Emily DeSantis

#NYLobbyingNews: The preliminary lobbying data from January-February 2026 shows lobbying spending totaled $77.62 million, up 18.9% from the same period in 2025, driven by a 145.4% increase in expenses. Detailed charts on January-February 2026 lobbying activity are now available. Read the full news release ethics.ny.gov/news/prelimina… “Lobbying activity in 2026 was off to a robust start, as indicated by preliminary spending for January-February 2026, which was higher than any other bi-monthly spending total reported throughout 2025,” Executive Director Berland said. “The surge in overall spending seen for this reporting period underscores the intensity of lobbying efforts around the State Budget. As always, transparency remains a top priority for the Commission, and we will continue our work to ensure the public knows who is trying to influence state and local officials’ decision-making.” “As expected, budget bills dominated the most-lobbied bills list for this reporting period,” Chair Seymour W. James, Jr. said. “The increased focus on budget bills, paired with an increase in lobbying spending, demonstrates the importance of timely and accurate filings in providing transparency and ensuring that the state government is acting in the public’s best interest. The Commission will continue to monitor these filings and deliver accessible, up-to-date lobbying data and trend information year-round.”

#NYLobbyingNews: Preliminary lobbying data shows that total lobbying spending reached a new pinnacle in 2025 at $384.5 million, a 1.96% increase when compared with the $377.1 million preliminary spending in 2024! Read the full news release: ethics.ny.gov/news/prelimina…

We just sent a joint letter urging NY leaders to fully fund @NYSCOELIG: ✅ $9.1M for operations to fully staff COELIG ✅ Use new lobbyist fees to fund $750K in long-overdue tech upgrades NY's first line of defense against corruption shouldn't be underfunded. buff.ly/z0hb1rs

The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) is now accepting public comment until Oct. 2 on dozens of potential proposals to strengthen the state’s ethics and lobbying laws and regulations. The Commission is conducting a yearslong Comprehensive Review Process to gauge the effectiveness of New York’s ethics and lobbying laws, regulations, and advisory opinions and to assess whether modifications are needed. The potential proposals are preliminary and aimed at achieving full compliance with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws and to increase public confidence in the integrity of state government. Read the full release at ethics.ny.gov/news/public-co… “The Commission is called upon to assess the consistency and effectiveness of New York’s ethics and lobbying laws, regulations, and advisory opinions and to determine whether changes are needed,” Executive Director Berland said. “Democracy cannot flourish without public confidence in the integrity of government, and any process aimed at improving compliance with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws must include input from the public and all affected and interested communities. We want the public’s help in evaluating the breadth of potential recommendations, both those we received, and those staff has tentatively formulated. Our singular objective is to ensure that we have the tools and resources to carry out our responsibilities as efficiently and as effectively as possible and to make our mission – improving public confidence in the integrity of state government - a reality.” “The key to the Comprehensive Review is taking an educated and unfettered look at everything being done currently and at everything that can be done to advance the Commission’s work across the agency to ensure compliance with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws,” Chair Seymour W. James, Jr. said. “Part of that process is seeking public input on the spectrum of ideas and proposals that have emerged in the course of staff’s far-reaching review process.”

#NYLobbyingNews: The Commission has released preliminary lobbying data from the January-June CSA and May-June Bi-monthly reports! Read the full release and related charts by visiting ethics.ny.gov/news/prelimina… “The preliminary January-June CSA data shows that lobbyist compensation and total spending increased year-over-year while expenses declined,” Executive Director Berland said. “At the same time, the preliminary data from May-June 2025 shows a dip in spending when compared with January-February and March-April due to a decrease in expenses. These fluctuations underscore the importance of providing the public timely awareness of lobbying activity and associated spending as efforts to influence state and local decision-making shift throughout the year.” “Promoting transparency in lobbying activity and spending is not an option; it is a crucial step in building public trust in state and local government. The public is entitled to know on a timely basis who is being lobbied, who is doing the lobbying, what is being lobbied on, and who is paying for the lobbying,” Chair Seymour W. James, Jr. said. “The continuous publication of up-to-date lobbying data allows the public to gain a clearer picture of lobbying activity in New York State.”

Statement by Chair Seymour W. James, Jr. and Executive Director Sanford N. Berland on the passing of former Commissioner Michael Cardozo: Commissioner Michael A. Cardozo’s astute and incisive legal mind and breadth of knowledge and experience made him an indispensable part of the Commission from its inception. His passionate vision of what ethics in New York government can and should be helped shape COELIG. Even more so, it was Michael’s sharp wit, incomparable intelligence and innate kindness that made him an immediate and treasured friend and colleague. Michael’s accomplishments are legendary. He excelled as the longest-serving Corporation Counsel in New York City history, the President of the 21,000-member New York City Bar Association, and a distinguished attorney who represented the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer.  As Chair of the Commission’s Communications and Legislative Committees, Commissioner Cardozo played a leading role in crafting the Commission’s priorities. With his tireless energy and acumen, he helped us forge positive working relationships with our major constituencies and with our many and varied communities of interest. We feel Michael’s loss deeply and hope his wife Nancy, children, grandchildren, extended family, friends, and all who knew and loved him are comforted by wonderful memories of a legal giant who generously gave of himself. View the statement online: ethics.ny.gov/news/statement…

#NYLobbyingNews: To increase public accessibility and transparency, the Commission will begin to release preliminary lobbying spending data analyses every two months. Today, the Commission released the preliminary data from January-February 2025! Detailed charts on January-February 2025 lobbying data are now available. ethics.ny.gov/news/coelig-sh… “Since the Commission’s creation, one of our top priorities has been to enhance public awareness of, and overall transparency in lobbying spending so the public knows who is trying to influence state and local officials’ decision-making,” Executive Director Berland said. “Releasing bi-monthly aggregated data reports complements the real-time data we have available on our website and the 278 million records we have made available for download on Open NY.” “These bi-monthly lobbying reports are the latest in our continued efforts to make our data more accessible to New Yorkers,” Chair Leonard B. Austin said. “With more frequent reporting on lobbying spending, the public will be able to see shifts in lobbying over the course of the year. This will shed more light and provide clarity on how lobbying dollars are being used.”

The data is in! Lobbying spending reached a new height with a preliminary total of $377.1 million spent in 2024. The total marks a 4.57% increase from 2023's $360.6 million, making 2024 another record-breaking year. View the full release: ethics.ny.gov/system/files/d… “In 2025, our work proves to be more crucial than ever as lobbying spending reaches unprecedented levels,” Executive Director Sanford N. Berland said. “Last year, we saw changes in the top 10 client spenders over the previous year, with healthcare and gaming organizations now topping the list. In addition, the Commission continues to experience an increasingly higher volume of lobbying filings, and is making and responding to tens of thousands of lobbying-related inquiries. This demonstrates the Commission’s important role in ensuring all lobbying activity is accurately reported and shared with the public.” “As lobbying spending continues to rise to never-seen-before heights, the Commission is committed to increasing transparency by releasing aggregated lobbying data more frequently and sooner than in the past,” Chair Leonard B. Austin said. “Through the Commission’s compliance and enforcement efforts, we are ensuring lobbyists and clients are correctly reporting their lobbying activities so the public can see the full picture of which organizations and individuals are seeking to influence state and local decision-making.”

Today is the day! The Commission will hold its annual public hearing today at 1 p.m. Watch the hearing live at ethics.ny.gov. To submit written comment, email [email protected] by November 15, 2024.