Provides that contributions made by any person, firm, association or corporation to a member of the state legislature which are intended to be used by such member or on behalf of such member for the payment of legal services and other charges in connection with the legal defense of such member in any past or pending civil or criminal action shall be subject to similar monetary limitations and disclosure requirements set forth in the election law pertaining to campaign contributions.

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S1144-2013 Actions

• Jan 9, 2013: REFERRED TO FINANCE

S1144-2013 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S1144               REVISED 1/8/13

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the public officers law and the legislative law,
in relation to the
receipt of monies
by members of the legislature for purposes of legal defense

PURPOSE:
Requires disclosure of monies received by members of the legislature
for the purposes of legal defense.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one (1) requires legislators to disclose any special defense
fund contributions to the Legislative Ethics Commission (2) defines
contribution and applies to contributions made on or after January 1,
2013 (3) requires that any anonymous contributions received by a
legislator for his/her defense fund turned over to the state
comptroller for deposit into the state treasury.

Section 2 amends the legislative law to include and define legal
defense fund contributions among gifts from family, household or
personal relationship.

Section 3 requires the Legislative Ethics Commission to post such
disclosure information on its website.

Section 4 states that this act shall take effect immediately provided
that that section one of this act shall be deemed to have been in
full force and effect on and after January 1, 2013.

JUSTIFICATION:
There is currently a loophole in state ethics regulations which allows
for those in office to create legal defense funds. This allows
supporters to make donations to help lawmakers with their personal
legal bills. Although the Legislative Ethics Commission can approve
the creation of a special defense fund outside the gift ban, the
contribution amounts and contributors are kept secret from the
public. This bill would help to close this loophole and require full
disclosure. Donation amounts and donor identities will no longer be
anonymous.

Although it is unethical to allow contributions to pay for any bills
for an incident which results from a lawmaker's private conduct,
ridding this practice of its anonymity is the first step in
addressing this situation.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2011/2012: S.590A Referred to Senate Committee on Finance

2009/2010: S.6260A Referred to Senate Committee on Finance

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately provided that section one of
this act shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect on and
after January 1, 2013.

S1144-2013 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                    1144

                         2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                                 (PREFILED)

                               January 9, 2013
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by Sens. BRESLIN, KRUEGER, SAVINO, VALESKY -- read twice and
    ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
    Finance

  AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public officers law and the legislative law, in
    relation to the receipt of monies by members of  the  legislature  for
    purposes of legal defense

    THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section 1. The public officers law is amended by adding a new  section
  77-b to read as follows:

    S 77-B. DISCLOSURE OF SPECIAL DEFENSE FUNDS RECEIVED BY MEMBERS OF THE
  LEGISLATURE.  1.  CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY ANY PERSON, FIRM, ASSOCIATION OR
  CORPORATION TO A MEMBER OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE WHICH ARE  INTENDED  TO
  BE  USED BY SUCH MEMBER, OR ON BEHALF OF SUCH MEMBER, FOR THE PAYMENT OF
  LEGAL SERVICES AND OTHER CHARGES IN CONNECTION WITH THE LEGAL DEFENSE OF
  SUCH MEMBER IN ANY PAST OR PENDING CIVIL OR  CRIMINAL  ACTION  SHALL  BE
  SUBJECT  TO  THE  MONETARY  LIMITATIONS  SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISION ONE OF
  SECTION  14-114  OF  THE  ELECTION  LAW.  SUCH  CONTRIBUTIONS  SHALL  BE
  DISCLOSED  ANNUALLY TO THE LEGISLATIVE ETHICS COMMISSION ON SWORN STATE-
  MENTS SETTING FORTH THE DOLLAR AMOUNT OF ANY RECEIPT OR CONTRIBUTION  OR
  THE FAIR MARKET VALUE OF ANY RECEIPT OR CONTRIBUTION WHICH IS OTHER THAN
  OF  MONEY,  THE  NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE CONTRIBUTOR OR PERSON FROM WHOM
  RECEIVED. ANY STATEMENT REPORTING A LOAN SHALL HAVE  ATTACHED  TO  IT  A
  COPY  OF THE EVIDENCE OF INDEBTEDNESS. THE LEGISLATIVE ETHICS COMMISSION
  SHALL PROVIDE FORMS SUITABLE FOR SUCH STATEMENTS.
    2. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, "CONTRIBUTION"  MEANS  ANY  GIFT,
  SUBSCRIPTION,  ADVANCE,  OR DEPOSIT OF MONEY OR ANY THING OF VALUE, MADE
  IN CONNECTION WITH THE LEGAL DEFENSE OF A MEMBER OF THE  LEGISLATURE  IN
  CONNECTION  WITH A CIVIL OR CRIMINAL ACTION AGAINST SUCH MEMBER, INCLUD-
  ING BUT NOT LIMITED TO COMPENSATION FOR THE  PERSONAL  SERVICES  OF  ANY

