§ 1-c. Definitions. As used in this article unless the context
otherwise requires:

(a) The term "lobbyist" shall mean every person or organization
retained, employed or designated by any client to engage in lobbying.
The term "lobbyist" shall not include any officer, director, trustee,
employee, counsel or agent of the state, or any municipality or
subdivision thereof of New York when discharging their official duties;
except those officers, directors, trustees, employees, counsels, or
agents of colleges, as defined by section two of the education law.

(i) Any individual who stands convicted of a felony defined in article
two hundred or four hundred ninety-six or section 195.20 of the penal
law may not be retained, employed or designated by any client to engage
in lobbying for compensation.

(ii) Any individual who stands convicted of a misdemeanor defined in
article two hundred, article four hundred ninety-six, section 195.00 or
an attempt to commit a violation of section 195.20 of the penal law may
not be retained, employed or designated by any client to engage in
lobbying for compensation for a period of five years from the date of
conviction, provided that in the event such conviction is the result of
a plea agreement resulting in a plea to such charge in lieu of a plea or
conviction of a felony defined in section 195.20, article two hundred or
article four hundred ninety-six of the penal law, all parties to such
agreement may agree that the period of such bar may be for a period of
up to ten years from the date of conviction.

(b) The term "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.

(c) The term "lobbying" or "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.S.C. § 2701, except to the extent designation
of such activities as "lobbying" is barred by the federal Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act, by a public official or by a person or entity working in
cooperation with a public official in relation to such approval,
disapproval, implementation or administration;

(vii) the passage or defeat of any local law, ordinance, resolution,
or regulation by any municipality or subdivision thereof;

(viii) the adoption, issuance, rescission, modification or terms of an
executive order issued by the chief executive officer of a municipality;

(ix) the adoption or rejection of any rule, regulation, or resolution
having the force and effect of a local law, ordinance, resolution, or
regulation; or

(x) the outcome of any rate making proceeding by any municipality or
subdivision thereof.

The term "lobbying" shall not include:

(A) Persons engaged in drafting, advising clients on or rendering
opinions on proposed legislation, rules, regulations or rates, municipal
ordinances and resolutions, executive orders, procurement contracts, or
tribal-state compacts, memoranda of understanding, or any other
tribal-state agreements or other written materials related to Class III
gaming as provided in 25 U.S.C. § 2701, when such professional services
are not otherwise connected with state or municipal legislative or
executive action on such legislation, rules, regulations or rates,
municipal ordinances and resolutions, executive orders, procurement
contracts, or tribal-state compacts, memoranda of understanding, or any
other tribal-state agreements or other written materials related to
Class III gaming as provided in 25 U.S.C. § 2701;

(B) (i) Newspapers and other periodicals and radio and television
stations, and owners and employees thereof, provided that their
activities in connection with proposed legislation, rules, regulations
or rates, municipal ordinances and resolutions, executive orders,
tribal-state compacts, memoranda of understanding or other tribal-state
agreements related to Class III gaming as provided in 25 U.S.C. § 2701,
or procurement contracts by a state agency, municipal agency, local
legislative body, the state legislature, or the unified court system,
are limited to the publication or broadcast of news items, editorials or
other comments, or paid advertisements;

(ii) Communications with a professional journalist, or newscaster,
including an editorial board or editorial writer of a newspaper,
magazine, news agency, press association or wire service, relating to
news, as these terms are defined in section seventy-nine-h of the civil
rights law, and communications relating to confidential and
non-confidential news as described in subdivisions (b) and (c) of
section seventy-nine-h of the civil rights law respectively and
communications made pursuant to community outreach efforts for broadcast
stations required by federal law.

(C) Persons who participate as witnesses, attorneys or other
representatives in public proceedings of a state or municipal agency
with respect to all participation by such persons which is part of the
public record thereof and all preparation by such persons for such
participation;

(D) Persons who attempt to influence a state or municipal agency in an
adjudicatory proceeding, as "adjudicatory proceeding" is defined by
section one hundred two of the state administrative procedure act;

(E) Persons who prepare or submit a response to a request for
information or comments by the state legislature, the governor, or a
state agency or a committee or officer of the legislature or a state
agency, or by the unified court system, or by a legislative or executive
body or officer of a municipality or a commission, committee or officer
of a municipal legislative or executive body;

