New Yorkers deserve a government they can trust. That is why Citizens Union has always advocated for a strong and independent system of ethics oversight, strict regulation of lobbying, and reforms focused on both preventing and punishing corruption in New York City and State government. Citizens Union serves as a watchdog for the public interest to restore faith in public institutions and make government better.
Rooting out corruption and ensuring that wealthy and powerful interests do not use backdoor channels, special access, and other nefarious means to influence our government has long been a key priority of Citizens Union, which was established to fight the corruption and patronage of the Tammany Hall political machine at the turn of the 20th century. We have supported the creation of New York City’s Conflict of Interest Board in the 1980s, pushed through a set of lobbying reforms in Albany in the 2000s, and most recently, pressed the State Legislature to replace the flawed state ethics agency, known as JCOPE, with a new and improved agency.
2024 Reform Agenda – Ethics
Improve ethics oversight and enforcement in New York State
- Establish an independent ethics agency, with ethics commissioners chosen solely by persons not subject to the agency’s oversight (including judges), and oversight powers over the executive and the legislature
- Implement policies that would improve independence, enforcement, transparency, and training at the state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG)
- Make COELIG’s due process hearings (after a finding of credible evidence of a violation) public, with discretion in some cases.
- For organizations that spend $5,000 to $10,000 on lobbying in a year, reduce reporting requirements from every 2 months to every 6 months.
- Expand the state’s Ethics Code by including a duty to report known misconduct and not engage in sexual or other discriminatory harassment, linking the code with the NYS Human Rights Law
Reduce “pay-to-play” culture and improve lobbying regulation
- Restrict lobbying of elected officials by people who served on their former campaigns for office or firms who provided campaign services.
- Require lobbyists to report their contributions and fundraising activity.
- Require campaigns to disclose a contributor’s employer in campaign finance reports.
- Require lobbyists to specify support or opposition of governmental action in lobbying reports.
- Include among reportable matters lobbying regarding nomination or confirmation of a nominee that requires Senate confirmation.
- Make political parties explicitly subject to the Lobbying Law.
- Restrict donation bundling by lobbyists and other fundraising intermediates.
- Make financial disclosures digital and public, and expand filers to include economic development entities.
- Restrict contributions from those who do business with the state, and create a Doing Business Database to track entities involved in economic agreements with the state.
- Empower the Attorney General to independently initiate investigations and prosecute cases involving public corruption.
- Eliminate state legislators’ stipends.
Recent Activity – Ethics
Testimony: 2024 Public Hearing of the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government
November 13, 2024 - Citizens Union’s testimony before the state ethics commission, including comments on the commission's proposed 2025 legislative agenda
Group Statement on NYC Campaign Finance Following the Indictment of Mayor Eric Adams
October 8, 2024 - Today, Citizens Union and seven other groups issued the following statement in response to numerous questions about the New York City public matching program since Mayor Eric Adams was indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. According to the U.S. Attorney, foreign nationals used straw donors to make illegal campaign contributions to Eric Adams.
Watchdog Groups File Amicus Brief to Court of Appeals that Ethics Commission Is Constitutional
August 26, 2024 - In a joint new Amicus Brief to New York’s highest court, groups argue the appointment process for the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) is clearly lawful
Watchdog Groups Call on Court of Appeals to Hear Ethics Commission Case
May 13, 2024 - Our groups, united in our belief that the law creating New York’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) is constitutional, are concerned that the alarming logic of the recent Appellate Court decision would create an imperial Governor who cannot be held accountable for defying the law – short of impeachment or the ballot box.
Testimony before the City Council – oversight hearings on lobbying reform
April 19, 2024 – Testimony on bills regarding prohibitions lobbying in connection with campaign-related fundraising or political consulting, the city’s post-employment restrictions, and other proposed reforms in lobbying oversight and enforcement.
Group testimony on proposed COIB rules regarding NYC’s policymaker list
April 17, 2024 – Citizens Union joined Reinvent Albany and Common Cause NY to testify in support of the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB)'s proposed rule changes to the policymaker list. This testimony includes additional recommendations related to data transparency.
Testimony for the 2024 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing
February 6, 2024 - Citizens Union appreciates the opportunity to submit testimony regarding Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed Executive Budget for State Fiscal Year 2025. We will focus on the proposed funding for the Public Campaign Finance Board, the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying, and the State Board of Elections.
Memo of Support: S7883/A8618, lobbying for the confirmation of persons to state office
January 16, 2024 - Citizens Union and several other good government groups submitted a memo in support of a bill to expand the term “lobbying” to include any attempts to influence the nomination or confirmation of any person to state office for a position that is subject to Senate confirmation.
State Ethics Commission Is Constitutional Say Civic and Watchdog Groups in Amicus Brief
December 18, 2023 - Citizens Union joins six other groups in an amicus brief for consideration to the Third Department, Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court in Cuomo v. NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government. In sum, the brief underscores the compelling need for an independent statewide ethics commission in New York; identifies the failures of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE); and supports the constitutionality of the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) appointment process.
Memo of Support: S995B/A3484A, LLC Transparency Act
December 15, 2023 - Citizens Union urges he Governor to sign the bill that would requirements for foreign and domestic limited liability companies (LLCs) in New York State to publicly disclose their “beneficial owners."
Citizens Union Responds to Court Ruling Declaring the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government Unconstitutional
September 11, 2023 - Citizens Union releases the following statement from Executive Director Betsy Gotbaum following the State Supreme Court ruling that the New York Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government violates the state constitution
Citizens Union, Other Good Government Groups Call on City Council to Reject Budget Cuts to New York City Oversight Agencies in the Mayor’s FY24 Executive Budget
May 24, 2023 - Citizens Union, along with Common Cause, League of Women Voters of the City of New York, NYPIRG, and Reinvent Albany, sent a letter to Council Speaker Adams and several committee chairs expressing concerns over Mayor Eric Adams' proposed significant budgetary reductions to key oversight agencies
Citizens Union, Other Good Government Groups Call on City Council to Protect Funding for Oversight Agencies
March 29, 2023 - Citizens Union and other groups sent a letter to Council Speaker Adams and several committee chairs expressing concerns over the preliminary budget proposed by Mayor Eric Adams for Fiscal Year 2024, which includes significant budgetary reductions to key oversight agencies of New York City government. The groups believe that reducing agencies' resources and personnel will severely hinder their ability to ensure accountability, ethics, and good governance across the municipal workforce, and prevent waste and corruption.
Testimony: First Annual Public Hearing of the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government
March 29, 2023 – Citizens Union’s testimony before the new state ethics commission focused on several measures that would improve independence, transparency, and public confidence in COELIG, as well as needed changes to the lobbying law.
Citizens Union Joins Watchdogs in Calling for FOIL/OML Reforms in Sunshine Week
February 23, 2023 - Eight government watchdogs sent a letter today urging Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie to pass the same transparency bills for this year’s Sunshine Week, March 12-18.
Testimony for the 2023 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing
February 15, 2023 - Testimony for the 2023 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing, Local Government and General Government, regarding the the proposed funding for the Public Campaign Finance Board and the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying
Watchdogs’ comments on Emergency Regulations, NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government
January 25, 2023 - Comments from several watchdog groups regarding emergency regulations, Part 941 on Adjudicatory Proceedings, of the NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government