adjudicatory proceedings and appeals taken pursuant to a proceeding 48 commenced under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and 49 rules relating to the assessment of the civil penalties herein author- 50 ized and commission denials of requests for certain deletions or 51 exemptions to be made from a financial disclosure statement as author- 52 ized in paragraph (h) or paragraph (i) of subdivision nine of this 53 section. Such rules, which shall not be subject to the approval require- 54 ments of the state administrative procedure act, shall provide for due 55 process procedural mechanisms substantially similar to those set forth 56 in article three of the state administrative procedure act but suchA. 8304--A 4 1 mechanisms need not be identical in terms or scope. Assessment of a 2 civil penalty or commission denial of such a request shall be final 3 unless modified, suspended or vacated within thirty days of imposition, 4 with respect to the assessment of such penalty, or unless such denial of 5 request is reversed within such time period, and upon becoming final 6 shall be subject to review at the instance of the affected reporting 7 individuals in a proceeding commenced against the commission, pursuant 8 to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. 9 § 6. Paragraph 4 of subdivision (c) of section 1-h of the legislative 10 law, as added by section 1 of part B of a chapter of the laws of 2011 11 establishing the public integrity reform act of 2011, as proposed in 12 legislative bills numbers S. 5679 and A. 8301, is amended to read as 13 follows: 14 (4) Any lobbyist registered pursuant to section one-e of this article 15 whose lobbying activity is performed on its own behalf and not pursuant 16 to retention by a client: 17 (i) that has spent over fifty thousand dollars for reportable compen- 18 sation and expenses for lobbying either during the calendar year, or 19 during the twelve-month period, prior to the date of this bi-monthly 20 report, and 21 (ii) at least three percent of whose total expenditures during the 22 same period were devoted to lobbying in New York, 23 shall report to the commission the names of each source of funding over 24 five thousand dollars from a single source that were used to fund the 25 lobbying activities reported and the amounts received from each identi- 26 fied source of funding. 27 This disclosure shall not require disclosure of the sources of funding 28 whose disclosure, in the determination of the commission based upon a 29 review of the relevant facts presented by the reporting lobbyist, may 30 cause harm, threats, harassment, or reprisals to the source or to indi- 31 viduals or property affiliated with the source. The reporting lobbyist 32 may appeal the commission's determination and such appeal shall be heard 33 by a judicial hearing officer who is independent and not affiliated with 34 or employed by the commission, pursuant to regulations promulgated by 35 the commission. The reporting lobbyist shall not be required to disclose 36 the sources of funding that are the subject of such appeal pending final 37 judgment on appeal. 38 The disclosure shall not apply to: 39 (i) any [corporation] entity registered pursuant to article seven-A of 40 the executive law that is qualified as an exempt organization by the 41 United States Department of the Treasury under I.R.C. § 501(c)(3); 42 (ii) any [corporation] entity registered pursuant to article seven-A 43 of the executive law that is qualified as an exempt organization by the 44 United States Department of the Treasury under I.R.C. § 501(c)(4) and 45 whose primary activities concern any area of public concern determined 46 by the commission to create a substantial likelihood that application of 47 this disclosure requirement would lead to harm, threats, harassment, or 48 reprisals to a source of funding or to individuals or property affil- 49 iated with such source, including but not limited to the area of civil 50 rights and civil liberties and any other area of public concern deter- 51 mined pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commission to form a 52 proper basis for exemption on this basis from this disclosure require- 53 ment; or 54 (iii) any governmental entity. 55 The joint commission on public ethics shall promulgate regulations to 56 implement these requirements.A. 8304--A 5 1 § 7. Paragraph h of subdivision 7 of section 80 of the legislative 2 law, as amended by section 9 of part A of a chapter of the laws of 2011 3 establishing the public integrity reform act of 2011, as proposed in 4 legislative bills numbers S. 5679 and A. 8301, is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 h. Review financial disclosure statements in accordance with the 7 provisions of this section, provided however, that the commission may 8 delegate all or part of the review function relating to financial 9 disclosure statements filed by members of the legislature, candidates 10 for member of the legislature and legislative employees pursuant to 11 sections seventy-three and seventy-three-a of the public officers law to 12 the executive director who shall be responsible for completing staff 13 review of such statements in a manner consistent with the terms of the 14 commission's delegation; 15 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that sections 16 one, two, three, four, five and seven of this act shall take effect on 17 the same date and in the same manner as part A and section six of this 18 act shall take effect on the same date as part B of a chapter of the 19 laws of 2011 establishing the public integrity reform act of 2011, as 20 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5679 and A. 8301, take effect.