BILL NUMBER: S1910
SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring additional
transferor and contributor identification information in campaign
receipt and expenditure statements
 
PURPOSE:
This bill would require a political committee to disclose a contribu-
tor's occupation, employer, and full name and address along with their
employer's full name and business address.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 1 of section 14-102, of the Election Law,
as it relates to statements of campaign receipts, contributions, trans-
fers, and expenditures to and by political committees, to require a
political committee to disclose additional information regarding
contributors who give more than $99 to a political committee. This
legislation would require individual contributors giving more than $99,
to disclose the contributor's full residential address, occupation,
employer, and employer's full business address. This legislation would
also require organizational contributors to disclose their full name and
full business address. Furthermore, any statement reporting a loan would
require the full business name and address of any commercial or business
entity providing the loan or the full name of the person providing the
loan including their full residential address, employer, and full busi-
ness address.
Section 2 of the bill establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Opaque campaign fundraising practices are having a corrosive effect on
the public's confidence in the integrity of government. Too often, citi-
zens feel that their votes are of little consequence compared to wealthy
campaign donors. The cumulative impact is a significant threat to the
fundamental values of democracy. A fundamental component of campaign
finance laws is that campaign committees must disclose the identity of
contributors. The rationale is that public awareness of who has contrib-
uted may reduce the possibility of elected officials favoring contribu-
tors. Requiring that significant contributors disclose their occupations
and employer's information is necessary to ensure that contributors are
adequately identified and to provide the public with additional informa-
tion that may be useful in assessing where a contributor's interests may
lie and whether an elected official might favor that contributor.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2013-2014: S941 Rivera/No Same As
2015-2016: S1360 Rivera/A7321 Pichardo
2017-2018: S1218 Rivera/A5898 Pichardo
2019-2020: S492 Rivera/A2028 Pichardo
2021-2022: S2546 Rivera/No Same As
2023-2024: S2362 Rivera/A6542 Carroll
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective December 1st succeeding the date on which this bill becomes
law.