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) 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.

The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics introduced a new feature on the state Lobbying Application.

Their aim is to minimize the risk of duplicate profiles and improve functionality.

Additionally, this feature allows creating or claiming an organization profile (lobbyist, client, public corporation, or coalition).

In turn, this allows information to prepopulate a client’s semiannual report, provide more transparency, increase reliability, and reduce filing delays.

JCOPE also announced the mechanism to assign an individual as a Chief Administrative Officer and Delegated Administrator has changed.

To authorize an individual for either of these specific roles, the individual’s user identification number must be provided.

The ability to assign an individual as the CAO or the DA merely by entering their first and last name in a search field has been eliminated.

Any questions about navigating the Lobbying Application may be directed to the JCOPE Lobbying Helpdesk at (518) 474-3973 or by emailing helpdesk@jcope.ny.gov.

Due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns, the Board of Elections voted to cancel the presidential primary on June 23.

The presidential primary was previously rescheduled from April 28 to June 23 due to the state of emergency.

The decision to cancel the presidential primary does not affect the congressional special election, state, and local primaries scheduled for June 23.

On April 24, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.23 to reschedule state assembly and senate special elections.

The elections now move from June 23 to November 3 due to the ongoing COVID-19 state of emergency.

Additionally rescheduled to the same day as the general election, are special elections for the 50th Senate District and the 12th, 31st, and 136th Assembly Districts.

The executive order also reschedules a special election for Queens Borough President from June 23 to November 3.

Due to the current situation surrounding COVID-19, the Suffolk County Clerk of the Legislature announced under Executive Order 202.7, lobbyists preparing periodic reports for April 15 may have their report notarized remotely.

Additionally, the reports may be sent in digitally to meet the deadline.

If a lobbyist is unable to have their report notarized by April 15, the clerk’s office is requiring the report be submitted by the deadline.

Additionally, a notarized copy must be provided following their submission.