Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-Columbia, Dutchess) announced the passage of legislation aimed at addressing the aggregate amount of political contributions that a limited liability company (LLC) may make in a year. The bill focuses on closing the so-called “LLC loophole” by simplifying the law and equating LLC contributions to the maximum allowed for corporations (A.6975-B).

“The fact that current law allows LLCs to circumvent contribution limits and potentially give millions to political campaigns has been enormously troubling to me,” said Assemblymember Didi Barrett. “Today the Legislature took an important step in curbing the corrupting influence of money in elections and dismantling the power of special interests. I remain committed to passing additional reforms that work to restore confidence in our state government.”

Under current practice, LLCs are treated as individuals permitting each LLC to contribute up to $150,000 to political organizations a year. However, the “LLC loophole” allows for multiple donations of that amount in instances where one person or corporation owns multiple LLCs. The purpose of this legislation is to close the loophole by restricting LLCs to the same $5,000 contribution limit that currently exists for corporations.