Prohibits state reimbursement of campaign and political committees and legal defense funds for payments made on behalf of the criminal or civil defense of a…

Official titleShow

Prohibits state reimbursement of campaign and political committees and legal defense funds for payments made on behalf of the criminal or civil defense of a state employee

The heading above is this same sentence with its legal opening removed. No words were added, changed or reordered.

Latest action May 12, 2026

Prohibits state reimbursement of campaign and political committees, or legal defense funds, for payments made on behalf of the criminal or civil defense of a state employee.

Not chosen yet

Where it stands

Passed one of the two chambers; it still needs the other.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A298, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Amends the Public Officers Law.

Committee

Ethics And Internal Governance · New York State Senate

Also referred to Governmental Operations · New York State Assembly.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

To close a loophole in New York's ethics laws, preventing state taxpayer money from being used to reimburse campaign or legal defense accounts.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateMay 12, 2026Result: passed
(60) (0) (0) (3)
Vote: Committee vote · Ethics And Internal Governance
Senate Ethics And Internal GovernanceApr 28, 2026Result: passed
(7) (0) (0) (0)
Vote: Committee vote · Ethics And Internal Governance
Senate Ethics And Internal GovernanceApr 29, 2025Result: passed
(7) (0) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Grace Lee, John Liu and 3 more on Agora

Democratic5

See the full list on nysenate.gov

The sponsor's argument

Why Michael Gianaris says this is needed

Currently, when a state employee is acquitted of, criminal charges aris- ing from his or her duties while in office, or has such charges dismissed, the State provides reimbursement for all attorney's fees and litigation expenses, subject to the approval of the Attorney General and the Comptroller. The situation has arisen, however, where state employ- ees have paid for such costs using campaign funds or a special legal defense fund, and subsequently require the taxpayers to reimburse dormant campaign or legal defense accounts. This bill will protect taxpayers by preventing reimbursements to a campaign committee or legal defense fund. Additionally, the bill provides that if a litigant has a legal defense fund, he or she will be required to expend all money in the account before he or she would be entitled to any taxpayer reimbursement.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

May 12, 2026
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
May 12, 2026
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
May 12, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS
NY Assembly
May 4, 2026
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Apr 29, 2026
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate

Show full history (9 earlier events)

Apr 28, 2026
1ST Report CAL.824
1ST REPORT CAL.824
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ETHICS AND INTERNAL GOVERNANCE
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS
NY Assembly
Jun 13, 2025
In committee
COMMITTED TO RULES
NY Senate
Apr 30, 2025
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Apr 29, 2025
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate
Apr 28, 2025
1ST Report CAL.701
1ST REPORT CAL.701
NY Senate
Jan 17, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ETHICS AND INTERNAL GOVERNANCE
NY Senate
Jan 8, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS
NY Assembly

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Cosponsors: The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.
Party colors: Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 29, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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