(F) Any attempt by a church, its integrated auxiliary, or a convention
or association of churches that is exempt from filing a federal income
tax return under paragraph 2(A)(i) of section 6033(a) of Title 26 of the
United States Code or a religious order that is exempt from filing a
federal income tax return under paragraph (2)(A)(iii) of such section
6033(a) to influence passage or defeat of a local law, ordinance,
resolution or regulation or any rule or regulation having the force and
effect of a local law, ordinance or regulation;

(G) Any activity relating to governmental procurements made under
section one hundred sixty-two of the state finance law undertaken by (i)
the non-profit-making agencies appointed pursuant to paragraph e of
subdivision six of section one hundred sixty-two of the state finance
law by the commissioner of the office of children and family services,
the commission for the blind, or the commissioner of education, and (ii)
the qualified charitable non-profit-making agencies for the blind, and
qualified charitable non-profit-making agencies for other severely
disabled persons as identified in subdivision two of section one hundred
sixty-two of the state finance law; provided, however, that any attempt
to influence the issuance or terms of the specifications that serve as
the basis for bid documents, requests for proposals, invitations for
bids, or solicitations of proposals, or any other method for soliciting
a response from offerers intending to result in a procurement contract
with a state agency, the state legislature, the unified court system, a
municipal agency or local legislative body shall not be exempt from the
definition of "lobbying" or "lobbying activities" under this
subparagraph;

(H) Participants, including those appearing on behalf of a client, in
a conference provided for in a request for proposals, invitation for
bids, or any other method for soliciting a response from offerers
intending to result in a procurement contract;

(I) Offerers who have been tentatively awarded a contract and are
engaged in communications with a state agency, either house of the state
legislature, the unified court system, a municipal agency or local
legislative body solely for the purpose of negotiating the terms of the
procurement contract after being notified of such award or, when a state
agency, either house of the state legislature, the unified court system,
a municipal agency or local legislative body is purchasing an article of
procurement pursuant to an existing state procurement contract, offerers
who are engaged in communications with the procuring entity solely for
the purpose of negotiating terms applicable to that purchase; or persons
who currently hold a franchise and who are engaged in negotiating the
terms of a tentative franchise renewal contract with a municipality, but
such negotiations, which do not constitute lobbying, do not include
communications to the local legislative body that must approve the
contract;

(J) (i) Offerers or other persons who are a party to a protest, appeal
or other review proceeding (including the apparent successful bidder or
proposer and his or her representatives) before the governmental entity
conducting the procurement seeking a final administrative determination,
or in a subsequent judicial proceeding; or

(ii) Offerers or other persons who bring complaints of alleged
improper conduct in a governmental procurement to the attorney general,
inspector general, district attorney, or court of competent
jurisdiction; or

(iii) Offerers or other persons who submit written protests, appeals
or complaints to the state comptroller's office during the process of
contract approval, where the state comptroller's approval is required by
law, and where such communications and any responses thereto are made in
writing and shall be entered in the procurement record pursuant to
section one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law; or

(iv) Offerers or other persons who bring complaints of alleged
improper conduct in a governmental procurement conducted by a municipal
agency or local legislative body to the state comptroller's office;

provided, however, that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed
as recognizing or creating any new rights, duties or responsibilities or
abrogating any existing rights, duties or responsibilities of any
governmental entity as it pertains to implementation and enforcement of
article eleven of the state finance law or any other provision of law
dealing with the governmental procurement process;

(K) The submission of a bid or proposal (whether submitted orally, in
writing or electronically) in response to a request for proposals,
invitation for bids or any other method for soliciting a response from
offerers intending to result in a procurement contract;

(L) Offerers submitting written questions to a designated contact of a
state agency, either house of the state legislature, the unified court
system, a municipal agency or local legislative body set forth in a
request for proposals, or invitation for bids or any other method for
soliciting a response from offerers intending to result in a procurement
contract, when all written questions and responses are to be
disseminated to all offerers who have expressed an interest in the
request for proposals, or invitation for bids, or any other method for
soliciting a response from offerers intending to result in a procurement
contract;

(M) Contacts during governmental procurements between designated staff
of a state agency, either house of the state legislature, the unified
court system, a municipal agency or local legislative body involved in
governmental procurements and officers or employees of bidders or
potential bidders, or officers or employees of subcontractors of bidders
or potential bidders, who are charged with the performance of functions
relating to contracts and who are qualified by education, training or
experience to provide technical services to explain, clarify or
demonstrate the qualities, characteristics or advantages of an article
of procurement. Such authorized contacts shall: (i) be limited to
providing information to the staff of a state agency, either house of
the state legislature, the unified court system, a municipal agency and
local legislative body to assist them in understanding and assessing the
qualities, characteristics or anticipated performance of an article of
procurement; (ii) not include any recommendations or advocate any
contract provisions; and (iii) occur only at such times and in such
manner as authorized under the procuring entity's solicitation or
guidelines and procedures. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term
"technical services" shall be limited to analysis directly applying any
accounting, engineering, scientific, or other similar technical
disciplines;

