STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9924
IN ASSEMBLY
February 23, 2018
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BUCHWALD -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Election Law
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to government vendor
contributions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new section 14-131
2 to read as follows:
3 § 14-131. Government vendor contributions. 1. (a) It shall be unlawful
4 during the restricted vendor contribution period for any person, organ-
5 ization, group of persons, or business entity that submits a bid, quota-
6 tion, offer or response to a state governmental entity posting or solic-
7 itation for procurement to make a contribution to any officeholder of or
8 with authority over the state governmental entity or entities responsi-
9 ble for issuing such procurement posting or solicitation, evaluating
10 responses to the procurement posting or solicitation for purposes of
11 determining an award, or approving the selection of an awardee, or
12 awarding the final contract, or to any candidate for an office of such
13 governmental entity, including to such officeholder's or candidate's
14 authorized political committees or political committees the officeholder
15 or candidate exerts operational control over. It shall further be unlaw-
16 ful, pursuant to section 14-120 of this article, to make contributions
17 to political committees not authorized or operationally controlled by
18 the officeholder or candidate for the purpose of transferring a contrib-
19 ution to the officeholder's or candidate's authorized political commit-
20 tees or political committees they exert operational control over.
21 (b) For purposes of this section the assembly and senate shall be
22 separate and distinct governmental entities when a particular posting or
23 solicitation for procurement is issued by only one respective house.
24 (c) The state governmental entity directly responsible for issuing
25 such posting or solicitation for procurement shall include a notice of
26 the prohibition established by this section and the state governmental
27 entity responsible for evaluating responses to such posting or solicita-
28 tion shall provide to any person, organization, group of persons, or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14548-01-8
A. 9924 2
1 business entity that submits a proposal in response to such posting or
2 solicitation a notice of the prohibition established by this section and
3 the restricted vendor contribution period commencement date.
4 2. As used in this section "business entity" means a business corpo-
5 ration, professional services corporation, limited liability company,
6 partnership, limited partnership, business trust, association or any
7 other legal commercial entity organized under the laws of this state or
8 any other state or foreign jurisdiction, including any subsidiary
9 directly or indirectly controlled by the business entity, and any poli-
10 tical organization, including but not limited to any political organiza-
11 tion organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, that is
12 directly or indirectly controlled by the business entity.
13 3. The restricted vendor contribution period described in this section
14 shall commence, with respect to a specific person, organization, group
15 of persons, or business entity when it files a statement of registration
16 pursuant to section one-e of the legislative law, or engages lobbying,
17 as defined by subdivision (c) of section one-c of the legislative law,
18 to generate a procurement opportunity or pilot program or submits a bid,
19 quotation, offer or response to the state governmental entity posting or
20 solicitation, at the earliest posting, on a state governmental entity's
21 website, in a newspaper of general circulation or in the procurement
22 opportunities newsletter in accordance with article four-C of the
23 economic development law of written notice, advertisement or solicita-
24 tion of a request for proposal, invitation for bids, or solicitations of
25 proposals, or any other method provided for by law or regulation for
26 soliciting a response from offerers intending to result in a procurement
27 contract with a state governmental entity. The restricted vendor
28 contribution period does not apply to a person, organization, group of
29 persons or business entity that is responding to a state governmental
30 entity's request for information or other informational exchanges occur-
31 ring prior to such governmental entity's posting or solicitation for
32 procurement provided it has not filed a statement of registration pursu-
33 ant to section one-e of the legislative law or engaged in lobbying, as
34 defined by subdivision (c) of section one-c of the legislative law, to
35 generate a procurement opportunity or pilot program.
36 4. The restricted vendor contribution period described in this section
37 shall end with respect to a specific person, organization, group of
38 persons, or business entity if:
39 (a) the person, organization, group of persons, or business entity is
40 the recipient of the final contract award, the restricted vendor
41 contribution period shall end six months after the final contract award
42 and approval by the state governmental entity and, where applicable, the
43 state comptroller and if the person, organization, group of persons or
44 business entity does not lobby on the execution of the contract after
45 its award; or
46 (b) the person, organization, group of persons, or business entity is
47 not the recipient of the final contract award, the restricted vendor
48 contribution period shall end with the final contract award and approval
49 by the state governmental entity and, where applicable, the state comp-
50 troller.
51 5. The restricted vendor contribution period shall recommence if a
52 person, organization, group of persons or business entity engages in
53 activity pursuant to subdivision three of this section.
54 § 2. Section 14-126 of the election law is amended by adding a new
55 subdivision 7 to read as follows:
A. 9924 3
1 7. (a) Any person, organization, group of persons, or business entity
2 as that term is used in section 14-131 of this article, who, under
3 circumstances evincing an intent to violate such law, makes a contrib-
4 ution in contravention of section 14-131 of this article shall be
5 subject to a civil penalty not to exceed the greater of ten thousand
6 dollars or an amount equal to two hundred percent of the contribution,
7 to be recoverable in a special proceeding or civil action to be brought
8 by the state board of elections chief enforcement counsel.
9 (b) Any person who, acting as or on behalf of an officeholder, candi-
10 date, or political committee, accepts a contribution or receives a
11 transfer in contravention of section 14-131 of this article shall be
12 required to refund such contribution.
13 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
14 it shall have become a law.
