Review of the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011, Part 3: Advocacy Donor Disclosure

Now that the Governor has approved the new ethics law (Chapter 399 of the Laws of 2011), I will be posting more in-depth explanations of the various parts of the bill.

Part 1: The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE)
Part 2: The Project Sunlight Database
Today:  Advocacy Organization Donor Disclosure Requirement

Advocacy Donor Disclosure

The new law requires some “advocacy organizations” to disclose the source of funding over $5,000 for each source that was used to fund its lobbying activity, effective June 1, 2012.

Disclosure of the sources of these donations will be required by any lobbyist or client of a lobbyist where:

– the group has spent over $50,000 for reportable compensation and expenses for lobbying during the calendar year or the preceding 12 month period; and

– at least 3% of the group’s total expenditures during the same period were devoted to lobbying in New York.

The following groups are specifically exempted from the donor disclosure requirement:

– 501(c) (3) organizations;
– 501(c) (4) organizations “whose primary activities concern any area of public concern” determined by the to create a substantial likelihood that application of this  disclosure  requirement  would  lead  to  harm, threats, harassment, or reprisals to a source of funding or to individuals  or  property affiliated with such source;
– government entities; and
– any other entity who disclosure, as determined by the JCOPE, “may cause harm, threats harassment or reprisals.”

According to the sponsor’s memorandum, groups that are intended to be covered by this “donor disclosure” requirement include 501(c)(4) advocacy groups, business/trade associations and other associations, charitable organizations, labor unions and coalitions.

The new donor disclosure mandate appears to be an attempt to identify spending by what Common Cause called “anonymous grassroots advocacy groups” in a May 2011 report.

But this new provision seems to raise as many questions as it answers.  Given the breadth of the language used in new Legislative Law § 1-h(c) and § 1-j(c), will the new law require donor disclosure from a number of other entities that lobby in Albany?  We will probably have to wait for the JCOPE’s guidance and/or regulations to find out.