Printer Friendly Format Email a Friend


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 132-07
May 1, 2007

MAYOR BLOOMBERG SIGNS LEGISLATION REVISING LOBBYING LAW

Remarks by Mayor Bloomberg at a Public Hearing on Local Laws

“The next bill before me today is Introductory Number 502-B, sponsored in conjunction with the Administration by Speaker Quinn and Council Members Gentile, Koppell, Nelson, Palma, Weprin, White, Sears and the Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum.  This legislation improves upon the changes enacted by Local Laws 15 and 17 of 2006, which amended New York City’s Lobbying Law and Campaign Finance Act.

“Under current law, lobbying firms must file statements of registration which include, among other things, the lobbyists’ names, addresses and telephone numbers, and the same information for their spouses or domestic partners and their unemancipated children.  In addition, if the firm is an organization with a lobbying division, then the lobbyist is required to include the names, addresses and telephone numbers of its officers and employees who engage in lobbying or who are employed in the lobbying division, and the names and addresses of the spouses or domestic partners of those officers and employees.

“Introductory Number 502-B removes the requirement that the names, addresses and telephone numbers of unemancipated children be disclosed in lobbyists’ statements of registration, except when such unemancipated children make campaign contributions.  It also further clarifies that the names and home and business addresses of the spouses or domestic partners of lobbyists, in addition to the home addresses of the lobbyists, would not be made available to the public, but could be accessed by the Campaign Finance Board for purposes of determining whether a campaign contribution is matchable under the Campaign Finance Act.  This bill would also remove any obligation for the City Clerk to mail lobbying forms, as lobbyists are now required to file their forms electronically. 

“Introductory Number 502-B clarifies what information lobbying firms are required to include in their statements of registration and protects the personal privacy of lobbyists, their spouses or domestic partners, their unemancipated children and their employees by eliminating the need to report certain information and by limiting access to sensitive personal information that is reported.

“I would like to thank the Law Department for their hard work on this bill.  I would also like to thank the Council for approving this legislation.”







MEDIA CONTACT:


Stu Loeser   (212) 788-2958




More Resources
Watch the video in 56k or 300k