N.Y. Legislative Law 1-O – Penalties
§ 1-o. Penalties. (a) (i) Any lobbyist, public corporation, or client who knowingly and wilfully fails to file timely a report or statement required by this section or knowingly and wilfully files false information or knowingly and wilfully violates section one-m of this article shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor; and
Attorney's Note
Under the New York Laws, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class E felony | between 1 and 4 years | up to $5,000 |
| Class A misdemeanor | up to 364 days | up to $1,000 |
Terms Used In N.Y. Legislative Law 1-O
- client: shall mean every person or organization who retains, employs or designates any person or organization to carry on lobbying activities on behalf of such client. See N.Y. Legislative Law 1-C
- commission: shall mean the commission on ethics and lobbying in government created by § 94 of the executive law. See N.Y. Legislative Law 1-C
- compensation: shall mean any salary, fee, gift, payment, benefit, loan, advance or any other thing of value paid, owed, given or promised to the lobbyist by the client for lobbying but shall not include contributions reportable pursuant to Article 14 of the election law. See N.Y. Legislative Law 1-C
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- lobbying activities: shall mean and include any attempt to influence:
(i) the passage or defeat of any legislation or resolution by either house of the state legislature including but not limited to the introduction or intended introduction of such legislation or resolution or approval or disapproval of any legislation by the governor;
(ii) the adoption, issuance, rescission, modification or terms of a gubernatorial executive order;
(iii) the adoption or rejection of any rule or regulation having the force and effect of law by a state agency;
(iv) the outcome of any rate making proceeding by a state agency;
(v) any determination: (A) by a public official, or by a person or entity working in cooperation with a public official related to a governmental procurement, or (B) by an officer or employee of the unified court system, or by a person or entity working in cooperation with an officer or employee of the unified court system related to a governmental procurement;
(vi) the approval, disapproval, implementation or administration of tribal-state compacts, memoranda of understanding, or any other tribal-state agreements and any other state actions related to Class III gaming as provided in 25 U. See N.Y. Legislative Law 1-C - lobbyist: shall mean every person or organization retained, employed or designated by any client to engage in lobbying. See N.Y. Legislative Law 1-C
- organization: shall mean any corporation, company, foundation, association, college as defined by § 2 of the education law, labor organization, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, state agency or public corporation. See N.Y. Legislative Law 1-C
- public corporation: shall mean a municipal corporation, a district corporation, or a public benefit corporation as defined in § 66 of the general construction law. See N.Y. Legislative Law 1-C
(ii) any lobbyist, public corporation, or client who knowingly and wilfully fails to file timely a report or statement required by this section or knowingly and wilfully files false information or knowingly and wilfully violates section one-m of this article, after having previously been convicted in the preceding five years of the crime described in paragraph (i) of this subdivision, shall be guilty of a class E felony. Any lobbyist convicted of or pleading guilty to a felony under the provisions of this section may be barred from acting as a lobbyist for a period of one year from the date of the conviction. 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)(i) A lobbyist, public corporation, or client who knowingly and wilfully fails to file a statement or report within the time required for the filing of such report or knowingly and wilfully violates section one-m of this article shall be subject to a civil penalty for each such failure or violation, in an amount not to exceed the greater of twenty-five thousand dollars or three times the amount the person failed to report properly or unlawfully contributed, expended, gave or received, to be assessed by the commission.
(ii) A lobbyist, public corporation, or client who knowingly and wilfully files a false statement or report shall be subject to a civil penalty, in an amount not to exceed the greater of fifty thousand dollars or five times the amount the person failed to report properly, to be assessed by the commission.
(iii)(A) A lobbyist or client who knowingly and wilfully violates the provisions of subdivision one of section one-n of this article shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars for an initial violation.
(B) If, after a lobbyist or client has been found to have violated subdivision one of section one-n of this article, a lobbyist or client knowingly and wilfully violates the provisions of subdivision one of section one-n of this article within four years of such finding, the lobbyist or client shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars.
(iv) Any lobbyist or client that knowingly and wilfully fails to file a statement or report within the time required for the filing of such report, knowingly and wilfully files a false statement or report, or knowingly and wilfully violates section one-m of this article, after having been found by the commission to have knowing and wilfully committed such conduct or violation in the preceding five years, may be subject to a determination that the lobbyist or client is prohibited from engaging in lobbying activities, as that term is defined in paragraph (v) of subdivision (c) of section one-c of this article, for a period of one year.
(v) Any lobbyist or client that knowingly and wilfully engages in lobbying activities, as that term is defined in paragraph (v) of subdivision (c) of section one-c of this article, during the period in which they are prohibited from engaging in lobbying activities, as that term is defined in paragraph (v) of subdivision (c) of section one-c of this article pursuant to this subdivision, may be subject to a determination that the lobbyist or client is prohibited from engaging in lobbying activities, as that term is defined in paragraph (v) of subdivision (c) of section one-c of this article, for a period of up to four years, and shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed fifty thousand dollars, plus a civil penalty in an amount equal to five times the value of any gift, compensation or benefit received as a result of the violation.
(vi) A lobbyist, public corporation, or client who knowingly and wilfully fails to retain their records pursuant to paragraph three of subdivision (c) of section one-e of this article, subparagraph (v) of paragraph five of subdivision (b) of section one-h of this article, or paragraph five of subdivision (b) of section one-j of this article shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount of two thousand dollars per violation to be assessed by the commission.
(c)(i) Any assessment or order to debar shall be determined only after a hearing at which the party shall be entitled to appear, present evidence and be heard. Any assessment or order to debar pursuant to this section may only be imposed after the commission sends by certified and first-class mail written notice of intent to assess a penalty or order to debar and the basis for the penalty or order to debar. Any assessment may be recovered in an action brought by the attorney general.
(ii) In assessing any fine or penalty pursuant to this section, the commission shall consider: (A) as a mitigating factor that the lobbyist, public corporation or client has not previously been required to register, and (B) as an aggravating factor that the lobbyist, public corporation or client has had fines or penalties assessed against it in the past. The amount of compensation expended, incurred or received shall be a factor to consider in determining a proportionate penalty.
(iii) Any lobbyist, public corporation or client who receives a notice of intent to assess a penalty for knowingly and wilfully failing to file a report or statement pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section and who has never previously received a notice of intent to assess a penalty for failing to file a report or statement required under this section shall be granted fifteen days within which to file the statement of registration or report without being subject to the fine or penalty set forth in subdivision (b) of this section. Upon the failure of such lobbyist, public corporation or client to file within such fifteen day period, such lobbyist, public corporation or client shall be subject to a fine or penalty pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section.
(d) All moneys recovered by the attorney general or received by the commission from the assessment of civil penalties authorized by this section shall be deposited to the general fund.