STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6247 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 6, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MYRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to contributions from persons doing or seeking business dealings with a state governmental entity The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The election law is amended by adding a new section 14-131 2 to read as follows: 3 § 14-131. Contributions from persons doing or seeking business deal- 4 ings with a state governmental entity. 1. The legislature finds that it 5 is necessary to reduce the appearance of or actual improper influence of 6 the state contracting process and increase its fairness by banning 7 campaign contributions from a company seeking state contracts to office- 8 holders with authority over procuring entities during a restricted 9 contribution period. 10 2. For the purpose of this section, the following terms shall have the 11 following meanings: 12 (a) "state governmental entity" shall mean the state of New York, any 13 public authority, public benefit corporation or not-for-profit corpo- 14 ration, the majority of whose board members are officials of the state 15 or are appointed by such officials, or any agency or entity affiliated 16 with the state of New York. 17 (b) "person" shall include any chief executive officer, chief finan- 18 cial officer or chief operating officer of a business entity or persons 19 serving in an equivalent capacity, any person employed in a senior mana- 20 gerial capacity regarding a business entity, or any person with an 21 interest in a business entity which exceeds ten percent of the value of 22 such entity at fair market value. 23 (c) "senior managerial capacity" shall mean a high-level supervisory 24 capacity, either by virtue of title or duties, in which substantial EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03612-03-3S. 6247 2 1 discretion and oversight is exercised over the solicitation, letting or 2 administration of business transactions with a state governmental enti- 3 ty, including contracts, franchises, concession, grants, economic devel- 4 opment agreements and application for land use approvals. 5 (d) (i) "business dealing with a state governmental entity" shall 6 mean: 7 (A) one or more contracts with a single person or business entity for 8 the procurement of goods, services or construction that are in effect or 9 that were entered into within the preceding one-year period with a state 10 governmental entity and have a total value at or above one hundred thou- 11 sand dollars, or, with respect to contracts for construction, at or 12 above five hundred thousand dollars, and shall include any contract for 13 the underwriting of the debt of a state governmental entity and the 14 retention of any bond counsel, disclosure counsel or underwriter's coun- 15 sel in connection therewith; or 16 (B) any acquisition or disposition of real property, other than a 17 public auction or competitive sealed bid transaction or the acquisition 18 of property pursuant to the department of environmental conservation 19 land acquisition processes with a state governmental entity; or 20 (C) acquisition of office space by the office of general services or 21 any other state governmental entity, including acquisitions by purchase, 22 condemnation, exchange or lease; or 23 (D) one or more concessions or one or more franchises with a single 24 person or business entity that are in effect or that were entered into 25 within the preceding one-year period from a state governmental entity 26 which have a total estimated annual value at or above one hundred thou- 27 sand dollars; or 28 (E) one or more grants made to a single person or entity that are in 29 effect or that were entered into within the preceding one-year period 30 that have a total value at or above one hundred thousand dollars, 31 received from a state governmental entity; or 32 (F) any economic development agreement entered into or in effect with 33 a state governmental entity; or 34 (G) any contract for the investment of pension funds, including 35 investments in a private equity firm and contracts with investment 36 related consultants. 37 (ii) for purposes of clauses (A), (D) and (E) of subparagraph (i) of 38 this paragraph, all contracts, concessions, franchises and grants that 39 are five thousand dollars or less in value shall be excluded from any 40 calculation as to whether a contract, concession, franchise or grant is 41 a business dealing with a state governmental entity. The division of 42 homes and community renewal shall promulgate rules setting forth which 43 categories of actions, transactions and agreements providing affordable 44 housing shall and shall not constitute business dealings with a state 45 governmental entity for purposes of this paragraph. The division shall 46 consider the significance of the affordable housing program and the 47 degree of discretion by state officials in determining which actions, 48 transactions and agreements shall and shall not constitute such business 49 dealings. Notwithstanding any provision of this paragraph, a housing 50 assistance payment contract between a landlord and the division of homes 51 and community renewal relating to the provision of rent subsidies pursu- 52 ant to Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 42 U.S.C. 53 1437 et. seq., shall not constitute business dealings with a state 54 governmental entity for the purposes of this paragraph. 55 (e) (i) "intermediary" shall mean an individual, business entity, 56 political committee, employee organization or other entity which:S. 6247 3 1 (A) other than in the regular course of business as a postal, delivery 2 or messenger service, delivers any contribution from another person or 3 business entity to a candidate or other authorized committee; or 4 (B) solicits contributions to a candidate or other authorized commit- 5 tee where such solicitation is known to such candidate or his or her 6 authorized committee. For purposes of this clause, only persons clearly 7 identified as the solicitor of a contribution to the candidate or his or 8 her authorized committee shall be presumed to be known to such candidate 9 or his or her authorized committee. 