NY State Senate Bill 2017-S8901

Senate Bill S8901

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Prohibits employees of political campaigns to be employed as a lobbyist before certain offices

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 04, 2018	ordered to third reading cal.1519
Jun 01, 2018	referred to rules

Votes

- Jun 4, 2018 - Rules Committee Vote
  S8901
  
  13
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  12
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Rules Committee Vote: Jun 4, 2018
      
      aye (13)
      
      Bonacic
      
      DeFrancisco
      
      Flanagan
      
      Griffo
      
      Hannon
      
      Lanza
      
      Larkin
      
      Little
      
      Marcellino
      
      Parker
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Robach
      
      Seward
      
      aye wr (12)
      
      Breslin
      
      Dilan
      
      Gianaris
      
      Kennedy
      
      Klein
      
      Krueger
      
      LaValle
      
      Montgomery
      
      Rivera
      
      Savino
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Valesky

2017-S8901 (ACTIVE) - Details

Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §17-154, El L

2017-S8901 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits employees of political campaigns to be employed as a lobbyist before certain offices for a two year period following employment.

2017-S8901 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8901

SPONSOR: DEFRANCISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the election law, in relation to
prohibiting employees of political campaigns to be employed as a lobby-
ist before certain offices

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would ensure that individuals who are employed by political
campaigns do not have an outsized presence on lobbying matters before
the candidate they helped become elected once that candidate takes
office.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill makes it unlawful for an individual who has been
employed by a campaign for a statewide or state legislative office
candidate to employed as a lobbyist before that officeholder for two
years after such employment ends. This prohibition exempts accounting,
legal, and compliance work for the campaign or before the officeholder.

Violators of this prohibition face a class D felony.

Section 2 provides for an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Recently, a high-profile scandal and ensuing federal criminal case high-
lighted the need for prohibiting campaign employees from later exerting
an outsized role as a lobbyist appearing before the candidate they
helped get elected. By enacting a lobbying ban on campaign employees who
would otherwise appear before the elected official and could exert undue
influence on the elected official because of their pre-existing
relationship on the campaign trail, or could sign lobbying clients under
the appearance of having an insider's or family-level relationship with
the elected official.  This bill seeks to ensure that the working
relationships on an elected official's campaign trail and business or
professional appearances before that elected official remain separate
spheres of influence.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect immediately.

2017-S8901 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8901
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 1, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  DeFRANCISCO -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to  prohibiting  employees
   of  political  campaigns  to  be employed as a lobbyist before certain
   offices
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  17-154 of the election law is amended to read as
 follows:
   § 17-154. Pernicious political activities. (A) It  shall  be  unlawful
 for  any  person to: 1. Intimidate, threaten or coerce, or to attempt to
 intimidate, threaten or coerce, any other  person  for  the  purpose  of
 interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he
 may choose, or for the purpose of causing such other person to vote for,
 or  not  to vote for, any candidate for the office of governor, lieuten-
 ant-governor, attorney-general, comptroller, judge of any court,  member
 of  the senate, or member of the assembly at any election held solely or
 in part for the purpose of selecting  a  governor,  lieutenant-governor,
 attorney-general,  comptroller, any judge or any member of the senate or
 any member of the assembly; or,
   2. Directly or indirectly, promise  any  employment,  position,  work,
 compensation,  or  other benefit, provided for or made possible in whole
 or in part by any act of congress or of  the  legislature  appropriating
 funds  for  work  relief  or relief purposes, to any person as consider-
 ation, favor or reward for any political activity or for the support  of
 or  opposition to any candidate or any political party in any nominating
 convention or in any election; or,
   3. Deprive, attempt to deprive or threaten to deprive, by  any  means,
 any  person  of  any  employment,  position, work, compensation or other
 benefit provided for or made possible in whole or in part by any act  of
 congress  or  of the legislature appropriating funds for the work relief
 or relief purposes, on account of any political activity or  on  account
 of  support for or opposition to any candidate or any political party in
 any nominating convention or election; or
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16161-02-8

 S. 8901                             2
 
   4. Solicit or receive or be in any manner concerned in  soliciting  or
 receiving any assessment, subscription or contribution for any political
 purpose  whatever  from  any  person  known  by him to be entitled to or
 receiving compensation, employment or other benefit provided for or made
 possible  by any act of congress or of the legislature appropriating, or
 authorizing the appropriation  of,  funds  for  work  relief  or  relief
 purposes; or
   5.  Furnish  or  to  disclose,  or  to  aid or assist in furnishing or
 disclosing, any list or names of persons receiving compensation, employ-
 ment or benefits provided for or made possible by any act of congress or
 of the legislature appropriating or authorizing  the  appropriation  of,
 funds  for  work  relief  or  relief purposes, to a political candidate,
 committee, campaign manager, or to any person for delivery  to  a  poli-
 tical candidate, committee or campaign manager, and it shall be unlawful
 for any person to receive any such list or names for political purposes.
   No  part  of  any  appropriation made by any act of congress or of the
 legislature, heretofore or hereafter enacted, making appropriations  for
 work  relief,  relief,  or otherwise to increase employment by providing
 loans and grants for public  works  projects,  shall  be  used,  and  no
 authority  conferred  by any such act upon any person shall be exercised
 or administered, for the purpose of  interfering  with,  restraining  or
 coercing any individual in the exercise of his right to vote and to vote
 as he may choose at any election.
   Any  person  who  violates  any  of  the  foregoing provisions of this
 [section] SUBDIVISION shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
   (B) IT SHALL BE UNLAWFUL FOR ANY PERSON WHO HAS  BEEN  EMPLOYED  BY  A
 CAMPAIGN  FOR  A CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR, LIEUTENANT-GOVER-
 NOR, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, COMPTROLLER, MEMBER OF THE SENATE, OR  MEMBER  OF
 THE ASSEMBLY, WITHIN A PERIOD OF TWO YEARS AFTER THE TERMINATION OF SUCH
 EMPLOYMENT,  TO  BE REGISTERED AS A LOBBYIST, AS SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN
 SECTION ONE-C OF THE LEGISLATIVE LAW, BEFORE SUCH OFFICE OR ANY  AGENCY,
 BOARD,  PUBLIC  AUTHORITY, OR COMMISSION OVER WHICH THE ELECTED OFFICIAL
 EXERCISES CONTROL. THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL NOT APPLY TO  EMPLOYMENT  THAT
 INVOLVES  ACCOUNTING, LEGAL WORK, OR COMPLIANCE ON BEHALF OF A CAMPAIGN,
 NOR SHALL IT APPLY TO APPEARANCES BEFORE SUCH OFFICE  THAT  INVOLVE  THE
 PRACTICE OF LAW. ANY PERSON WHO VIOLATES THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE GUIL-
 TY OF A CLASS D FELONY.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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