New York’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (“the Commission”) announced the following adopted emergency rules on June 4, 2025: (i) the Commission adopted an emergency amendment of Part 943 of Title 19 NYCRR to clarify the definition of “Responsible Party” and (ii) the Commission adopted an emergency addition to Part 939 to Title 19 NYCRR, relating to the statewide ethics training requirement.
Defining “Responsible Party” Under Title 19 NYCRR 943.3(s)
This adopted amendment clarifies the definition of “Responsible Party” for the purpose of ensuring the appropriate individual is submitting lobbying registrations and reports to the Commission.
For an organization, the Responsible Party must be an employee, partner or owner of the organization, or must be an officer employed by the organization, in addition to having the legal authority to bind the lobbyist or client.
For a Structured Coalition, the Responsible Party must be the person designated to serve as its president, treasurer or other such officer as set forth in section 943.9(h)(3)(iii)(a) and have legal authority to bind the lobbyist or client.
Statewide Ethics Training Requirement Under Title 19 NYCRR 939
The Commission has heard from many state agencies about challenges with ensuring their employees attend the required annual ethics training, often due to issues related to access to technology or scheduling. The Commission believes that a significant number of employees and/or agencies will seek an extension or waiver modifying the statewide ethics training program requirements for them and has therefore adopted an emergency rule to establish a procedure and criteria for granting such extension or waiver under Title 19 NYCRR 939. The emergency rule will expire on August 16, 2025, but the Commission does propose to adopt this rule permanently.
Under the emergency rule 19 NYCRR 939.4 “[a] request for an extension or waiver modifying the Ethics Training Requirements shall require a good faith showing that complying with the Ethics Training Requirements without modification would impose undue hardship upon the individual or the employing State Agency or the legislature” and the Commission will consider “(a) the specific duties of the affected individual(s); (b) the work schedules of the affected individual(s); (c) the affected individual(s)’s availability for and access to live in-person, live online and on-demand Ethics Training Program(s) . . .; (d) a proposed alternate arrangement or modification to the course or the modality used for its administration to comply with the Ethics Training Requirements; and (e) any other factor an applicant and the Commission may deem relevant.”