10 (ii) "intermediary" shall not mean spouses, domestic partners, 11 parents, children or siblings of the person making such contribution, or 12 any fundraising agent, as such term is defined by the board, or any 13 hosts of a campaign sponsored fundraising event paid for in whole or in 14 part by the campaign. Where there are multiple individual hosts for a 15 non-campaign sponsored event, the hosts shall designate one such host as 16 the intermediary. 17 (f) "restricted contribution period" shall mean the period during 18 which any person, organization, group of persons, or business entity 19 that has business dealings or submits bids or proposals for business 20 dealings with a state governmental entity shall be prohibited from 21 making contributions or loans, or serving as an intermediary for such 22 contribution or loan, to any officeholder of or with authority over the 23 state governmental entity or entities responsible for the business deal- 24 ing under its jurisdiction, or to any candidate for an office of such 25 governmental entity, including to such officeholder's or candidate's 26 authorized political committees or political committees the officeholder 27 or candidate exerts operational control over. 28 (g) "business entity" shall mean a business corporation, professional 29 services corporation, limited liability company, partnership, limited 30 partnership, business trust, association or any other legal commercial 31 entity organized under the laws of this state or any other state or 32 foreign jurisdiction, including any subsidiary directly or indirectly 33 controlled by the business entity, and any political organization, 34 including but not limited to any political organization organized under 35 section 527 of the internal revenue code, that is directly or indirectly 36 controlled by the business entity. 37 3. (a) No person, organization, group of persons, or business entity 38 that has business dealings or submits bids or proposals for business 39 dealings with a state governmental entity shall, during the restricted 40 contribution period, make a contribution or loan to, or serve as an 41 intermediary for such contribution or loan for, any officeholder of or 42 with authority over the state governmental entity or entities responsi- 43 ble for the business dealing under its jurisdiction or to any candidate 44 for an office of such governmental entity, including to such 45 officeholder's or candidate's authorized political committees or poli- 46 tical committees the officeholder or candidate exerts operational 47 control over. 48 (b) Pursuant to section 14-120 of this title, no person, organization, 49 group of persons, or business entity that has business dealings or 50 submits bids or proposals for business dealings with a state govern- 51 mental entity shall, during the restricted contribution period, make 52 contributions to political committees not authorized or operationally 53 controlled by the officeholder or candidate for the purpose of trans- 54 ferring a contribution to the officeholder's or candidate's authorized 55 political committees or political committees they exert operational 56 control over where such contribution would be prohibited under paragraphS. 6247 4 1 (a) of this subdivision if made directly to the officeholder's or candi- 2 date's authorized political committees or political committees they 3 exert operational control over. 4 (c) The state governmental entity directly responsible for a business 5 dealing shall provide notice of the prohibition established by this 6 section and the restricted contribution period commencement date to any 7 person, organization, group of persons, or business entity that has 8 business dealings or has submitted bids or proposals for business deal- 9 ings with such state governmental entity. State government entities 10 responsible for evaluating responses to a procurement posting or solic- 11 itation shall provide to any person, organization, group of persons, or 12 business entity that submits a proposal in response to such posting or 13 solicitation notice of the prohibition established by this section and 14 the restricted contribution period commencement date. 15 4. (a) For business dealings with a governmental entity, the 16 restricted contribution period shall commence, with respect to a specif- 17 ic person, organization, group of persons, or business entity when it 18 files a statement of registration pursuant to section one-e of the 19 legislative law, to generate a procurement opportunity or pilot program 20 or engages lobbying, as defined by subdivision (c) of section one-c of 21 the legislative law, to generate a procurement opportunity or pilot 22 program or submits a bid, quotation, offer or response to the state 23 governmental entity posting or solicitation, at the earliest posting, on 24 a state governmental entity's website, in a newspaper of general circu- 25 lation or in the procurement opportunities newsletter in accordance with 26 article four-C of the economic development law of written notice, adver- 27 tisement or solicitation of a request for proposal, invitation for bids, 28 or solicitations of proposals, or any other method provided for by law 29 or regulation for soliciting a response from offerers intending to 30 result in a procurement contract with a state governmental entity. The 31 restricted contribution period does not apply to a person, organization, 32 group of persons or business entity that is responding to a state 33 governmental entity's request for information or other informational 34 exchanges occurring prior to such governmental entity's posting or 35 solicitation for procurement provided it has not filed a statement of 36 registration pursuant to section one-e of the legislative law or engaged 37 in lobbying, to generate a procurement opportunity or pilot program as 38 defined by subdivision (c) of section one-c of the legislative law, to 39 generate a procurement opportunity or pilot program. 