NY State Senate Bill 2021-S7325A

Senate Bill S7325A

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Prohibits an officer of the state impeached by the assembly or convicted of a felony from accessing such officer's campaign accounts and associated funds and providing for the return of such funds to contributors

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

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

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to elections
Nov 08, 2021	print number 7325a
Nov 08, 2021	amend (t) and recommit to rules
Aug 11, 2021	referred to rules

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

2021-S7325 - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Add §14-134, El L

2021-S7325 - Summary

Prohibits an officer of the state impeached by the assembly or convicted of a felony from accessing such officer's campaign accounts and associated funds; provides that any public officer impeached by the assembly or convicted of a felony shall temporarily lose access to their campaign accounts and associated funds; provides that a public officer convicted by the court for the trial of impeachment or convicted of a felony shall permanently lose access to such account and funds; provides for the return of such funds to contributors upon conviction by the court for the trial of impeachment or conviction of a felony.

2021-S7325 - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7325

SPONSOR: REICHLIN-MELNICK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to prohibiting an officer
of the state impeached by the assembly from accessing such officer's
campaign accounts and associated funds and providing for the return of
such funds to contributors

 
PURPOSE:

To temporarily prevent state officers who have been impeached by the
Assembly from accessing their campaign accounts until the trial for
impeachment is concluded. If convicted, the state officer would perma-
nently lose access to their campaign accounts.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill adds a new section to the election law, §
14-134. This section would temporarily prohibit a state officer who has

been impeached by the state Assembly from accessing their campaign
account and associated funds until the conclusion of the officer's trial
for impeachment. This section also provides that an officer convicted by
the trial of impeachment would permanently lose access to their campaign
account and associated funds. In both instances, an exception is made,
allowing the official to use campaign funds to pay for legal fees.
Finally, when an official has been convicted by the trial for impeach-
ment, this section requires the state board of elections to work with
the relevant campaign treasurer to liquidate the campaign account and
return the contributions on a prorated basis.

Section two provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Elected officials who have lost the confidence of the people and commit-
ted crimes serious enough to warrant impeachment cannot be trusted with
the large sums of money often contained within campaign accounts.
Disgraced public officials should not have the ability to use campaign
funds to curry favor with other elected officials and organizations, to
influence the public, or to mount new political campaigns. The govern-
ment often freezes accounts of criminals and seizes funds upon
conviction, and impeached politicians should not be exempted from this
practice.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S7325 - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7325
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              August 11, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. REICHLIN-MELNICK -- 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 an  officer
   of  the  state impeached by the assembly from accessing such officer's
   campaign accounts and associated funds and providing for the return of
   such funds to contributors
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. The election law is amended by adding a new section 14-134
 to read as follows:
   § 14-134. LOSS OF ACCESS TO CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT WHEN IMPEACHED.   1.  (A)
 WHEN  AN OFFICER OF THE STATE IS IMPEACHED BY THE ASSEMBLY, SUCH OFFICER
 SHALL TEMPORARILY LOSE ANY ACCESS TO SUCH OFFICER'S CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT AND
 ALL ASSOCIATED FUNDS, EXCEPT  TO  PAY  LEGAL  DEFENSE  FEES,  UNTIL  THE
 CONCLUSION OF SUCH OFFICER'S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL.
   (B)  IF  SUCH  OFFICER  IS  CONVICTED  BY  THE  COURT FOR THE TRIAL OF
 IMPEACHMENT, SUCH OFFICER SHALL PERMANENTLY  LOSE  ANY  ACCESS  TO  SUCH
 OFFICER'S CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT AND ALL ASSOCIATED FUNDS, EXCEPT TO PAY LEGAL
 DEFENSE FEES.
   2.  THE  STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL LIQUIDATE THE CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT
 OF ANY OFFICIAL CONVICTED BY THE COURT  FOR  THE  TRIAL  OF  IMPEACHMENT
 PURSUANT  TO  PARAGRAPH (B) OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION AND SHALL
 RETURN, PRO RATA, TO EACH CONTRIBUTOR SUCH  FUNDS  THAT  HAVE  NOT  BEEN
 SPENT OR OBLIGATED.  SUCH OFFICIAL'S CAMPAIGN TREASURER SHALL ASSIST THE
 STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS WITH SUCH LIQUIDATION AND RETURN OF FUNDS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13013-02-1

2021-S7325A (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Add §14-134, El L

2021-S7325A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S7325A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7325A

SPONSOR: REICHLIN-MELNICK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the election law, in relation to prohibiting an officer
of the state impeached by the assembly or convicted of a felony from
accessing such officer's campaign accounts and associated funds and
providing for the return of such funds to contributors

