Gov. Hochul will reconvene the New York General Assembly for a special session on June 30 to address the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision invalidating a portion of the state’s concealed carry law.

It is not yet clear when the special session will end.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting

The Center for Judicial Accountability filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the New York Ethics Commission Reform Act of 2022.

The act was passed as part of the state’s budget bill and would replace the Joint Commission on Public Ethics with a new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government on July 8.

The suit, filed with the Albany County Supreme Court, argues the act is unconstitutional and requests it be invalidated.

Petitioner requested an opportunity to be heard on an application for a temporary restraining order and a hearing has been scheduled for June 17.

New York Gov. Hochul announced a special election for U.S. Congressional Districts 19 and 23 to be held on August 23.

The District 19 seat became vacant when Rep. Antonio Delgado resigned to serve as lieutenant governor, and the District 23 seat became vacant when Rep. Tom Reed resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct.

The winners of the special elections will serve the remainder of the two-year terms set to expire at the end of this year.

The New York General Assembly adjourned sine die on Saturday, June 4.

Lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 09006 replacing the Joint Commission on Public Ethics with a new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government effective July 8.

The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government will enforce the state’s ethics and lobbying law, but the change will not affect existing lobbying reporting obligations.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

New York Rep. Tom Reed announced his retirement from Congress seven months before his final term was set to conclude.

His resignation comes after the congressman faced allegations of sexual misconduct.

Rep. Antonio Delgado is also expected to resign to become Gov. Hochul’s new lieutenant governor.

Both resignations will trigger special elections for congressional districts that are currently being redrawn.

The New York State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, issued a ruling invalidating the state’s new congressional and state senate districts due to gerrymandering.

The ruling will result in the congressional and state senate district primaries being moved from June to August.

It is unclear whether the primaries for governor and state Assembly will also be postponed.

Campaign finance reporting deadlines associated with the postponed primaries will be shifted accordingly.

Assembly Bill 09006C was signed by New York Gov. Hochul and replaces the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) with a new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government effective July 8.

The substantive law enforced by the ethics body was not altered, and all lobbyist reporting and disclosure requirements will remain the same.

The agency’s overhaul is designed to increase greater transparency.

While members of the ethics agency will still be appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, deans at the state’s law schools will comprise an independent review committee charged with approving appointees to the new commission.

Individuals who were registered as lobbyists in the previous two years are prohibited from serving on the commission.

New York Gov. Hochul announced a special election for Assembly District 58 to be held on May 24.

The seat became vacant when Rep. Nick Perry was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the ambassador to Jamaica.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of the two-year term set to expire at the end of this year.

Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin was arrested today on a federal bribery conspiracy charge in connection with a scheme to direct fraudulent contributions to one of his prior campaigns.

The scheme was reportedly designed to help Benjamin receive matching funds from New York City’s public campaign financing program during his bid for city comptroller last year.

Benjamin has served as lieutenant governor for less than a year and is currently running for re-election with Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) announced it expects the online filing system to be back online by March 11.

JCOPE’s online system has been down since February 21 following a malicious cyberattack.

All filings due during the outage will be granted an automatic 21-day extension and the March 15 lobbying bi-monthly report deadline is extended to March 31.

JCOPE will distribute additional guidance to lobbying filers before the system is back online.

New York Gov. Hochul announced a special election for Assembly District 20 to be held on April 7.

The seat became vacant when Rep. Melissa Miller resigned to join the Hempstead Town Board.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of the two-year term set to expire on January 1, 2023.

A malicious cyberattack targeted the New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) last week, resulting in an outage of the Lobbying Application, the online filing portal for lobbyists.

The online system will remain down until JCOPE is confident it can be restored safely.

Extensions will automatically be granted for any filings that were due and could not be submitted due to the outage.

New York Gov. Hochul announced a special election for Assembly District 43 to be held on March 22.

The seat became vacant when Rep. Diana Richardson resigned to serve as Brooklyn Deputy Borough President.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of the two-year term set to expire at the end of this year.

Rep. Melissa Miller announced her resignation from the New York Legislature.

Miller is stepping down in order to accept a position on the Hempstead Town Board.

A special election is expected to be called to fill the vacant Assembly District 20 seat for the remainder of the term ending in December.