N.Y. Regulation of Lobbying Act 1040/81 § 12: Penalties

* § 12. Penalties. (a) Except as provided for in section ten of this

act, any person or organization who knowingly and wilfully violates any

provision of this act, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. For the

purposes of this subdivision, the chief administrative officer of any

organization required to file a statement or report shall be the person

responsible for making and filing such statement or report unless some

other person prior to the due date thereof has been duly designated to

make and file such statement or report.

(b) A person or organization who fails to file a statement or report

within the time required for the filing of such report shall be subject

to a civil penalty, in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars, to

be assessed by the commission. Such assessment may only be imposed after

written notice of such failure and the expiration of a reasonable period

within which to cure the failure. The amount of such assessment shall be

determined only after a hearing at which the party shall be entitled to

appear and be heard. Such assessment may be recovered in an action

brought by the attorney general.

(c) There is hereby established in the custody of the state

comptroller a special fund to be known as the "Lobbying Act Enforcement

Fund". Such fund shall consist of all moneys recovered by the attorney

general or received by the commission from the assessment of civil

penalties authorized by this section. Such moneys shall be deposited to

the credit of such fund and shall, in addition to any other moneys made

available for such purpose, be available to the commission generally for

the purpose of enforcing the provisions of the lobbying act. All

payments from the lobbying act enforcement fund shall be made on the

audit and warrant of the state comptroller on vouchers certified and

submitted by the chairman of the commission or the executive director of

the commission if so designated by the chairman.

* NB Chapter 2 of the laws of 1999 repealed, effective January 1,

2000, the lobbying act as enacted by section 1 of chapter 1040 of the

laws of 1981. A new lobbying act was enacted as Article 1-A of the

legislative law.

Section 5 of such chapter 2 transfers all of the functions and powers

of the New York temporary state commission on lobbying created by such

chapter 1040 to the New York temporary state commission on lobbying

created by Article 1-A of the legislative law with respect to receiving

the periodic and annual reports required to be filed pursuant to

sections 8, 9 and 10 of the repealed chapter 1040. Also, pursuant to

section 7 of such chapter 2, any action or proceeding commenced prior to

January 1, 2000 under the old lobbying act shall be continued,

prosecuted and defended pursuant to the old lobbying act as in effect on

December 31, 1999.

Because of these provisions, the Commission will continue to set out

the full text of the repealed lobbying act through December 31, 2000 in

order that lobbyists who were subject to the former lobbying act may be

adequately apprised of the responsibilities and obligations imposed upon

them as continued by sections 5 and 7 of chapter 2 of the laws of 1999.