NY State Senate Bill 2025-S7681

Senate Bill S7681

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Prohibits a state or local authority from employing or designating a lobbyist to engage in lobbying

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Corporations, Authorities And Commissions 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
Apr 29, 2025	referred to corporations, authorities and commissions

2025-S7681 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Corporations, Authorities And Commissions
Law Section:: Public Authorities Law
Laws Affected:: Add §2859, Pub Auth L

2025-S7681 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits a state or local authority, or subsidiary thereof, from retaining, contracting, employing, or designating a lobbyist to engage in lobbying; allows for the cancellation of pre-existing contracts.

2025-S7681 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7681

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to prohibiting a
state or local authority from employing or designating a lobbyist to
engage in lobbying

 
PURPOSE:

This bill will ensure public authorities do not hire private lobbyists
for official state business.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 2859 of the public authorities law to prohibit
public authorities from hiring external lobbyists for direct or indirect
lobbying and provides for termination of lobbying contracts without
penalty, while ensuring all parties receive agreed upon monies for work
performed prior to this bill becoming law.

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Several public authorities in the State hire contract lobbyists to push
their priorities before the legislature and Executive.

These are public entities who pay lobbying firms to represent them in
Albany, when they should already have ready access to the executive,
legislators, and staff. Government officials are always receptive to
outreach from any government entity and therefore, it is duplicative and
an added public cost for public authorities to use public funds to hire
contract lobbyists.

At least six other states including Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illi-
nois, Massachusetts and Virginia explicitly prohibit their authorities
from contracting with lobbyists and several others restrict using public
funds to pay contract lobbyists.

This bill does not prohibit any authorities from hiring any in-house
staff to advocate for them, nor does it prohibit them from hiring lobby-
ists to petition the federal government on their behalf. It just prohib-
its them from contracting with private, external lobbyists for official
state business.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S7681 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7681
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 29, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations,  Authorities
   and Commissions
 
 AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to prohibiting a
   state  or  local authority from employing or designating a lobbyist to
   engage in lobbying

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The  public  authorities  law  is amended by adding a new
 section 2859 to read as follows:
   § 2859. PROHIBITION ON RETAINING  LOBBYISTS.  1.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY
 OTHER  LAW  TO  THE CONTRARY, NO STATE OR LOCAL AUTHORITY, OR SUBSIDIARY
 THEREOF, SHALL, DIRECTLY OR  INDIRECTLY  RETAIN,  CONTRACT,  EMPLOY,  OR
 DESIGNATE  A  LOBBYIST  TO  ENGAGE IN LOBBYING. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS
 SECTION, THE TERMS "LOBBYIST" AND "LOBBYING" SHALL HAVE THE MEANINGS  AS
 DEFINED IN SECTION ONE-C OF THE LEGISLATIVE LAW.
   2.  ANY  CONTRACTS IN EFFECT AT THE TIME OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS
 SECTION, WHICH ARE INCONSISTENT WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION, MAY
 BE CANCELLED OR TERMINATED BY THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY WITHOUT INCURRING ANY
 PENALTY OR DAMAGES ON ACCOUNT OF SUCH CANCELLATION OR  TERMINATION,  BUT
 ANY  MONIES  OWING  BY  THE  PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR WORK DONE PRIOR TO THE
 CANCELLATION OR TERMINATION SHALL BE PAID.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10929-01-5

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