Senate Bill S1552

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1552

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the election law and the civil
practice law and rules, in relation to candidate liability for
violations of municipal laws and enforcement of money judgments

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

The legislation will ensure that candidates for elective office are
held personally responsible for violations and payments of fines for
any violations of state or municipal laws or regulations that are
committed either directly by a candidate or their political committees
as a result of campaign activities. Implementation of this personal
liability upon the candidate is similar to the personal liability
imposed on candidates pursuant to Section 14-126 for violations of the
State Election Law.

The legislation will also clarify that the state and any municipality
is entitled to seek the attachment of a lien against the bank accounts
of a candidate and/or their authorized campaign committees pursuant to
CPLR Article 6201 arising from money judgments issued by an
administrative tribunal in relation to violations of state and
municipal law.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

              

Section 1 of the bill amends the election law by adding a new article
18 entitled "Violations of Municipal Law" that states that a candidate
shall be personally liable for the amount of any monetary penalties
for the violation of any municipal law or regulation committed by such
candidate, any political committee formed by such candidate, or any
person acting on behalf of such candidate or political committee,
committed in furtherance of campaign activities.

Section 2 of the amends subdivisions 4 and 5 of section 6201 of the
civil practice law and adds a new subdivision 6 which clarifies that a
municipality may attach a lien to collect money judgments against the
candidate's bank account or the bank account of any political
committee formed by such candidate.

Section 3 of the bill sets forth an immediate effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

New York State currently imposes personal liability on candidates for
elective office for violations of the state Election Law. However, it
does not explicitly provide for the same personal liability on
candidates for violations of other state or municipal laws or
regulations that arise as a direct result of campaign activities.

One area where this arises is when candidates or their political
committees violate "posting" laws such as those that exist in the city
of New York. New York City Administrative Code § 10-119 prohibits the
posting, attaching or affixing of any "handbill, poster, notice, sign,
advertisement, sticker or other printed material" upon any public
property including trees, lampposts, telephone poles, public utility
poles, traffic signs, etc., and imposes up to a $75 fine for every
such posting.

Since it is the nature of political campaigns to expend all of their
available funds during an election, it is extremely difficult for the
state or a municipality to collect upon judgments against a political
campaign committee for judgments issued as a result of violations of
state or municipal law. While most candidates will take responsibility
and pay lawfully imposed fines, there are those that refuse to take
responsibility both in their flagrant violation of state or municipal
laws and their defiance in refusing to pay subsequent fines for this
unlawful conduct.

This legislation is necessary to ensure that candidates for elective
office are held responsible not only for their violation of specific
state election laws but also for violations of all other state and
municipal laws that arise directly as a result of campaign activities.

Given the recent scandals involving elected officials in New York
state and local governments, it is imperative that we restore the
public's trust in our elected officials. This must start at the very
beginning of a candidate's entrance into a race for elective office
where they will be held personally accountable for their actions and
actions taken on their behalf by their campaign committees.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-16: S.5042

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This legislation shall take effect immediately.