JCOPE Rejects ‘Source of Funding’ Exemption Applications

At its meeting earlier today, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) denied requests from three organizations that sought to shield the identities of their donors – the New York Civil Liberties Union, Family Planning Advocates, and New Yorkers For Constitutional Freedoms.

The Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 included a “donor disclosure” component which requires groups that spend more than $50,000 on lobbying activities to report to JCOPE the identity of donors who provide more than $5,000 to the group.

Last year, JCOPE rejected four such applications, but that rejection was later overturned by a judicial hearing officer.

Read more on this from the State of Politics blog, Capitol Confidential and Capital NY.