N.Y. Legislative Law § 1-j: Semi-annual reports

§ 1-j. Semi-annual reports. (a) Semi-annual reports shall be filed by

any client retaining, employing or designating a lobbyist or lobbyists,

whether or not any such lobbyist was required to file a bi-monthly

report, if such client reasonably anticipates that during the year such

client will expend or incur an amount in excess of five thousand dollars

of combined reportable compensation and expenses, as provided in

paragraph five of subdivision (c) of this section, for the purposes of

lobbying.

(b) Such report shall be filed with the commission, on forms supplied

by the commission, by the fifteenth day of July of the year and by the

fifteenth day of January next following the year for which such report

is made and shall contain:

(1) the name, address and telephone number of the client;

(2) the name, address and telephone number of each lobbyist retained,

employed or designated by such client;

(3) the following information on which each lobbyist retained,

employed or designated by such client has lobbied, and on which such

client has lobbied: (i) a description of the general subject or

subjects, (ii) the legislative bill numbers of any bills, (iii) the

numbers or subject matter (if there are no numbers) of gubernatorial

executive orders or executive orders issued by the chief executive

officer of a municipality, (iv) the subject matter of and tribes

involved in tribal-state compacts, memoranda of understanding, or any

other state-tribal agreements and any state actions related to class III

gaming as provided in 25 U.S.C. 2701, (v) the rule, regulation, and

ratemaking or municipal resolution or ordinance numbers of any rules,

regulations, or rates, or municipal resolutions or ordinances or

proposed rules, regulations, or rates, or municipal ordinances or

resolutions and (vi) the titles and any identifying numbers of any

procurement contracts and other documents disseminated by a state

agency, either house of the state legislature, the unified court system,

municipal agency or local legislative body in connection with a

governmental procurement;

(4) the name of the person, organization, or legislative body before

which such client has lobbied;

(5) (i) the compensation paid or owed to each such lobbyist, and any

other expenses paid or incurred by such client for the purpose of

lobbying.

(ii) any expenses required to be reported pursuant to subparagraph (i)

of this paragraph shall be listed in the aggregate if seventy-five

dollars or less and if more than seventy-five dollars such expenses

shall be detailed as to amount, to whom paid, and for what purpose; and

where such expenses are more than seventy-five dollars on behalf of any

one person, the name of such person shall be listed.

(iii) for the purposes of this paragraph, expenses shall not include:

(A) personal sustenance, lodging and travel disbursements of such

lobbyist and client;

(B) expenses, not in excess of five hundred dollars, directly incurred

for the printing or other means of reproduction or mailing of letters,

memoranda or other written communications.

(iv) expenses paid or incurred for salaries other than that of the

lobbyist shall be listed in the aggregate.

(v) expenses of more than fifty dollars must be paid by check or

substantiated by receipts and such checks and receipts shall be kept on

file by such client for a period of three years.

(6) (i) the name and public office address of any statewide elected

official, state officer or employee, member of the legislature or

legislative employee and entity with whom the client of a lobbyist has a

reportable business relationship;

(ii) a description of the general subject or subjects of the

transactions between the client of a lobbyist and the statewide elected

official, state officer or employee, member of the legislature or

legislative employee and entity; and

(iii) the compensation, including expenses, to be paid and paid by

virtue of the business relationship.

(c) (1) All such semi-annual reports shall be subject to review by the

commission.

(2) Such semi-annual reports shall be kept on file for a period of

three years and shall be open to public inspection during such period.

(3) Each semi-annual report filed by a client pursuant to this section

shall be accompanied by a filing fee of fifty dollars. In addition to

the filing fees authorized by this article, the commission may impose a

fee for late filing of a semi-annual report required by this section not

to exceed twenty-five dollars for each day that the report required to

be filed is late, except that if the client making a late filing has not

previously been required by statute to file an annual or semi-annual

report, the fee for late filing shall not exceed ten dollars for each

day that the report required to be filed is late.

(4) Any client of a lobbyist that is required to file a semi-annual

report and:

(i) that has spent over fifteen thousand dollars in the aggregate for

reportable compensation and expenses for lobbying, either during the

calendar year, or during the twelve-month period, prior to the date of

this semi-annual report, and

(ii) at least three percent of whose total expenditures during the

same period were devoted to lobbying in New York shall report to the

commission the names of each source of funding that has contributed over

two thousand five hundred dollars from a single source that were used to

fund the lobbying activities reported and the amount of each

contribution received from each identified source of funding; provided,

however, that amounts received from each identified source of funding

shall not be required to be disclosed if such amounts constitute

membership dues, fees, or assessments charged by the reporting entity to

enable an individual or entity to be a member of the reporting entity.

This disclosure shall not require disclosure of the sources of funding

whose disclosure, in the determination of the commission based upon a

review of the relevant facts presented by the reporting client or

lobbyist, may cause harm, threats, harassment, or reprisals to the

source or to individuals or property affiliated with the source. The

reporting lobbyist may appeal the commission's determination and such

appeal shall be heard by a judicial hearing officer who is independent

and not affiliated with or employed by the commission, pursuant to

regulations promulgated by the commission. The reporting lobbyist shall

not be required to disclose the sources of funding that are the subject

of such appeal pending final judgment on appeal.

The disclosure shall not apply to:

(i) any corporation registered pursuant to article seven-A of the

executive law that is qualified as an exempt organization by the United

States Department of the Treasury under I.R.C. § 501(c)(3); provided,

however, that this disclosure shall apply to any in-kind donations of

staff, staff time, personnel, offices, office supplies, financial

support of any kind or any other resources to any corporation or entity

that is qualified as an exempt organization by the United States

Department of the Treasury under I.R.C. 501(c)(4) when such in-kind

donations are over two thousand five hundred dollars and from any

corporation or entity that is qualified as an exempt organization by the

United States Department of the Treasury under I.R.C. 501(c)(3). In such

case the entity receiving such in-kind donations shall disclose the fair

market value and identify the I.R.C. 501(c)(3) entity providing such

in-kind donations and give notice within a reasonable time to the

501(c)(3) entity that it shall be required to file a report with the

department of law pursuant to section one hundred seventy-two-e of the

executive law;

(ii) any corporation registered pursuant to article seven-A of the

executive law that is qualified as an exempt organization by the United

States Department of the Treasury under I.R.C. § 501(c)(4) and whose

primary activities concern any area of public concern determined by the

commission 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, including but not limited to the area of

civil rights and civil liberties and any other area of public concern

determined pursuant to regulations promulgated by the commission to form

a proper basis for exemption on this basis from this disclosure

requirement; or

(iii) any governmental entity.

The commission on ethics and lobbying in government shall promulgate

regulations to implement these requirements.