Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor), announced the Assembly passed an ethics reform proposal to increase transparency in government and to limit the influence of special interests (A.9535). The legislation builds on previous Assembly ethics reforms, which included the creation of a new Assembly Office of Ethics and Compliance, increased disclosure requirements and stronger anti-bribery laws to hold corrupt public officials accountable.

“It’s important that New Yorkers have trust in their government and know it’s truly working for the people,” said Assemblyman Thiele. “The Assembly plan is a reflection of our commitment to increase transparency, reduce conflicts of interest and get real results for the people of New York State.”

Limiting legislators’ outside income

The Assembly proposal requires that legislators be barred from receiving outside income unless it is directly related to work actually performed and also reasonable and proportional to the services rendered. In addition, elected officials working as lawyers may not receive referral fees for simply recommending a lawyer, and any splitting of fees must be proportional to the services performed by each individual.

Exemptions from the definition of outside income include, but are not limited to, state or military salary, workers’ compensation, Social Security and similar government benefits, inheritances, investment income, lottery winnings, alimony and child support.

To further increase accountability in government, the proposal would limit outside income for legislators to 40 percent of the annual salary of state Supreme Court justices, or $77,200.

Reforming campaign finance laws

“For too long, the limited liability company (LLC) loophole for campaign contributions and other outdated campaign finance laws have allowed special interests to drown out the voices of ordinary voters,” said Thiele.

Under existing election law, deep-pocketed individuals can make multiple contributions to the same candidate, political party or campaign committee through an unlimited number of LLCs, without disclosing the LLC owners, thereby avoiding campaign contribution limits. The Assembly’s proposal would subject LLCs to the same $5,000 aggregate contribution limit that currently exists for corporations.

The proposal also would require clear identification of LLC owners and attribute contributions to each owner in proportion to ownership interests in order to prevent individuals from flouting contribution limits and to increase transparency in elections.

The measure further recognizes the need to limit the influence of special interests by requiring that contributions to “housekeeping” accounts – intended for party operating expenses not directly related to campaign activities – be kept separate from hard money accounts. The measure also prohibits the use of housekeeping funds for political communications supporting, opposing or referencing any candidate. Additionally, the Assembly proposal would prevent transfers of these funds unless to other segregated accounts to be used only for housekeeping purposes and not for campaign activities.

Increasing transparency

The Assembly legislation also tackles another important ethical issue by increasing public disclosure requirements for groups that lobby in New York. Currently, lobbyists and the clients of lobbyists are required to report the funding source of any amount over $5,000 if they have spent more than $50,000 on lobbying during the previous calendar year and at least 3 percent of their total expenditures were devoted to lobbying in New York.

The legislation would reduce that threshold and remove the expenditure percentage requirement, requiring public disclosure of funding sources over $1,000 when more than $5,000 has been spent toward lobbying.

Additionally, in response to a restrictive advisory opinion recently issued by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) that endangers constitutionally protected free speech and the freedom of the press, this legislation clarifies that communications with journalists are exempt from the definition of lobbying.

“It’s important for the public to know who’s really behind the messages they receive from any group attempting to impact public policy,” said Assemblyman Thiele. “Our proposal limits the ability of special interests to influence government without disclosing the sources of their funding. This will not only increase transparency in government lobbying, but help keep New Yorkers well-informed.”