New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has called the state Legislature to reconvene today, September 1.

The session’s primary order of business will be to extend the state’s eviction moratorium, but the meeting is also expected to address the open meetings law, and issues related to legally producing and distributing cannabis.

The New York State Legislature adjourned on June 11.

During the legislative session lawmakers introduced and failed to pass bills to ban corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and limited liability partnerships from making political contributions; create a restricted period for vendor contributions; and increase required lobbyist disclosures of political contributions and business relationships with public officials.

The Senate is expected to return later this summer regarding the confirmation of state appointments.

The Assembly is expected to continue an impeachment inquiry through the summer months regarding sexual harassment allegations made against the governor.

The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics appointed Sanford Berland as the new executive director.

Berland previously served as state judge in both the Court of Claims and Supreme Court of New York.

Before his appointment, the position had been vacant for two years.

Berland becomes the fourth executive director in the ethics agency’s history.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics opened the online Lobbying Application for the submission of bimonthly reports and posted updated PDF forms.

Additional time has been provided to file bimonthly reports covering the January 1 to February 28 reporting period.

These reports will be considered timely if submitted by March 22, 2021.

JCOPE recommends users review statement of registrations before filing the bimonthly reports.

In certain cases, information not previously reported in a registration cannot be added directly to the report and requires an amended registration or updated organization profile.

Resources to help navigate the Lobbying Application can be found at https://jcope.ny.gov/2021-22-lobbying-biennial-period-information.

For any questions or technical assistance, please contact the JCOPE Helpdesk at helpdesk@jcope.ny.gov or by phone at 518-474-3973.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed attorney Camille Joseph Varlack as the new chair of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

The appointment comes after the former chairman, Michael Rozen, resigned on February 10.

Ms. Varlack is a partner at the Manhattan law firm Bradford, Edwards, & Varlack, and previously served in Gov. Cuomo’s administration as an aide, deputy director of state operations, chief risk officer, and special counsel.

The appointment of Ms. Varlack takes effect immediately.

On February 24, the New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics plans to open the online Lobbying Application.

Additionally, the commission will post updated paper forms for the submission of bimonthly reports.

The writable PDF forms will be available to paper filers on the JCOPE website.

Due to changes in the lobbying regulations and to the online filing system, JCOPE is also allowing additional time to file bimonthly reports due in March.

Bimonthly reports covering the January 1 to February 28 reporting period will be considered timely if submitted by March 22.

The online system was also updated to improve functionality, transparency, and the filing process.

Changes made include removing the auto-population of lobbying activities reported on a registration to the filer’s bimonthly report; allowing filers to add additional information to an existing party name; adding a comprehensive drop-down menu of itemized expenses; an updated parties lobbied database; and also adding an expense chart for reporting coalition contributions by members of unstructured coalitions.

The New York Legislature is set to convene a special session on Monday, December 28.

Lawmakers are meeting to pass legislation extending the ban on residential evictions past its January 1, 2021 deadline.

Tenants who present a legal document attesting to lost income, inability to find employment, inability to afford the costs of moving, or have experienced increased expenses due to COVID-19 may have pending evictions within a month of the proposed bill’s effective date delayed until May 1, 2021.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) announced additional time to file registrations and reports due in January 2021.

Any filing due in January will be considered timely filed if submitted by January 29, 2021.

The extension is in response to the breadth of changes to the lobbying regulations taking effect January 1, 2021, and the corresponding changes to the online filing system.

Additional guidance relating to upcoming registrations and verification of user profiles is expected soon.

The 2021-2022 Statement of Registration is expected to launch on December 16, 2020.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) published the second draft of proposed revisions to state lobbying regulations.

JCOPE adopted the revisions on an emergency basis and submitted Notices of Emergency Adoption for each.

The revisions will be effective January 1, 2021; cover lobbying activity in the 2021-22 biennial lobbying period; and be applicable to registrations, bi-monthly reports due March 15, 2021, and client semi-annual reports due July 15, 2021.

Key revisions include changes to the definition of designated lobbyist, direct lobbying activities by volunteers, grassroots lobbying, coalitions, and prohibitions relating to the receipt of stock options as compensation.

Revisions to the source of funding regulations address segregated funds for out-of-state activities and reporting of anonymous contributions.

JCOPE is requesting comments on the revised regulations as soon as possible.

The 45-day comment period runs until December 28, 2020.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a special election to be held on February 2, 2021 for City Council District 24.

The seat is vacant after Councilman Rory Lancman was appointed by Gov. Cuomo as Special Counsel for Ratepayer Protection at the Department of Public Service.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a special election to be held on December 22 for City Council District 12.

The seat is vacant after the expulsion of Bronx Councilman Andy King for accusations of sexual harassment, misuse of city resources, and other ethics violations.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of King’s term through 2021.

On October 1, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) announced the final draft of Advisory Opinion 20-02, providing guidance to identify the permissibility of a gift to a third party at the direction of or on behalf of a public official.

Statutes and regulations presumptively prohibit a gift to a public official from an interested source or gifts to a third party solicited by a public official or an intermediary.

Advisory Opinion 20-02 allows the presumption of impermissibility to be overcome by taking into account specific situations including: the nature or purpose of the gift; nature of the donor’s pending business with the official; and prior history of gifts to the cause or third-party organization.

JCOPE will determine whether a gift violates the law or overcomes the presumption on a case-by-case basis.

On May 19, The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the Southern District Court of New York’s decision to reinstate New York’s uncontested presidential primary on June 23.

The presidential primary was previously canceled by the New York Board of Elections after Sen. Bernie Sanders announced the end of his presidential campaign.

After the ruling, commissioners for the Board of Elections stated New York would not appeal the decision of the Second Circuit.

On May 5, United States District Court Judge Analisa Torres for the Southern District of New York ruled the New York Board of Elections must hold a presidential primary and include previously qualified candidates on the ballot, including Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Gov. Cuomo previously postponed the presidential primary from April 28 to June 23 due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The Board of Elections later voted to cancel the presidential primary.

However, the board still scheduled a congressional special election and local primaries for June 23.

The court’s ruling found the cancellation of the presidential primary to be unconstitutional.

Additionally, the cancellation had violated candidates of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The preliminary injunction restores all 10 presidential candidates and their respective slates of delegate candidates to the New York presidential primary ballot and requires that the primary election be held on June 23.