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD01370-01-3

 S. 1144                             2

  INDIVIDUAL  WHICH  ARE  RENDERED  IN  CONNECTION WITH SUCH LEGAL DEFENSE
  WITHOUT CHARGE. A LOAN MADE TO  A  MEMBER  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  BY  ANY
  PERSON,  FIRM,  ASSOCIATION  OR  CORPORATION  OTHER  THAN IN THE REGULAR
  COURSE  OF  THE LENDER'S BUSINESS SHALL BE DEEMED A CONTRIBUTION FOR THE
  PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION.  THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO
  CONTRIBUTIONS MADE ON AND AFTER JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN.
    3. ANY ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED BY A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE
  FOR THE LEGAL DEFENSE OF SUCH MEMBER SHALL NOT BE USED OR EXPENDED,  BUT
  THE  SAME SHALL BE PAID OVER TO THE COMPTROLLER OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
  FOR DEPOSIT IN THE GENERAL TREASURY OF THE STATE UNLESS, BEFORE THE DATE
  FOR FILING STATEMENTS AND REPORTS AS HEREIN PROVIDED,  THE  IDENTITY  OF
  SUCH  ANONYMOUS  CONTRIBUTOR  SHALL BECOME KNOWN, AND, IN SUCH EVENT THE
  ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTION SHALL BE RETURNED TO SUCH CONTRIBUTOR OR RETAINED
  AND PROPERLY REPORTED AS A CONTRIBUTION FROM SUCH CONTRIBUTOR.
    S 2. Paragraph (vii) of subdivision (j) of section 1-c of the legisla-
  tive law, as amended by section 1 of part D of chapter 399 of  the  laws
  of 2011, is amended to read as follows:

    (vii)  gifts  from  a  family member, member of the same household, or
  person with a personal relationship with the public official,  including
  invitations to attend personal or family social events, when the circum-
  stances  establish  that  it  is  the  family,  household,  or  personal
  relationship that is the primary motivating factor; in determining moti-
  vation, the following factors shall be among those considered:  (A)  the
  history and nature of the relationship between the donor and the recipi-
  ent,  including whether or not items have previously been exchanged; (B)
  whether the item was purchased by the donor; and (C) whether or not  the
  donor at the same time gave similar items to other public officials; the
  transfer shall not be considered to be motivated by a family, household,
  or  personal  relationship  if  the  donor seeks to charge or deduct the
  value of such item as a business expense or seeks reimbursement  from  a
  client.  CONTRIBUTIONS  MADE  BY ANY INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY REQUIRED TO BE
  LISTED ON A STATEMENT OF REGISTRATION PURSUANT  TO  THIS  ARTICLE  TO  A
  MEMBER  OF  THE  STATE LEGISLATURE WHICH ARE INTENDED TO BE USED BY SUCH
  MEMBER OR ON BEHALF OF SUCH MEMBER FOR THE PAYMENT OF LEGAL SERVICES AND
  OTHER CHARGES IN CONNECTION WITH THE LEGAL DEFENSE OF SUCH MEMBER IN ANY
  PAST OR PENDING CIVIL OR CRIMINAL ACTION SHALL BE CONSIDERED GIFTS UNDER
  THIS ARTICLE;
    S 3.  Subdivision 13 of section 80 of the legislative law, as  amended
  by section 9 of part A of chapter 399 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
  read as follows:

    13.  Within  one  hundred  twenty  days  of the effective date of this
  subdivision, the commission  shall  create  and  thereafter  maintain  a
  publicly  accessible  website  which  shall  set forth the procedure for
  filing a complaint with the joint commission on public ethics, and which
  shall contain DISCLOSURE FORMS FILED PURSUANT TO SECTION SEVENTY-SEVEN-B
  OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW AND any other records  or  information  which
  the commission determines to be appropriate.
    S  4. This act shall take effect immediately provided that section one
  of this act shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect on and
  after January 1, 2013.