New York Passes Public Campaign Financing and
Nonprofit Disclosure Bills

Carlo Aguja, Esq. 
Manager, Research Services

On April 3, Gov. Cuomo signed legislation to enact the state budget for the 2021 fiscal year in the shadow of growing concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic. The enacted state budget bills include Senate Bill 7508 to establish statewide public campaign financing and Senate Bill 7505 regarding nonprofit disclosures.

Senate Bill 7508

Effective November 9, 2022, Senate Bill 7508 establishes a statewide public campaign financing system and lowers contribution limits. The voluntary financing system and new contribution limits apply to participants in the primary and general elections to be held in 2024. The public campaign financing system and new contribution limits were recommended last year by the Campaign Finance Reform Commission and automatically became law in December 2019. In March, a state court found the Legislature improperly delegated to the commission legislative action powers reserved solely to the Legislature under the state’s constitution. The ruling noted the struck-down laws could be reintroduced in a bill to be passed by lawmakers and signed into law by the governor.

Senate Bill 7508 creates a Public Campaign Finance Board (PCFB) within the state Board of Elections to develop the public campaign financing program. The PCFB’s duties include promulgating rules and regulations to administer the program and to provide compliance guidance to participating candidates. Additionally, the bill lowers contribution limits a candidate may accept while participating in the public funding system. A candidate for statewide office may accept a contribution of $18,000 in the aggregate. The bill also sets contribution limits for state senators and Assembly members to $10,000 and $6,000, respectively. Contribution limits are divided equally among the primary and general election in an election cycle.

Senate Bill 7505

Effective January 1, 2021, Senate Bill 7505 amends Executive Law §172, in relation to disclosure requirements for certain nonprofits. The bill requires charitable organizations to file annual financial reports and funding disclosures with the Department of State to be published on their website for public transparency. Previously, disclosure reports by charitable organizations were filed with the state’s Department of Law. The bill aims to streamline the reporting process for 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations.

Michael Beckett, Esq.,
Associate Director, Research Services

AUSTIN, TEXAS: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Steve Adler signed an additional emergency order on April 13. The new order suspends all deadlines imposed by city code, ordinance, rule, or other regulation until May 30. Under Section 7 of the order, the deadline for all lobbyist quarterly activity reports has been further extended from May 1 to May 30. No late fees will be accrued for failure to file prior to May 30. 

CALIFORNIA: The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has issued an advisory memorandum encouraging people subject to lobbying registration and reporting requirements to continue to make the best efforts to timely file all legally required reports and statements. However, it may be difficult for some to file statements and reports given the shelter-in-place order and other issues caused by the pandemic. If circumstances caused by COVID-19 inhibit the filing of a lobbying report or statement, the filer should communicate these issues to the Office of the Secretary of State and document all attempts to file and the issues faced. If a person with lobbying filing requirements makes best efforts to comply with the Political Reform Act’s lobbying registration and reporting rules but is unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FPPC will consider this a strong mitigating factor in determining whether an enforcement action against the person is appropriate.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: The Board of Ethics is extending the first quarterly report filing deadline from April 20 to June 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. First quarter reports cover the period from January 1 to March 31 and must be filed even if there was no activity. In addition, 2020 mandatory online lobbyist training has not been posted and the training deadline has been extended past June 30. 

INDIANA: The Lobby Registration Commission is extending the first period activity report filing deadline from May 31 to July 15. First period activity reports cover the period from November 1, 2019, to April 30, 2020. Any late fees imposed for reports filed June 1 to July 15 will be waived, but reports filed after July 15 will be subject to late fees.

PORTLAND, OREGON: The Portland auditor has temporarily suspended enforcement of lobbying and political consultant reporting requirements for first quarter reports due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The deadline for lobbyist reports covering activity for the period of January 1 to March 31 is extended until June 15. The auditor’s office will not assess late fees or penalties for the failure to file quarterly reports, submit required updated information, or register as a lobbyist or political consultant. Lobbying entities, political consultants, and city officials are encouraged to file reports when they are able to do so. 

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in State and Federal Communications' digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying and can be found in the client portion of our website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly email updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking regarding lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.
 

State and Federal Communications’ Experts
Answer Your Questions

Here is your chance to “Ask the Experts” at State and Federal Communications, Inc. Send your questions to experts@stateandfed.com. (Of course, we have always been available to answer questions from clients that are specific to your needs, and we encourage you to continue to call or email us with questions about your particular company or organization. As always, we will confidentially and directly provide answers or information you need.) Our replies are not legal advice, just our analysis of laws, rules, and regulations.