(N) Applications for licenses, certificates, and permits authorized by
statutes or local laws or ordinances;

(O) The activities of persons who are commission salespersons with
respect to governmental procurements;

(P) Communications made by an officer or employee of the offerer after
the award of the procurement contract when such communications are in
the ordinary course of providing the article of procurement provided by
the procurement contract and in the ordinary course of the assigned
duties of the officer or employee; provided, however, that nothing
herein shall exempt: (i) an officer or employee whose primary purpose of
employment is to engage in lobbying activities with regard to
governmental procurements, or (ii) an agent or independent contractor
hired by an offerer and whose primary duty is to engage in lobbying
activities with regard to governmental procurements; and

(Q) Persons who communicate with public officials where such
communications are limited to obtaining factual information related to
benefits or incentives offered by a state or municipal agency and where
such communications do not include any recommendations or advocate
governmental action or contract provisions, and further where such
communications are not otherwise connected with pending legislative or
executive action or determinations; provided, however, that any person
who is otherwise required to file a statement or report pursuant to this
article by virtue of engaging in lobbying activities as defined in this
section shall not be deemed to fall within the exception provided for
under this paragraph.

(d) The term "organization" shall mean any corporation, company,
foundation, association, college as defined by section two of the
education law, labor organization, firm, partnership, society, joint
stock company, state agency or public corporation.

(e) The term "state agency" shall mean any department, board, bureau,
commission, division, office, council, committee or officer of the
state, whether permanent or temporary, or a public benefit corporation
or public authority at least one of whose members is appointed by the
governor, authorized by law to make rules or to make final decisions in
adjudicatory proceedings but shall not include the judicial branch or
agencies created by interstate compact or international agreement.

(f) The term "commission" shall mean the commission on ethics and
lobbying in government created by section ninety-four of the executive
law.

(g) The term "expense" or "expenses" shall mean any expenditures
incurred by or reimbursed to the lobbyist for lobbying but shall not
include contributions reportable pursuant to article fourteen of the
election law.

(h) The term "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 fourteen of the
election law.

(i) The term "public corporation" shall mean a municipal corporation,
a district corporation, or a public benefit corporation as defined in
section sixty-six of the general construction law.

(j) The term "gift" shall mean anything of more than nominal value
given to a public official in any form including, but not limited to
money, service, loan, travel, lodging, meals, refreshments,
entertainment, discount, forbearance, or promise, having a monetary
value. The following are excluded from the definition of a gift:

(i) complimentary attendance, including food and beverage, at bona
fide charitable or political events;

(ii) complimentary attendance, food and beverage offered by the
sponsor of a widely attended event. The term "widely attended event"
shall mean an event: (A) which at least twenty-five individuals other
than members, officers, or employees from the governmental entity in
which the public official serves attend or were, in good faith, invited
to attend, and (B) which is related to the attendee's duties or
responsibilities or which allows the public official to perform a
ceremonial function appropriate to his or her position. For the purposes
of this exclusion, a public official's duties or responsibilities shall
include but not be limited to either (1) attending an event or a meeting
at which a speaker or attendee addresses an issue of public interest or
concern as a significant activity at such event or meeting; or (2) for
elected public officials, or their staff attending with or on behalf of
such elected officials, attending an event or a meeting at which more
than one-half of the attendees, or persons invited in good faith to
attend, are residents of the county, district or jurisdiction from which
the elected public official was elected;

(iii) awards, plaques, and other ceremonial items which are publicly
presented, or intended to be publicly presented, in recognition of
public service, provided that the item or items are of the type
customarily bestowed at such or similar ceremonies and are otherwise
reasonable under the circumstances, and further provided that the
functionality of such items shall not determine whether such items are
permitted under this paragraph;

(iv) an honorary degree bestowed upon a public official by a public or
private college or university;

(v) promotional items having no substantial resale value such as pens,
mugs, calendars, hats, and t-shirts which bear an organization's name,
logo, or message in a manner which promotes the organization's cause;

