N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 19 § 943.14

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 51, December 18, 2024

Section 943.14 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Reportable Business Relationships

(a) Purpose. Disclosure of business relationships between Lobbyists or Clients of Lobbyists and State Persons will increase transparency in government.

(b) Definitions.

1)Client includes every person or organization that retains, employs or designates any person or organization to carry on Lobbying Activities on behalf of such Client. With respect to an organization, the term Client also includes High-Level Individuals of the organization. Client includes Contractual Clients and Beneficial Clients.

2)Compensation means any salary, fee, gift, payment, benefit, loan, advance or any other thing of value. It does not include commercially available consumer and business loans or lines of credit as available to the general public, goods and services and discounts available to the general public, dividends or payments related to stock purchases, or contributions reportable under Article 14 of the New York State Election Law.

3)High-Level Individual means a proprietor, partner, director, trustee or person within the executive management of a Client organization.

(i) When a college, as defined under Section 2 of the Education Law, is a Client organization, the members of the college's governing board, the president or chief executive, and the provost or chief academic officer are High-Level Individuals.

4)Intended to be performed or provided means the goods, services or anything of value have not yet been performed or provided, but the Lobbyist or Client, as applicable, reasonably anticipates such goods, services, or value to be performed or provided in the future.

5)Lobbyist includes the lobbying firm or organization (the Principal Lobbyist for filing purposes) and every person identified on a Statement of Registration, as well as any equity partners, officers, or directors of the organization who operate out of the same geographic office as any person identified on a Statement of Registration.

6)Performed or provided means that a State Person or an entity in which the State Person has the Requisite Involvement either actually performed or provided the goods, services, or anything of value, or had a significant, but not necessarily exclusive or primary role, in performing or providing the goods, services or anything of value.

7)Reason to know means a Lobbyist or Client has reason to know that an individual is a State Person or that a State Person has the Requisite Involvement with an entity because a reasonable person, based on the totality of the facts and circumstances, would conclude that the Lobbyist or Client should know such fact. The following factors may be considered to determine whether a Lobbyist or Client had reason to know:

(i) Origins of the relationship between the parties;

(ii) Length of such relationship;

(iii) The type and actual value of the goods, services or items provided; and/or

(iv) Whether the fact that the individual is a State Person or the Requisite Involvement of the State Person with the entity at issue is generally known to the public.

A Lobbyist or Client will be deemed to have had reason to know if such lack of knowledge results from willfully ignoring information that would lead a reasonable person to (i) conclude that the individual was a State Person, or that a State Person had the Requisite Involvement, or, (ii) undertake further research to determine whether either fact exists.

8)Reportable Business Relationship means a relationship that meets all the criteria listed in Part 943.14(c)(1).

9)Reportable Business Relationship Form means the form so entitled available on the Commission's website.

10)Requisite Involvement in an entity means when a State Person is a proprietor, partner, director, officer, or manager of a non-governmental entity, or owns or controls 10% or more of the stock of a non-governmental entity (or 1% in the case of a corporation whose stock is regularly traded on an established securities exchange).

11)State Person includes:

(i) statewide elected officials;

(ii) members of the legislature or legislative employees;

(iii) heads of State departments and their deputies and assistants, other than members of the board of regents of the university of the State of New York who receive no compensation or are compensated on a per diem basis;

(iv) officers and employees of statewide elected officials;

(v) officers and employees of State departments, boards, bureaus, divisions, commissions, councils, or other State agencies; and

(vi) employees of public authorities (other than multi-state authorities), public benefit corporations and commissions at least one of whose members is appointed by the governor, and members or directors of such authorities, corporations, and commissions who are compensated other than on a per diem basis.

(c) Disclosing a Reportable Business Relationship.

1) Elements of a Reportable Business Relationship.

A business relationship must be reported, regardless of when the relationship commenced, if at any time during a Calendar Year, all of the following criteria are met:

(i) A formal or informal agreement or understanding exists in which a Lobbyist or Client of a Lobbyist pays, has paid or promises Compensation to:

(a) An individual whom the Lobbyist or Client knows or has Reason to Know is a State Person;

(b) A non-governmental entity for which the Lobbyist or Client knows or has Reason to Know that the State Person has the Requisite Involvement; or

(c) A third-party as directed by the State Person or as directed by the entity.