 
PURPOSE:

To temporarily prevent state officers who have been impeached by the
Assembly or indicted for a felony from accessing their campaign accounts
until their trial is concluded. If convicted, the state officer would
permanently lose access to their campaign accounts.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill adds a new section to the election law, §
14-134. This section would temporarily prohibit a state officer
impeached by the state Assembly or indicted of a felony from accessing

their campaign account and associated funds until the conclusion of the
officer's trial for impeachment or felony trial.  This section also
provides that a convicted officer would permanently lose access to their
campaign account and associated funds. In both instances, an exception
is made, allowing the official to use campaign funds to pay for legal
fees. Finally, when an official has been convicted, this section
requires the state board of elections to work with the relevant campaign
treasurer to liquidate the campaign account and return the contributions
on a prorated basis.

Section two provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Elected officials who have lost the confidence of the people and commit-
ted crimes serious enough to warrant impeachment or indictment cannot be
trusted with the large sums of money often contained within campaign
accounts. Disgraced public officials should not have the ability to use
campaign funds to curry favor with other elected officials and organiza-
tions, to influence the public, or to mount new political campaigns. The
government often freezes accounts of criminals and seizes funds upon
conviction. Politicians should not be exempted from this practice.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S7325A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7325--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              August 11, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. REICHLIN-MELNICK -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules --  commit-
   tee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
   mitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to prohibiting an  officer
   of  the  state impeached by the assembly or convicted of a felony from
   accessing such officer's campaign accounts and  associated  funds  and
   providing for the return of such funds to contributors
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new section  14-134
 to read as follows:
   §  14-134. LOSS OF ACCESS TO CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT.  1. (A) WHEN AN OFFICER
 OF THE STATE IS IMPEACHED BY THE ASSEMBLY, SUCH OFFICER SHALL  TEMPORAR-
 ILY  LOSE  ANY ACCESS TO SUCH OFFICER'S CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT AND ALL ASSOCI-
 ATED FUNDS, EXCEPT TO PAY LEGAL DEFENSE FEES, UNTIL  THE  CONCLUSION  OF
 SUCH OFFICER'S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL.
   (B)  IF  SUCH  OFFICER  IS  CONVICTED  BY  THE  COURT FOR THE TRIAL OF
 IMPEACHMENT, SUCH OFFICER SHALL PERMANENTLY  LOSE  ANY  ACCESS  TO  SUCH
 OFFICER'S CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT AND ALL ASSOCIATED FUNDS, EXCEPT TO PAY LEGAL
 DEFENSE FEES.
   2.  (A) WHEN AN OFFICER OF THE STATE IS INDICTED FOR A FELONY, WHETHER
 SUCH FELONY IS A VIOLATION OF A FEDERAL LAW OR A LAW OF ANY STATE, SHALL
 TEMPORARILY  LOSE  ANY ACCESS TO SUCH OFFICER'S CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT AND ALL
 ASSOCIATED FUNDS, EXCEPT TO PAY LEGAL DEFENSE FEES,  UNTIL  THE  CONCLU-
 SIONS OF SUCH OFFICER'S FELONY TRIAL.
   (B)  IF SUCH OFFICER IS CONVICTED BY THE COURT OF SUCH FELONY OFFENSE,
 SUCH OFFICIAL SHALL PERMANENTLY LOSE ACCESS TO SUCH  OFFICER'S  CAMPAIGN
 ACCOUNT AND ALL ASSOCIATED FUNDS, EXCEPT TO PAY LEGAL DEFENSE FEES.
   3.  THE  STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL LIQUIDATE THE CAMPAIGN ACCOUNT
 OF ANY OFFICIAL CONVICTED BY THE COURT  FOR  THE  TRIAL  OF  IMPEACHMENT
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13013-03-1

 S. 7325--A                          2
 
 PURSUANT  TO  PARAGRAPH  (B)  OF  SUBDIVISION  ONE  OR  OF  ANY OFFICIAL
 CONVICTED BY THE COURT OF A FELONY PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (B) OF SUBDIVI-
 SION TWO OF THIS SECTION AND SHALL RETURN, PRO RATA, TO EACH CONTRIBUTOR
 SUCH  FUNDS  THAT  HAVE  NOT  BEEN SPENT OR OBLIGATED.   SUCH OFFICIAL'S
 CAMPAIGN TREASURER SHALL ASSIST THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS  WITH  SUCH
 LIQUIDATION AND RETURN OF FUNDS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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