State Senator Jeff Klein, Senate Co-Leader and head of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) announced today that he will introduce legislation next week that will overhaul the state’s campaign-finance laws, […]
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Governor Proposes New Law in Effort Against Public Corruption
In response to last week’s indictments of a State Senator, two Assembly members and a New York City Councilman, Gov. Cuomo held a press conference today to announce his first proposal […]
In Wake of Scandals, Governor Says Campaign Finance and Ethics Reform are Priorities
In a radio interview this morning on WCNY, Gov. Cuomo said he wants to capitalize on two scandals from last week to advance an elections and ethics reform agenda. Without […]
US Attorney Announces Multiple Indictments of State Legislators, Others, in Corruption Cases
In what can only be described as an active week, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced two sets of indictments this week. On Tuesday, State Senator Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) was arrested […]
Senate Introduces Comptroller’s Campaign Finance Bill
Last Friday, the Senate Rules Committee introduced S.4239, the Comptroller Campaign Finance Reform Act. This bill, submitted by the Comptroller’s Office, would put in place an option system of public […]
Assembly Speaker Introduces Optional Partial Public Financing Bill
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has introduced the 2013 Fair Elections Act (A.4980), which would establish an optional public financing system for qualified candidates for state elective offices and constitutional convention […]
JCOPE Refers Matter to Legislative Ethics Commission (Updated)
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) announced this afternoon that it has “presented a Substantial Basis Investigation Report to the Legislative Ethics Commission (“LEC”) for its review” under the […]
Assembly Speaker Proposes Bill to Increase Independent Expenditure Disclosure (Updated)
As reported by the AP and the Times Union, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has introduced legislation (A.690) “to ensure that entities engaged in express advocacy of candidates are subject to […]
Senate Minority Leader Makes JCOPE Appointment
The Daily News reports that Senate Minority Leader John Sampson has appointed New York City litigator LaShann DeArcy to replace Ravi Batra on the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE). […]
Senator Proposes Changes to JCOPE, Eliminating LEC
Earlier today, State Senator Tony Avella (D-Queens) introduced S.7852, which would make broad changes to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) while also eliminating the Legislative Ethics Commission. The […]