40 (b) Leases in which a state governmental entity is the proposed lessee 41 shall only constitute business dealings with a state governmental entity 42 from the date the application for acquisition is filed or the date of 43 the certification of such application to a period of one year after the 44 commencement of the lease term or after the commencement of any renewal 45 and, where the state governmental entity is disposing of any real prop- 46 erty interest, shall only constitute business dealings with a state 47 governmental entity from the date of the submission of a proposal and 48 during the term of any agreement and one year after. 49 (c) Bids or proposals for franchises and concessions shall only 50 constitute business dealings with a state governmental entity for the 51 period from the submission of the bid or proposal until one year after 52 the date of such submission, concessions shall only constitute business 53 dealings with a state governmental entity during the term of such 54 concession and for one year after the end of such term, and franchises 55 shall only constitute business dealings with a state governmental entityS. 6247 5 1 for the period of one year after the commencement of the term of the 2 franchise or after the commencement of any renewal. 3 (d) Grants shall constitute business dealings with a state govern- 4 mental entity for one year after such grant is made. 5 (e) Economic development agreements shall constitute business dealings 6 with a state governmental entity from the submission of an application 7 for such agreement and during the term of such agreement and for one 8 year after the end of such term. 9 (f) Contracts for the investment of pension funds, including the 10 investments in a private equity firm and contracts with investment 11 related consultants, shall constitute business dealings with a state 12 governmental entity from the time of presentation of investment opportu- 13 nity or the submission of a proposal, whichever is earlier, and during 14 the term of such contract and for one year after the end of such term. 15 5. The restricted contribution period described in this section shall 16 end for business dealings pursuant to clause (A) of subparagraph (i) of 17 paragraph (d) of subdivision two of this section with respect to a 18 specific person, organization, group of persons, or business entity if: 19 (a) the person, organization, group of persons, or business entity is 20 the recipient of the final contract award, the restricted contribution 21 period shall end six months after the expiration of the final contract; 22 or 23 (b) the person, organization, group of persons, or business entity is 24 not the recipient of the final contract award, the restricted contrib- 25 ution period shall end with the final contract award and approval by the 26 state governmental entity and, where applicable, the state comptroller. 27 6. The restricted contribution period for a governmental entity shall 28 recommence if a person, organization, group of persons or business enti- 29 ty engages in additional business dealings with such governmental enti- 30 ty. 31 7. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the office of 32 the state comptroller, in consultation with the office of general 33 services, division of the budget, and authorities budget office, shall 34 create, operate, maintain, and update a computerized searchable data- 35 base, or modify an existing database, which contains the names of 36 persons who have business dealings or submit bids or proposals for busi- 37 ness dealings with a state governmental entity. Such database shall be 38 updated at least once a month in any general election year. Such data- 39 base and all reported data on such database shall be made available to 40 the public on the comptroller's website. Such database shall contain a 41 function to enable members of the public to determine if a given person 42 is in the database because such person has business dealings or has 43 submitted bids or proposals for business dealings with a state govern- 44 mental entity and the date a person is considered to have business deal- 45 ing a state governmental entity. Such database shall also contain a 46 searchable list of persons removed from such database within the preced- 47 ing five years, including the date the persons were considered to have 48 business dealings or have submitted bids or proposals for business deal- 49 ings with a state governmental entity and the date of removal from such 50 database. 51 8. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a person who: 52 (a) has submitted bids or proposals on contracts for the procurement of 53 goods, services or construction; (b) has submitted bids or proposals for 54 franchises or concessions that are no longer being considered for an 55 award; or (c) for any other reason believes he or she should not be on 56 the database, may apply to the office of the state comptroller or otherS. 6247 6 1 person designated by the comptroller for removal from the database and 2 shall be removed from the database upon a determination that said person 3 should not be included in the database. 4 § 2. Section 14-126 of the election law is amended by adding a new 5 subdivision 8 to read as follows: 6 8. (a) Any person, organization, group of persons, or business entity 7 as that term is used in section 14-131 of this title, who, under circum- 8 stances evincing an intent to violate such law, makes a contribution in 9 contravention of section 14-131 or paragraph f of subdivision one of 10 section 14-114 of this title shall be subject to a civil penalty not to 11 exceed the greater of ten thousand dollars or an amount equal to two 12 hundred percent of the contribution, to be recoverable in a special 13 proceeding or civil action to be brought by the state board of elections 14 chief enforcement counsel. 15 (b) Any person who, acting as or on behalf of an officeholder, candi- 16 date, or political committee, accepts a contribution or receives a 17 transfer in contravention of section 14-131 or paragraph f of subdivi- 18 sion one of section 14-114 of this title shall be required to refund 19 such contribution. 20 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 21 it shall have become a law.