(ii) The payment or promise of Compensation is or was in exchange for goods, services, or anything of value either Performed or Provided or Intended to be Performed or Provided by the State Person or an entity in which the State Person has the Requisite Involvement; and

(iii) The total value of the Compensation paid to the State Person or an entity in which the State Person has the Requisite Involvement, which must be aggregated if applicable in accordance with subsection 943.14(c)(2), exceeds $1,000 within a Calendar Year. Such threshold is met once more than $1000 in Compensation is:

(a) Paid or owed to such State Person or entity for services Performed or Provided or Intended to be Performed or Provided.

2) Aggregation of Compensation.

If a Lobbyist or Client has multiple business relationships with the same State Person, the same entity or entities in which a State Person has the Requisite Involvement, then the value of the Compensation paid for goods, services or anything of value relating to such relationships must be aggregated. If the aggregated value of such Compensation is more than $1,000 within a Calendar Year, then each relationship is a Reportable Business Relationship assuming all other criteria are satisfied.

3) How and When to Report.

Once a Reportable Business Relationship exists a Lobbyist or Client must complete a Reportable Business Relationship Form and submit it to the Commission within 10 days of the Reportable Business Relationship's existence. For ongoing Reportable Business Relationships, Lobbyists and Clients must disclose on their Reportable Business Relationship Form all Calendar Years in which the Reportable Business Relationship is in existence.

4) Reportable Business Relationship Form Considered Part of Filing.

In accordance with sections 1-e and 1-j of the Lobbying Act, which requires Lobbyists and Clients to disclose Reportable Business Relationships within their respective filings, a Reportable Business Relationship Form shall be considered a part of the Lobbyist's Statement of Registration or the Client's Semi-Annual Report, as applicable. Certain entities file both Lobbyist Statements of Registration and Client Semi-Annual Reports as they are considered both a Lobbyist and Client. These entities shall only be required to file the Lobbyist Reportable Business Relationship Form to comply with the filing requirement.

5) Information Required in a Reportable Business Relationship Form.

For each Reportable Business Relationship, a Lobbyist or Client must provide the following information within the Reportable Business Relationship Form:

(i) The name and public office address of the State Person or entity with which the State Person has the Requisite Involvement;

(ii) A description of the general subject or subjects of the transactions between the Lobbyist or Client and the State Person (or the entity with which the State Person has the Requisite Involvement); and

(iii) The actual or anticipated amount of Compensation, including reimbursable Expenses, to be paid and paid to the State Person (or entity with which the State Person has the Requisite Involvement) by virtue of the business relationship.

6) Reportable Business Relationships of High-Level Individuals of Client Organizations.

For organizations that constitute a Client of a Lobbyist, each Reportable Business Relationship of its High-Level Individuals must be reported by the Client organization if:

(i) The High-Level Individual entered in to the Reportable Business Relationship in his or her personal capacity; or

(ii) Another entity entered in to the Reportable Business Relationship at the direction or request of the High-Level Individual.

For example: As a Client organization's High-Level Individuals have significant influence over decisions made by the organization, any Reportable Business Relationships under the personal control or direction of such High-Level Individuals should also be disclosed.

7) Reportable Business Questionnaire.

A Lobbyist or Client organization may use, and rely upon in good faith, the responses to a questionnaire provided by the Commission to send to its equity partners, officers, directors or High Level Individuals, as applicable, to determine whether such persons have business relationships that must be reported.

8) Duty to Amend Report.

If a material change occurs relating to information reported in the Reportable Business Relationship Form after it has been submitted, including material changes in the actual or anticipated amount of Compensation paid, an amended Reportable Business Relationship Form must be submitted to the Commission within 10 days of such change.

9) Exclusions from Reportable Business Relationship Requirements.

Relationships between a Lobbyist or Client and a State Person or entity in which a State Person has Requisite Involvement that relate to the following are excluded from reporting requirements:

(i) Medical, dental and mental health services and treatment; and

(ii) Legal services with respect to investigation or prosecution by law enforcement authorities, bankruptcy and domestic relations matters.

(d) Penalties.

Failure to report a Reportable Business Relationship in a timely manner as required by this section subjects the Lobbyist or Client to civil penalties as prescribed by section 1- o(b)(i) of the Lobbying Act and/or late fees as prescribed by sections 1-e(e)(iii) and 1- j(c)(iii) of the Lobbying Act and section 943.15 of this Title. In addition, the submission of false filings subjects the Lobbyist or Client to a civil penalty as prescribed by section 1-o(b)(ii) of the Lobbying Act.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 19 § 943.14

Adopted New York State Register May 9, 2018/Volume XL, Issue 19, eff. 1/1/2019

Amended New York State Register February 10, 2021/Volume XLIII, Issue 06, eff. 2/10/2021

Amended New York State Register July 17, 2024/Volume XLVI, Issue 29, eff. 1/1/2025