We are happy to report that HSC’s efforts to get the NYC Lobbying Act amended have proven to be successful. In April 2007, City Council amended the Lobbying Act to remove the requirement that registered lobbyists report the names of children and further changed the law to keep the names and home addresses of spouses / domestic partners private (only to be shared with the Campaign Finance Board to ensure that campaign contributions are not matched). We are pleased to inform you that these important changes adequately address the privacy concerns voiced by not-for-profit lobbying entities.
In the spring of 2006, New York City amended the local Lobbying Act so as to (among other things) ban lobbyists and their families from participating in the public campaign finance system. While HSC supports the City’s efforts to limit conflicts of interest, improve transparency, and reduce the influence of high priced lobbying entities on local policy development, certain aspects of the amendments raised serious concerns with regard to their impact on the not-for-profit provider community.
Chief among our concerns was the requirement that registered lobbyists (including employees working in the “government relations division” of a not-for-profit that engages in lobbying) provide the names and home addresses of any spouses, domestic partners, or children to the City Clerk for public review. This aspect of the law elicited privacy concerns among providers which HSC worked tirelessly to bring to the attention of lawmakers.
HSC thanks everyone that wrote letters to the City Clerk regarding this privacy issue and would particularly like to thank Lawyers Alliance and the Non-Profit Coordinating Committee (NPCC) for working with us in our on-going efforts to bring this and other issues related to the impact of the amendments on not-for-profit agencies to the attention of both the crafters and enforcers of this law. We will continue to monitor the effects of implementation on agencies and work to protect the critical communication between policy makers and direct service providers.
Follow this link to HSC’s recent testimony to the City Council Governmental Operations Committee regarding the Lobbying Act, which will provide additional detail on our position.
HSC will continue our efforts to educate the sector on the lobbying laws as they relate to the activities of not-for-profit organizations.
