The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is seeking public comment on a proposed advisory opinion. The advisory opinion is in regards to the applicability of New York’s Lobbying Act to the activities of consultants when they are taking part in direct and grassroots lobbying, and whether they are subject to registration and reporting requirements.

The advisory opinion seeks to articulate when the Lobbying Act covers the services of consultants, and to clarify the test used to determine when grassroots advocacy constitutes reportable activity.

Comments will be taken by the Committee until December 4, 2015.

Michelle Adolphe, a candidate who ran for a seat in the state Assembly last year, was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with three counts of failing to file campaign finance reports as required under state election law.

Adolphe, who lost in last year’s election, allegedly failed to report where her campaign contributions came from and how they were spent.

If convicted on all three counts, Adolphe could face up to three years in jail.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is seeking public comment on a recent proposal aiming to prohibit pay-to-play contributions.  The proposal comes in the form of an advisory opinion, and would prohibit statewide executive and legislative candidates from accepting campaign contributions from persons or organizations subject to their enforcement powers.

Currently, there is no prohibition on pay-to-play type contributions for legislative statewide elected candidates.  The Joint Commission has not established a deadline for accepting public comments.

New legislation was introduced impacting the city’s campaign finance regulations.  One bill would eliminate the possibility of matching, with public funds, any contribution to a candidate for local office that is bundled by a lobbyist or person who has, or may have, business dealings with the City.

A second bill would extend the prohibition on the acceptance of contributions from non-registered political committees to candidates who are not participating in the public money matching program.  Currently, the prohibition only applies to candidates who are participating in the public matching program.

Photo of the New York City skyline by AngMoKio on Wikimedia Commons.

The Office of the City Clerk has published new rules to the city’s lobbying law following a public comment period and summerlong review by the Law Department. The rules require a lobbyist or client to designate a principal officer to electronically file the registration and reports by enrollment in the city’s online e-Lobbyist system.

While the rules allow for a designee or compliance officer to assist the principal officer in completing reports, they prohibit a principal officer from sharing his or her e-Lobbyist password. The rules also detail the procedure for enrolling in e-Lobbyist; provide requirements for retainers and authorization letters; indicate when filing extensions may be obtained; provide procedures for obtaining a waiver of late filing penalties; establish enforcement procedures; and create an amnesty program. The amnesty program would allow certain violators of the lobby law to come into compliance without penalty if meeting the eligibility criteria.

The rules are effective November 4, 2015.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) created a six-month amnesty program to help lobbyists and clients of lobbyists comply with the New York Lobbying Act. This program will assist those who have never turned in required filings.

To be eligible to participate, the lobbyist or client cannot have previously been contacted by JCOPE for failure to comply, or been subject to criminal proceedings concerning a violation of the Lobbying Act.

The program will run from January 1 to June 30, 2016.

On September 28, state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced Jane Feldman will be the executive director of the newly created Office of Ethics and Compliance.

A bipartisan Assembly committee recommended Feldman after conducting a nationwide search. Heastie said Feldman stood out from other applicants due to her years of experience, specifically her service as the first executive director of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission.

In her new role in the Office of Ethics and Compliance, Feldman will be responsible for ethics training for Assembly members and staff, ensuring members are aware of the services available to them through the office, answering questions regarding ethics and disclosures, and working with the majority and minority conferences’ ethics counsel to determine legislative ethics areas to review.

Feldman, who began her career in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, said in a statement she was “excited to return to her home state to help the Assembly accomplish its ethics and policy goals.”

Photo of the New York State Capitol by UpstateNYer on Wikimedia Commons.

State Rep. Angela Wozniak is being investigated by the Assembly Ethics Commission following claims of sexual harassment.

A male member of her staff made the complaint against her.

Wozniak’s attorney, Steven Cohen, would make no comment beyond stating the representative is cooperating with the ethics panel and fully expects her to be exonerated.

Photo of Rep. Angela Wozniak by KittyHawk2015 on Wikimedia Commons.

Another New York state senator has been convicted of a felony, thereby losing his Senate seat. Democrat John L. Sampson was convicted of obstructing justice in connection with his efforts to avoid a federal investigation into alleged embezzlement of state funds.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not yet set a date for a special election to fill Sampson’s seat; however, it is anticipated the special election will coincide with the regularly scheduled November general election, where Thomas Libous’s Senate seat will also be on the ballot.

Libous was convicted of a felony surrounding allegations he lied to federal agents.

Photo of John L. Sampson courtesy of the New York Senate website.

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Thomas Libous was convicted of felony charges resulting from a federal investigation into a job his son received at a politically connected law firm.

Because he was found guilty, Libous is automatically removed from his Senate seat according to state law. His ouster leaves Senate Republicans with a slim majority and puts a renewed significance on the November 2015 elections.

Libous’ seat will be on the ballot on November 3, 2015, unless Gov. Cuomo calls a special election sooner.

Photo of Sen. Thomas Libous by Emmanuel Priest on Wikimedia Commons

The Brennan Center for Justice, on behalf of several New York lawmakers, filed suit against the New York State Board of Elections, challenging a 1996 board ruling that treats limited liability companies (LLCs) as individuals. The ruling has the result of creating a loophole allowing LLCs to circumvent stricter contribution limits imposed upon other business entities, namely partnerships and corporations.

The board had an opportunity to overturn its 1996 ruling at its April 2015 board meeting, but board members split along party lines to uphold the ruling, thus prompting the Brennan Center for Justice to file suit.

Plaintiffs allege the LLC loophole allows special interest groups to funnel tens of millions of dollars into political campaigns without transparency. Corporate contributions are limited to $5,000 per calendar year; partnerships are limited to $2,500 per calendar year at the partnership entity level. Under the 1996 board ruling, LLCs can contribute substantially more than other business entities because they are treated as individuals.

The lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of New York, County of Albany.

Executive Director of New York’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics Letizia Tagliafierro is resigning, effective July 31, 2015.

Tagliafierro has served as the executive director since October of 2013. She is moving to the state Department of Taxation and Finance where she will be a deputy commissioner, leading the criminal investigations division.

The next meeting of the JCOPE is scheduled for August 4 and the commissioners are expected to begin a national search for a replacement for Tagliafierro.

The Office of the City Clerk has proposed amended rules to chapter 1 of title 51 of the Rules of the City of New York pursuant to the enactment of Local Law 129 of 2013, which amended the city’s lobbying law.

The rules propose the following: set forth the procedure for enrolling in e-Lobbyist; define the roles of principal officer, designee, and compliance officer; provide requirements for retainers and authorization letters; indicate when filing extensions may be obtained; set forth the procedures for obtaining a waiver of late filing penalties; establish enforcement procedures; and create an amnesty program.

The amnesty program sets forth eligibility criteria for lobbyists and clients who have not previously complied with the city’s lobbying law, allowing such individuals to come into compliance without penalty for a given period of time.

A public hearing was held and the proposed rules are still under consideration by the Lobbying Bureau.

The New York State Assembly has ended its 2015 legislative session as of Thursday, June 25, 2015.

The session was originally slated to end June 17, 2015, but final details of an omnibus bill related to rent regulations and property tax rebates were still being negotiated until almost midnight on June 25.

One unique provision of the bill grants Gov. Andrew Cuomo the authority to perform marriage ceremonies.