The 2025 Legislative Agenda recently adopted by the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (the Commission or COELIG) is aimed at increasing the effectiveness and efficiency with which the Commission performs its critical role, administering and enforcing New York’s ethics and lobbying laws, Executive Director Sanford N. Berland announced today. The open and inclusive process to develop nine priority proposals aligns with the Commission’s focus to restore the public’s faith and trust in government with transparency and integrity.    

“Oversight of compliance with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws has never been more important,” Executive Director Berland said. “We do not make these proposals lightly; they are necessary to support the tremendous work the Commission does each day. The upcoming legislative session is an opportunity to show the public our state’s deep and unequivocal commitment to an ethical government.”  

“The Commission’s Legislative Agenda is focused on key initiatives to promote public trust in state government and to ensure that it is indeed working in the interest of every New Yorker,” Chair Leonard B. Austin said. “This comprehensive agenda reflects legislative proposals and priorities that were refined through Commission and committee meetings, by feedback at our annual public hearing, and considerable staff research and analysis. The Commission looks forward to once again working with lawmakers to advance transparency in government in the upcoming legislative session.”   

2025 Legislative Agenda  

Ethics and Lobbying 

• Accessorial Liability (Executive Law, Public Officers Law, Civil Service Law, and Lobbying Act): The Commission proposes to amend laws to expressly prohibit individuals and entities under the Commission’s jurisdiction from soliciting, aiding, or importuning another to engage in conduct that violates the State’s ethics and lobbying laws. Making explicit the Commission’s authority to pursue individuals under its jurisdiction who aid others in the commission of acts in violation of the Public Officers Law and the Lobbying Act law would strengthen COELIG’s enforcement arm and promote compliance with the State’s ethics and disclosure laws.  

Lobbying 

• Conforming Changes to the Lobbying Act: The Commission proposes to amend the Lobbying Act to conform to Section 94(8) of the Executive Law, which requires both lobbying clients as well as lobbyists to satisfy mandatory ethics training requirements. The proposal would amend Section 1-d(h) to require clients, as well as well as lobbyists, to complete the online ethics training course within 60 days of being listed on a Statement of Registration. Additionally, this proposal would require lobbyists and clients to complete the online ethics training course once every two years to coincide with the biennial registration cycle, rather than triennially as is currently required.  
   
• Training Non-Compliance Penalties for Lobbyists and Clients: The Commission proposes to amend the law to authorize the Commission to impose late fees on lobbyists and clients who fail to comply with the mandated ethics training in a timely manner. Proposed ethics training late fees could be patterned after the statutory structure for late filing fees, which authorizes late fees of up to a certain dollar amount per day.  
   
• Express Individual Liability of Responsible Parties and other Lobbying Representatives for Intentional Lobbying Act Violations: The Commission proposes to amend the Lobbying Act to clarify that the Responsible Party listed on lobbying reports is the individual responsible for the accuracy, truthfulness, and completeness of the lobbying filings. Such individual will be responsible for any knowing and willful violation of the Lobbying Act.  
   
• Require Electronic Submission of All Lobbying Filings: The Commission proposes to amend the Lobbying Act to require electronic filing of all lobbying reports to ease the administrative burden created by paper filings and promote transparency of lobbying activity by ensuring that all lobbying filings are available to the public upon submission to the Commission.   
   

Ethics 

Open Meetings Law  

• Eliminate the Physical Access Requirement for Advisory Committees and Subcommittees of Public Bodies: The Commission proposes to amend the Open Meetings Law to allow meetings of purely advisory and non-decision-making committees to be held virtually with no physical-presence quorum requirement, provided that the meeting is publicly live-streamed, and the public has access to one or more viewing sites. Removing the physical presence requirement will increase transparency and substantially increase the number and frequency of non-decisional committee meetings of advisory-only bodies.   

 
The full 2025 Legislative Agenda may be viewed on the COELIG website.  

Collaborative Process to Develop Legislative Agenda  
Building from the 2024 Legislative Agenda, which included a public hearing and a subsequent stakeholder round table, COELIG developed the 2025 Legislative Agenda after conducting broad stakeholder and regulated community surveys, convening its second annual public hearing, and seeking feedback from staff and Commissioners. The Commission held a series of public Legislative Agenda committee meetings, which were also livestreamed and posted on its website, to refine the Draft Legislative Agenda.    
  
Commissioners and Commission staff assessed the collective input, and the full Commission adopted the agenda at its December meeting.  

About COELIG   

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 320,000 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 state 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 millions of records contained in registrations and activity and expense reports filed by lobbyists and their clients.