Posted by Kelly Williams
Today
the Joint Commission on Public Ethics adopted draft regulations implementing a portion of the 2011 ethics bill that requires that lobbying entities spending in
excess of $50,000 per year on lobbying expenditures disclose the identity of
their sources who give in excess of $5,000 in a 12-month period. The regulations will implement a new
disclosure regime that will enable the public, the media and lawmakers to
understand who stands behind the large lobbying campaigns in the state. Long-standing and well-accepted laws at the
national and local level have long required lobbying entities to disclose their
own identities and their expenditures. But every once in awhile, a large campaign
would be organized by wealthy corporate interests just for the purpose of
passing or defeating a specific piece of legislation with a moniker that didn’t
provide any clue about who was really behind the effort. The source
of the funds for these lobbying organizations and expenditures wasn’t part
of the system of lobbyist registration and disclosure. We
believe the new regulations put in place today constitute the first disclosure
system for donors and sources to lobbying organizations. The new regulations will go a long way
towards increasing transparency and accountability and may ultimately end the
practice of this “black box” lobbying in our state. Going forward large lobbying organizations
in New York State will be disclosing their sources and donors much the same way
donors to political campaigns and independent expenditure advertising are
disclosed. Large lobbying campaigns
will now be conducted in plain view. The
combination of the new lobbying source disclosures and existing political disclosures
may also provide useful information in the years to come.
The
new regulations allow for lobbying organizations to apply for an exemption to
the general rule requiring disclosure for instances where the lobbying
organization shows “by clear and convincing evidence that disclosure of the
…[source of funds] will cause harm, threats, harassment or reprisals to the
[source] or individuals or property affiliated with the [source]. “ This process was intended for the benefit
of donors to controversial campaigns, such as those for civil rights, who in
some states have been the subject of intimidation and harassment.
It
remains to be seen how the Commission will grant exemptions going forward. We would urge the Commission to clarify that
disclosure is the rule, exemption the rare exception. One of the factors enumerated in the
regulations is of concern to us: it allows the Commission to take into
consideration: “The impact of disclosure on the ability of the Single Source or
Client Filer to maintain ordinary business operations and the extent of the
resulting economic harm.” This factor
was not part of the bill passed in 2011, it has been added by the drafters of
the regulations at the Commission. We strongly
urge that this not be used to allow for-profit businesses to cloak their
lobbying expenditures by arguing that they face an economic boycott or
shareholder disapproval if their identities are disclosed. Consumers have a right to know, and
shareholders have a right to voice their concerns.
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