(vi) goods and services, or discounts for goods and services, offered
to the general public or a segment of the general public defined on a
basis other than status as a public official and offered on the same
terms and conditions as the goods or services are offered to the general
public or segment thereof;

(vii) gifts from a family member, member of the same household, or
person with a personal relationship with the public official, including
invitations to attend personal or family social events, when the
circumstances establish that it is the family, household, or personal
relationship that is the primary motivating factor; in determining
motivation, the following factors shall be among those considered: (A)
the history and nature of the relationship between the donor and the
recipient, including whether or not items have previously been
exchanged; (B) whether the item was purchased by the donor; and (C)
whether or not the donor at the same time gave similar items to other
public officials; the transfer shall not be considered to be motivated
by a family, household, or personal relationship if the donor seeks to
charge or deduct the value of such item as a business expense or seeks
reimbursement from a client;

(viii) contributions reportable under article fourteen of the election
law, including contributions made in violation of that article of the
election law;

(ix) travel reimbursement or payment for transportation, meals and
accommodations for an attendee, panelist or speaker at an informational
event or informational meeting when such reimbursement or payment is
made by a governmental entity or by an in-state accredited public or
private institution of higher education that hosts the event on its
campus, provided, however, that the public official may only accept
lodging from an institution of higher education: (A) at a location on or
within close proximity to the host campus; and (B) for the night
preceding and the nights of the days on which the attendee, panelist or
speaker actually attends the event or meeting;

(x) provision of local transportation to inspect or tour facilities,
operations or property located in New York state, provided, however,
that such inspection or tour is related to the individual's official
duties or responsibilities and that payment or reimbursement for
expenses for lodging or travel expenses to and from the locality where
such facilities, operations or property are located shall be considered
to be gifts unless otherwise permitted under this subdivision;

(xi) meals or refreshments when participating in a professional or
educational program and the meals or refreshments are provided to all
participants; and

(xii) food or beverage valued at fifteen dollars or less.

(k) The term "municipality" shall mean any jurisdictional subdivision
of the state, including but not limited to counties, cities, towns,
villages, improvement districts and special districts, with a population
of more than five thousand, and industrial development agencies in
jurisdictional subdivisions with a population of more than five
thousand; and public authorities, and public corporations.

(l) The term "public official" shall mean:

(i) the governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller or attorney
general;

(ii) members of the state legislature;

(iii) state officers and employees including:

(A) 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,

(B) officers and employees of statewide elected officials,

(C) officers and employees of state departments, boards, bureaus,
divisions, commissions, councils or other state agencies,

(D) members or directors 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 employees of such
authorities, corporations and commissions;

(iv) officers and employees of the legislature; and

(v) municipal officers and employees including an officer or employee
of a municipality, whether paid or unpaid, including members of any
administrative board, commission or other agency thereof and in the case
of a county, shall be deemed to also include any officer or employee
paid from county funds. No person shall be deemed to be a municipal
officer or employee solely by reason of being a volunteer firefighter or
civil defense volunteer, except a fire chief or assistant fire chief.

(m) The term "restricted period" shall mean the period of time
commencing with the earliest written notice, advertisement or
solicitation of a request for proposal, invitation for bids, or
solicitation of proposals, or any other method for soliciting a response
from offerers intending to result in a procurement contract with a state
agency, either house of the state legislature, the unified court system,
or a municipal agency, as that term is defined by paragraph (ii) of
subdivision (s) of this section, and ending with the final contract
award and approval by the state agency, either house of the state
legislature, the unified court system, or a municipal agency, as that
term is defined by paragraph (ii) of subdivision (s) of this section,
and, where applicable, the state comptroller.

(n) The term "revenue contract" shall mean any written agreement
between a state or municipal agency or a local legislative body and an
offerer whereby the state or municipal agency or local legislative body
gives or grants a concession or a franchise.

(o) The term "article of procurement" shall mean a commodity, service,
technology, public work, construction, revenue contract, the purchase,
sale or lease of real property or an acquisition or granting of other
interest in real property, that is the subject of a governmental
procurement.

(p) The term "governmental procurement" shall mean: (i) the public
announcement, public notice, or public communication to any potential
vendor of a determination of need for a procurement, which shall
include, but not be limited to, the public notification of the
specifications, bid documents, request for proposals, or evaluation
criteria for a procurement contract, (ii) solicitation for a procurement
contract, (iii) evaluation of a procurement contract, (iv) award,
approval, denial or disapproval of a procurement contract, or (v)
approval or denial of an assignment, amendment (other than amendments
that are authorized and payable under the terms of the procurement
contract as it was finally awarded or approved by the comptroller, as
applicable), renewal or extension of a procurement contract, or any
other material change in the procurement contract resulting in a
financial benefit to the offerer.

