STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1721
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. SKOUFIS, GOUNARDES, KRUEGER, SANDERS -- read twice
and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
on Elections
AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to permit or license
applicant 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. Permit or license applicant contributions. 1. (a) It shall
4 be unlawful during the restricted permit and license applicant contrib-
5 ution period for any person, organization, group of persons, or business
6 entity that submits an application for any permit or license to make a
7 contribution to any officeholder of or with authority over the state
8 governmental entity or entities responsible for issuing such permit or
9 license, evaluating permit or license applications for purposes of their
10 merit, or approving permit or license applications, or to any candidate
11 for an office of such governmental entity, including to such
12 officeholder's or candidate's authorized political committees or poli-
13 tical committees the officeholder or candidate exerts operational
14 control over. It shall further be unlawful, pursuant to section 14-120
15 of this article, to make contributions to political committees not
16 authorized or operationally controlled by the officeholder or candidate
17 for the purpose of transferring a contribution to the officeholder's or
18 candidate's authorized political committees or political committees they
19 exert operational control over.
20 (b) The state governmental entity directly responsible for issuing
21 such permit or license shall include a notice of the prohibition estab-
22 lished by this section in application materials and the state govern-
23 mental entity responsible for evaluating such applications shall provide
24 to any person, organization, group of persons, or business entity that
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04575-01-3
S. 1721 2
1 submits an application a notice of the prohibition established by this
2 section and the restricted permit and license applicant contribution
3 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, any political
10 organization, including but not limited to any political organization
11 organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, that is
12 directly or indirectly controlled by the business entity and any owner,
13 officer, director or a spouse, child, parent, or sibling of an owner,
14 officer or director of such business entity.
15 3. The restricted permit and license applicant contribution period
16 described in this section shall commence, with respect to a specific
17 person, organization, group of persons, or business entity when it files
18 a statement of registration pursuant to section one-e of the legislative
19 law, or engages in lobbying, as defined by subdivision (c) of section
20 one-c of the legislative law, to receive a permit or license or submits
21 an application to the state governmental entity responsible for issuing
22 a permit or license. The restricted permit and license applicant
23 contribution period does not apply to a person, organization, group of
24 persons or business entity that is responding to a state governmental
25 entity's request for information or other informational exchanges occur-
26 ring prior to such person, organization, group of persons or business
27 entity submitting a permit or license application provided it has not
28 filed a statement of registration pursuant to section one-e of the
29 legislative law or engaged in lobbying, as defined by subdivision (c) of
30 section one-c of the legislative law, to receive a permit or license.
31 4. The restricted permit and license applicant contribution period
32 described in this section shall end with respect to a specific person,
33 organization, group of persons, or business entity if:
34 (a) the person, organization, group of persons, or business entity is
35 the recipient of the applied for permit or license, the restricted
36 permit and license applicant contribution period shall end six months
37 after the issuance of the permit or license by the state governmental
38 entity and, where applicable, the state comptroller and if the person,
39 organization, group of persons or business entity does not lobby on the
40 permit or license after its issuance; or
41 (b) the person, organization, group of persons, or business entity's
42 application for a permit or license is denied, the restricted permit and
43 license applicant contribution period shall end with the issuance of
44 notification of the denial by the state governmental entity and, where
45 applicable, the state comptroller.
46 5. The restricted permit and license applicant contribution period
47 shall recommence if a person, organization, group of persons or business
48 entity engages in activity pursuant to subdivision three of this section
49 and, where the application for a permit or license was denied and the
50 same permit or license is reapplied for within five years of the denial,
51 shall be deemed to have not ended under subdivision four of this
52 section.
53 § 2. Section 14-126 of the election law is amended by adding a new
54 subdivision 8 to read as follows:
55 8. (a) Any person, organization, group of persons, or business entity
56 as that term is used in section 14-131 of this article, who, under
S. 1721 3
1 circumstances evincing an intent to violate such laws, makes a contrib-
2 ution in contravention of section 14-131 of this article shall be
3 subject to a civil penalty not to exceed the greater of ten thousand
4 dollars or an amount equal to two hundred percent of the contribution,
5 to be recoverable in a special proceeding or civil action to be brought
6 by the state board of elections chief enforcement counsel.
7 (b) Any person who, acting as or on behalf of an officeholder, candi-
8 date, or political committee, accepts a contribution or receives a
9 transfer in contravention of section 14-131 of this article shall be
10 required to refund such contribution.
11 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
12 it shall have become a law.
