§ 94. Commission on ethics and lobbying in government. 1. (a)\nCommission established. There is hereby established within the\ndepartment of state, a commission on ethics and lobbying in government,\nan agency responsible for administering, enforcing, and interpreting New\nYork state's ethics and lobbying laws. The commission shall have and\nexercise the powers and duties set forth in this section with respect to\nstatewide elected officials, members of the legislature and employees of\nthe legislature, and state officers and employees as defined in sections\nseventy-three, seventy-three-a, and seventy-four of the public officers\nlaw, candidates for statewide elected office and for the senate or\nassembly, and the political party chair as is defined in section\nseventy-three of the public officers law, lobbyists and the clients of\nlobbyists as defined in section one-c of the legislative law, and\nindividuals who have formerly held such positions, were lobbyists or\nclients of lobbyists as defined in section one-c of the legislative law,\nor who have formerly been such candidates.\n (b) The commission shall provide for the transfer, assumption or other\ndisposition of the records, property, and personnel affected by this\nsection, and it is further provided, should any employees be transferred\nfrom the joint commission on public ethics ("JCOPE"), the predecessor\nethics agency, to the commission, that such transfer will be without\nfurther examination or qualification and such employees shall retain\ntheir respective civil service classifications, status and collective\nbargaining agreements.\n (c) The commission shall review any pending inquiries or matters\naffected by this section and shall establish policies to address them.\n (d) The commission shall undertake a comprehensive review of all\nregulations in effect upon the effective date of this section; and\nreview of all advisory opinions of predecessor ethics agencies,\nincluding JCOPE, the legislative ethics commission, the commission on\npublic integrity, the state ethics commission, and the temporary\nlobbying commission, which will address the consistency of such\nregulations and advisory opinions among each other and with the new\nstatutory language, and of the effectiveness of the existing laws,\nregulations, guidance and ethics enforcement structure.\n (e) This section shall not be deemed to have revoked or rescinded any\nregulations or advisory opinions in effect on the effective date of this\nsection that were issued by predecessor ethics and lobbying bodies. The\ncommission shall cooperate, consult, and coordinate with the legislative\nethics commission, to the extent possible, to administer and enforce the\nlaws under its jurisdiction.\n (f) The annual budget submitted by the governor shall separately state\nthe recommended appropriations for the commission on ethics and lobbying\nin government. Upon enactment, these separately stated appropriations\nfor the commission on ethics and lobbying in government shall not be\ndecreased by interchange with any other appropriation, notwithstanding\nsection fifty-one of the state finance law.\n 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms\nshall have the following meanings:\n (a) "commission" means the commission on ethics and lobbying in\ngovernment established pursuant to subdivision one of this section.\n (b) "selection members" means the governor, speaker of the assembly,\ntemporary president of the senate, minority leader of the senate,\nminority leader of the assembly, comptroller, and the attorney general.\n (c) "independent review committee" means the committee of the American\nBar Association accredited New York state law school deans or interim\ndeans, or their designee who is an associate dean of their respective\nlaw school, tasked with reviewing, approving, or denying the members of\nthe commission as nominated by the selection members and other tasks\npursuant to this se‹ Prev All New York sections Next ›
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