The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government’s (Commission or COELIG) 2022 Annual Report revealed that 2022 proved to be a record-breaking year for lobbying spending, topping out at $331.54 million, an increase of 13.2% over 2021 and higher than pre-pandemic levels, Executive Director Sanford N. Berland announced today. In addition, more than 84,000 state officers and employees have participated in live or live online ethics training in just under a year. The 2022 Annual Report, released today, features highlights of the Commission’s work to fulfill its mission to exemplify the highest ethical standards and restore public trust in government through education, compliance, and vigorous enforcement of the state's ethics and lobbying laws. 

“New Yorkers have a right to transparency in government and to know what entities may attempt to influence government decision-making. This is especially true in a year when lobbying spending shattered all previous records,” Executive Director Sanford N. Berland said. “The annual report sheds light on which individuals and interests are lobbying state and local elected officials and policymakers.”

“Through education, oversight, and ensuring compliance with ethics and lobbying laws, the Commission is working diligently to earn the public’s faith and confidence in government,” Chair Frederick A. Davie said.  “COELIG is well on its way to building the foundation needed for a new and expanded statewide ethics training initiative to support a 30-fold increase in the number of employees required to undergo ethics training every year. And the Commission is actively reviewing and processing tips, complaints, and referrals from other agencies, as well as hiring staff to meet its expanded mandate to restore trust in state government.”

Lobbying Spending at Record Levels

Total lobbying spending in 2022 shattered pre-pandemic records, with more than $331.54 million expended by those attempting to influence state and municipal government. Lobbying spending increased 13.2% from the $292.9 million reported in 2021, representing an 11.23% increase over the previous annual spending record of $298.08 million set in 2019. Compensation paid to retained and in-house (employee) lobbyists climbed to nearly $304 million, a $33.6 million jump from the $270.4 million reported in 2021. Such compensation constituted 91.7% of overall lobbying spending in 2022, with lobbying expenses accounting for just 8.3% of the total.  

Conversely, the Top 10 Client Spenders’ relative expenditures remained largely unchanged from last year, with only 46.7% of their spending devoted to compensation, and the balance of 53.3% to expenses, together accounting for 6.95% of all 2022 lobbying spending at $23 million. 

Lobbying registrations increased by 7% in 2022, to 6,153, trending toward the 6,650 pre-pandemic registrations submitted in 2019. The number of lobbying clients also increased over 2021, by nearly 11%, to 5,040.

The complete source data filed by lobbyists and their clients for 2022 may be found on the Commission’s Public Data webpage and data sets may be downloaded in various formats, including Excel and CSV.  Additionally, Public Search Query results can be downloaded as spreadsheets for further analysis.

Expanding Ethics Education By Thirty-Fold

The Ethics Commission Reform Act (ECRA) mandates that all executive branch state officers and employees, approximately 315,000 individuals, receive ethics training every year by attending live ethics training biannually and taking online ethics training in the intervening years. Prior to July 8, 2022, the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 (PIRA) mandated live ethics training for a significantly smaller population of approximately 36,000 financial disclosure filers once every three years.

The 30-fold expansion of the ethics training requirement ensures that all affected state employees know and understand their obligations under the ethics laws and aligns with the Commission’s efforts to restore public trust in government by utilizing ethics training as a tool to promote compliance with ethical standards and deter misconduct.

In 2022 alone, the Commission directly, and in partnership with agency ethics officers and other designees around the state, provided live in-person and live online mandated trainings to more than 25,000 FDS filer and non-FDS filer employees statewide following the July 8, 2022 transition. The total number of state officers and employees reported as having participated in ethics training since the inception of the expanded training requirement (July 8, 2022 through June 30, 2023) is more than 84,000 employees.
 

Commission staff and the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) enhanced the online Lobbying Application in 2022 to identify, inform, and track the thousands of lobbyists and clients who are mandated to complete an online ethics training during the 2023-2024 biennial registration period. As of June 30, 2023, 7,662 filers out of the 9,496 currently in a training required role had completed this ethics training course, representing an 80.5% compliance rate.

Additional 2022 Annual Report Statistics:

• Ethics Guidance: Staff issued approximately 252 informal guidance letters. In addition, staff fields hundreds of phone calls and emails each year seeking additional information on complying with the state’s ethics laws and post-employment restrictions.
• Financial Disclosure Forms: More than 36,000 FDS forms filed by statewide elected officials, executive branch officers and employees, and legislative branch officers, employees, and candidates were processed.  The agency issued more than 7,700 failure to file FDS notices.
• Tips Received: The Commission received and processed more than 155 tips, complaints, referrals, and reports and closed 128 investigative matters.

Commission 2023 Priorities

The Commission’s overarching priorities in 2023 are to build trust in the state’s commitment to effective ethics and lobbying oversight and enforcement and to ensure that state officials and lobbyists adhere to the highest ethical standards.

About the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government 

Created by New York State Law in July 2022, the Commission’s charge is to restore public trust in government by ensuring compliance with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws and regulations. It has jurisdiction over more than 300,000 officers and employees at state agencies and departments, including commissions, boards, state public benefit corporations, public authorities, SUNY, CUNY, and the statutory closely affiliated corporations; the four statewide elected officials and candidates for those offices; employees and members of the NYS Legislature and legislative candidates; and state and local lobbyists and their clients. 

The Commission administers, enforces, and interprets New York’s ethics and lobbying laws by providing information, education, and guidance regarding ethics and lobbying laws; promoting compliance through audits, investigations, and enforcement proceedings; issuing formal and informal advisory opinions; and promulgating regulations implementing the laws under its jurisdiction.

The Commission promotes transparency by conducting its proceedings publicly to the fullest extent permitted by law and by making the financial and other disclosures filed by those subject to the Commission’s authority publicly available. These disclosures include, but are not limited to, annual financial disclosure statements filed by over 30,000 individuals, and activity and expense reports filed by lobbyists and their clients.

The Commission, at full complement, consists of 11 members with staggered four-year terms nominated by the Governor, Senate Temporary President and Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, Assembly Speaker, Assembly Minority Leader, Comptroller, and Attorney General. The Independent Review Committee, comprised of the deans of the state’s 15 accredited law schools, determines, based upon stated criteria, whether nominees should be confirmed for appointment.