(q) The term "offerer" shall mean the individual or entity, or any
employee, agent or consultant of such individual or entity, that
contacts a state agency, either house of the state legislature, the
unified court system, a municipal agency or local legislative body about
a governmental procurement provided, however, that a governmental agency
or its employees that communicate with the procuring agency regarding a
governmental procurement in the exercise of its oversight duties shall
not be considered an offerer.

(r) The term "procurement contract" shall mean any contract or other
agreement, including an amendment, extension, renewal, or change order
to an existing contract (other than amendments, extensions, renewals, or
change orders that are authorized and payable under the terms of the
contract as it was finally awarded or approved by the comptroller, as
applicable), for an article of procurement involving an estimated
annualized expenditure in excess of fifteen thousand dollars. Grants,
article XI-B state finance law contracts, program contracts between
not-for-profit organizations, as defined in article XI-B of the state
finance law, and the unified court system, intergovernmental agreements,
railroad and utility force accounts, utility relocation project
agreements or orders, contracts governing organ transplants, contracts
allowing for state participation in trade shows, and eminent domain
transactions shall not be deemed procurement contracts.

(s) The term "municipal agency" shall mean: (i) any department, board,
bureau, commission, division, office, council, committee or officer of a
municipality, whether permanent or temporary; or (ii) an industrial
development agency, located in a jurisdictional subdivision of the state
with a population of more than fifty thousand, or local public benefit
corporation, as that term is defined in section sixty-six of the general
construction law.

(t) The term "local legislative body" shall mean the board of
supervisors, board of aldermen, common council, council, commission,
town board, board of trustees or other elective governing board or body
of a municipality now or hereafter vested by state statute, charter or
other law with jurisdiction to initiate and adopt local laws, ordinances
and budgets, whether or not such local laws, ordinances or budgets
require approval of the elective chief executive officer or other
official or body to become effective.

(u) The term "commission salesperson" shall mean any person the
primary purpose of whose employment is to cause or promote the sale of,
or to influence or induce another to make a purchase of an article of
procurement, whether such person is an employee (as that term is defined
for tax purposes) of or an independent contractor for a vendor, provided
that an independent contractor shall have a written contract for a term
of not less than six months or for an indefinite term, and which person
shall be compensated, in whole or in part, by the payment of a
percentage amount of all or a substantial part of the sales which such
person has caused, promoted, influenced or induced, provided, however,
that no person shall be considered a commission salesperson with respect
to any sale to or purchase by a state agency, either house of the state
legislature, the unified court system, a municipal agency or local
legislative body if the percentage amount of any commission payable with
respect to such sale or purchase is substantially in excess of any
commission payable with respect to any comparable sale to a purchaser
that is not a state agency, either house of the state legislature, the
unified court system, a municipal agency or local legislative body;
further, provided, however, that any person that is required to file a
statement or report pursuant to this article by virtue of engaging in
lobbying activities as defined in paragraphs (i) through (iv) and (vi)
through (x) of subdivision (c) of this section shall not be deemed to be
a "commission salesperson" for purposes of this article.

(v) The term "unified court system" shall, for the purposes of this
article only, mean the unified court system of the state of New York, or
the office of court administration, where appropriate, other than town
and village justice courts in jurisdictions with a population under
fifty thousand, when it acts solely in an administrative capacity to
engage in governmental procurements and shall not include the unified
court system or any court of the state judiciary when it acts to hear
and decide cases of original or appellate jurisdiction or otherwise acts
in its judicial, as opposed to administrative, capacity.

(w) The term "reportable business relationship" shall mean a
relationship in which compensation is paid by a lobbyist or by a client
of a lobbyist, in exchange for any goods, services or anything of value,
the total value of which is in excess of one thousand dollars annually,
to be performed or provided by or intended to be performed or provided
by (i) any statewide elected official, state officer, state employee,
member of the legislature or legislative employee, or (ii) any entity in
which the lobbyist or the client of a lobbyist knows or has reason to
know the statewide elected official, state officer, state employee,
member of the legislature or legislative employee is a proprietor,
partner, director, officer or manager, or owns or controls ten percent
or more of the stock of such entity (or one percent in the case of a
corporation whose stock is regularly traded on an established securities
exchange).