Attorney General Adopts Regulations Requiring Reporting of Political Spending by Non-Profit, Tax Exempt Organizations

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced this morning that he has adopted new rules that require non-profit organizations that are registered with his office to report their election-related expenditures that exceed $10,000 in their annual financial reports to the Attorney General.  In some cases, such groups will have to report their donors as well.

Good government groups refer to such spending as “dark money,” though they may not be able to any longer since this information will now be will be posted to the AG’s web site.

The new regulations are published in today’s New York State Register.

The new rules are intended to address electioneering and fundraising activity by SuperPACs, some of which have made “independent expenditures” to influence the outcome of elections in New York.  But they may impact other non-profits that engage in political activity as well.

Schneiderman said:

“There is only one reason to funnel political spending through a 501(c)(4), and that is to hide who has bankrolled the effort. By shining a light on this dark corner of our political system, New York will serve as a model for other states, and for the federal government, in protecting the integrity of nonprofits and our democracy.  By requiring nonprofits to disclose the extent and nature of their electioneering activities, we are protecting prospective donors from misleading solicitations, and giving voters more information about who is behind many of the ads they will see in this year’s elections, and elections to come.”

Read my prior blog posts on the AG’s initiative here and here.