Assembly Actions -
Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE |
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Jan 08, 2014 |
referred to elections |
May 08, 2013 |
referred to elections |
Senate Bill S5094
2013-2014 Legislative Session
Sponsored By
(D, WF) Senate District
Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee
- Introduced
-
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
-
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
-
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
- Delivered to Governor
- Signed By Governor
Actions
co-Sponsors
(D) 15th Senate District
(D) Senate District
(D, WF) 46th Senate District
(D) Senate District
2013-S5094 (ACTIVE) - Details
2013-S5094 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo
BILL NUMBER:S5094 TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the election law, in relation to the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees PURPOSE: The purpose of this legislation is to explicitly prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees or other costs associated with criminal or civil litigation. SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends section 14-130 of the election law to expressly prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees or costs of defending against civil or criminal investigation or prosecution for alleged violations of state or federal law. The only exception would be for costs related to civil actions for alleged violations of Article 16 of the Election Law. Section 2 sets forth the effective date. JUSTIFICATION: Currently, New York's election law, allowing candidates to spend campaign funds for "any lawful purpose," is among the most lax in the nation. While spending campaign funds for personal use is technically prohibited, the lack of any definition for what constitutes a personal use renders the provision meaningless. This shortcoming in the law is striking when compared to the detailed
2013-S5094 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 5094 2013-2014 Regular Sessions I N S E N A T E May 8, 2013 ___________ Introduced by Sens. O'BRIEN, ADDABBO, AVELLA, BRESLIN, DILAN, GIANARIS, GIPSON, HOYLMAN, KRUEGER, PERKINS, SERRANO, SQUADRON, STAVISKY, STEWART-COUSINS, TKACZYK -- 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 the use of campaign funds to pay attorney's fees THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Section 14-130 of the election law, as added by chapter 152 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows: S 14-130. Campaign funds for personal use. Contributions received by a candidate or a political committee may be expended for any lawful purpose. Such funds shall not be converted by any person to a personal use which is unrelated to a political campaign or the holding of a public office or party position. NO CAMPAIGN FUNDS SHALL BE USED TO PAY ATTORNEY'S FEES OR ANY COSTS OF DEFENDING AGAINST ANY CIVIL OR CRIMINAL ACTION, INVESTIGATION OR PROSECUTION FOR ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF STATE OR FEDERAL LAW ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN COMMITTED BY A CANDIDATE, PUBLIC OR PARTY OFFICIAL, MEMBERS OF THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILY OR DOMESTIC PARTNER UNLESS SUCH EXPENDITURE IS USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR COSTS RELATED TO CIVIL ACTIONS INSTITUTED PURSUANT TO ARTICLE SIXTEEN OF THIS CHAPTER. S 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the state board of elections shall notify all registered campaign committees of the applicable provisions of this act within thirty days after this act shall have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10322-02-3
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