During a regularly scheduled meeting today, the Campaign Finance Board voted to adopt the final rules for the disclosure of independent expenditures in New York City Elections. A statement by Chairman Father Joseph P. Parkes, S.J., is found below.
- A plain language guidance document to the rules can be found here.
- A report on independent expenditures in New York City elections and the issues involved in drafting the rules for disclosure is also available (pdf).
People or groups who have questions about their responsibilities under the new rules can email IEMail@nyccfb.info. Guidance materials and training sessions about the rules for interested parties will be made available in the coming months.
Separately, the Board also determined that three campaigns in the 2009 elections committed violations and that two campaigns in the 2009 elections must repay public funds. For details, see below. Please note that hyperlinks attached to the numbers provide details on violations committed by each campaign (pdf).
The Board also voted to deny candidate Erlene J. King CD#45 (2009) her Rule 5-02(a) petition.
Lastly, Chairman Father Joseph Parkes announced that Board Member Mark Piazza has been reappointed to the Board by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. His new term expires on November 30, 2016.
Before the Board voted on the rules for disclosure of independent expenditures, Board Chairman Parkes made the following statement:
"In November of 2010, in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, New Yorkers voted overwhelmingly to adopt a Charter amendment to require disclosure of independent expenditures in City elections.
The degree to which Super PACs have started to dominate elections at the federal level this year makes it clear that strong rules are needed to make meaningful disclosure of political spending available to New York City voters.
Since the passage of the Charter amendment, the Board has engaged in an unprecedented effort to solicit public input on this very important and difficult issue.
The Board held its first public hearing in March of 2011. After a public discussion of the issues associated with disclosure of independent spending, the staff prepared a draft of the rules.
In September of 2011, the Board issued a draft of the proposed rules for review. The rules were published in the City Record and made available for a 30-day period of public comment.
The Board held the mandated public hearing to discuss the proposed rules last October. That hearing was very well attended, and we heard many constructive comments about our approach.
In response to some of the concerns raised during that hearing, staff revised the proposed rules. Last month, the Board released the revised Proposed Rules to the public, and provided an additional two-week period of public comment. Based on those comments, the staff made some further revisions.
I’m pleased to say that our public rulemaking process has worked exactly as intended. We have had a robust public discussion on this issue, and the feedback we’ve received has improved our work. I want to extend our appreciation to everyone who has participated in this discussion over the course of the past year.
The text of the final rulemaking is available on our website, www.nyccfb.info, along with a plain-language guide and background materials.
With the final rules adopted, the Board and staff will begin the important task of educating the public about these rules. This is a critical part of our mission and we want to ensure people of New York City that we will fulfill this promise to educate them about these rules. People or groups who have questions about their responsibilities under the new rules should feel free to contact our staff, and they should know that we plan to offer guidance materials and training sessions for those who are interested. Again, I would like to reiterate, we are committed to educating the people of New York City of these most important rules."
Violations and Penalties
Candidate |
Total Public Funds Received |
Violation |
Penalty |
Total Penalties |
Tracy L. Boyland |
$53,642 |
Corporate contributions |
$6,460 |
|
Over-the-limit "Doing Business" contributions |
$800 |
|||
Filing a disclosure statement five days late |
$250 |
|||
Failing to report transactions |
$250 |
|||
Failing to accurately report receipts resulting in a 24.87% variance |
$500 |
|||
Failing to comply with subcontractor reporting requirements |
$150 |
|||
Andy L. King |
$79,730 |
Corporate and LLC contributions |
$2,295 |
|
Contribution from unregistered political committee |
$125 |
|||
Failing to accurately report receipts resulting in a 39.31% cash deposit variance |
$1,000 |
|||
Making cash expenditures greater than $100 |
$150 |
|||
Making impermissible post-election expenditures |
$216 |
|||
Jerome L. Rice |
$0 |
Corporate contribution |
$125 |
|
Failing to file disclosure statements |
$375 |
|||
Failing to accurately report disbursements resulting in a 13.22% variance |
$500 |
|||
Failing to respond to post-election requests for documentation and information |
$150 |
|||
Robert J. Rodriguez |
$68,562 |
Failing to report a transaction |
Vote to nullify the February 16, 2012 violation and penalty of $50 |
|
Making a cash payment in excess of $100 and maintaining a petty cash fund in excess of $500 |
Vote to nullify the February 16, 2012 violation and penalty of $340 |
Public Funds Repayments
Candidate |
Total Public Funds Received |
Public Funds Repayment |
Tracy L. Boyland |
$53,642 |
$21,869 |
Andy L. King |
$79,730 |
$27,541 |
Archived video of today’s meeting, and past Board meetings, can be found at www.nyccfb.info/live.