Democrats in Albany plan to take another shot at filling a loophole that allows groups to anonymously fund lobbying campaigns for powerful state posts after Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed the bill last year.
Groups that tried to defend Hochul’s failed pick to lead the state’s highest court would’ve had to come clean and retroactively file lobbying disclosures under a version of the bill passed last year, leading the governor to veto it.
Democrats in the state Senate are prepared to pass a version this time around that doesn’t apply retroactively, and thus raising the likelihood that Hochul approves it this time.
“It’s a legitimate question to ask why an entity would want to spend a lot of money to make sure that someone is or is not sitting in that seat of power,” the bill’s sponsor, state Senator Michael Gianaris, told the Post.
“It is arguably more dangerous when that happens on a confirmation about a specific person.”
Gianaris said, he’s hopeful that the governor will be more keen to support the legislation this time around.
“I’ve spoken to her team about it. I think we both expressed a concern to move forward constructively,” Gianaris said.
Last year’s fight with fellow Democrats over Hochul’s pick of Justice Hector LaSalle for Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals led to a flurry of lobbying activity in favor and against his nomination.
Current state law requires individuals or organizations to file disclosure reports with the state’s ethics watchdog when lobbying on legislation showing who they work for and how much they’re spending on their efforts. However, the law currently does not require lobbyists to file disclosure reports when lobbying a nomination, as with LaSalle.
Hochul killed the bill amongst a flurry of other vetoes at the end of last year. She wrote in her veto message that the proposal would unfairly apply retroactively and might incur additional, unspecified, expenses to the state.
“This bill would impose significant new reporting requirements on people who might not already be reporters, retroactive to January 1, 2023,” Hochul wrote. “Additionally, this would impose implementation costs not already accounted for in the State financial plan.”
Last year’s bill was overwhelmingly supported by legislators, passing unanimously in the state Assembly and 46 to 16 in the Senate.
Assemblyman John McDonald, who carried last year’s bill, said he’s filed the paperwork to reintroduce the measure in his chamber and expects it to have the same amount of support as last year’s version.
“It’s just good government,” McDonald told the Post.
Good government groups were among those pushing for the bill last year.
“The bill closes a glaring loophole in the state’s lobbying law. Kudos to the Senate for beginning to move it. Our hope is for quick action by the Assembly and approval this time by the governor,” Blair Horner, Executive Director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, told the Post.
“Governor Hochul will review the bill if it passes both houses of the Legislature,” a Hochul spokesperson told the Post.
LaSalle is the presiding justice over the second judicial department, which covers Queens and Staten Island as well as Long Island and parts of the Hudson Valley. His nomination drew backlash from Senators who expressed concerns about rulings LaSalle made putting him at odds with labor and abortion interests.
Despite an outpouring of opposition before LaSalle even sat for a hearing before the Senate’s judiciary committee, Hochul pressed forward with the nomination which ultimately failed.
Some of the groups supporting LaSalle like the Center for Community Alternatives, proactively submitted lobbying disclosures, filing them as lobbying an executive order, according to reporting from the Times Union.