NEW YORK STATE OINT OMMISSION ON UBLIC THICS J C P E 2014 ANNUAL REPORT JCOPE.NY.GOV DANIEL J. HORWITZ LETIZIA TAGLIAFIERRO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CHAIR DAVID ARROYO PAUL CASTELEIRO HON. JOSEPH COVELLO MARVIN E. JACOB NEW YORK STATE SEYMOUR KNOX, IV JOINT COMMISSION ON PUBLIC ETHICS GARY J. LAVINE PHONE: (518) 408-3976 HON. MARY LOU RATH 540 BROADWAY FAX: (518) 408-3975 DAVID A. RENZI MICHAEL A. ROMEO, SR. ALBANY, NEW YORK 12207 www.jcope.ny.gov HON. RENEE R. ROTH MICHAEL K. ROZEN DAWN L. SMALLS GEORGE H. WEISSMAN MEMBERS April 29, 2015 The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York The Honorable Dean G. Skelos The Honorable Carl E. Heastie Temporary President and Majority Leader of the Senate Speaker of the Assembly The Honorable Andrea Stewart-Cousins The Honorable Brian M. Kolb Senate Democratic Conference Leader Minority Leader of the Assembly The Honorable Jeffrey D. Klein Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader To the Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo and Members of the Legislature: On behalf of the Commissioners and staff of the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, I am pleased to present you with the enclosed 2014 Annual Report. Respectfully, Letizia Tagliafierro Executive Director TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 7 THE JOINT COMMISSION ON PUBLIC ETHICS 9 THE PUBLIC INTEGRITY REFORM ACT OF 2011 9 COMMISSIONERS 9 THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 16 STRUCTURE AND STAFFING OF THE AGENCY 16 GUIDANCE AND OUTREACH 21 TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES 21 LOBBYING OVERVIEW 25 2014 LOBBYING DATA 25 2014 LOBBYING DATA HIGHLIGHTS 27 INVESTIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT 37 OVERVIEW 37 2014 REVIEW AND DISPOSITION OF INVESTIGATIVE MATTERS 38 2014 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS 39 APPENDIX A: EXECUTIVE LAW §94 41 APPENDIX B: 2014 LISTING OF LOBBYISTS AND PUBLIC CORPORATIONS 57 INTRODUCTION The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (the “Commission”) was established by the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 (PIRA)i to oversee and regulate ethics and lobbying in New York State. It commenced operation on December 14, 2011. (See Executive Law §94 attached hereto as Appendix A.) The Commission has broad regulatory authority and oversight over the four statewide elected officials, candidates for those offices, executive branch employees, State legislators, candidates for the Legislature, legislative branch employees, and certain political party chairs, as well as lobbyists and their clients. The Commission’s statutory mandate includes providing information, education, and advice regarding current ethics and lobbying laws, and promoting compliance with these laws through audits, investigations, and enforcement proceedings. Pursuant to Section 94(9)(l) of the Executive Law and Section (1-d)(g) of the Legislative Law (the “Lobbying Act”), this annual report summarizes the activities of the Commission in 2014, and includes data relating to ethics and lobbying regulation. Traditionally, the annual report highlights some of the Commission's achievements over the course of the preceding year. This year, however, the Commission issued a special report to the Governor and legislative leaders on February 2, 2015 (in accordance with Executive Law §94(1)) (the “February 2015 Report”) that fully details the Commission’s activities over the past three years. This included the: administration and improvement of procedures relating to the new disclosure requirements in PIRA; review of hundreds of complaints, tips, and referrals resulting in 60 settlements and $500,000 in fines and assessments; annually processing of more than 27,000 Financial Disclosure Statements (“FDS”) filed by State officials and more than 43,000 disclosure filings by lobbyists and their clients; and significantly expanding the Commission's advisory and guidance platform with new educational materials and training programs. The Commission also proposed several areas for legislative reforms and further study designed to improve compliance with the ethics laws and regulations, enhance the accountability of public officials and those who seek to NNUAL EPORT 2014 A R 7 NEW YORK STATE JOINT COMMISSION ON PUBLIC ETHICS INTRODUCTION influence government decision-making, and increase the transparency of the Commission’s actions. Due to the large scope of the February 2015 Report, this annual report will, therefore, be limited to information concerning lobbying activity, investigations, and training programs conducted in 2014. Lobbying activity for 2014 set new records with $226 million in total spending and $194.2 million in compensation paid to retained and employed lobbyists. The 2014 lobbying spending included $15.8 million in advertising expenses. The top-spending lobbying entity in 2014, Families for Excellent Schools, reported spending $9.6 million on advertising and event-related expenses. The next highest spending lobbying entity was the New York State United Teachers which reported $3.2 million in lobbying expenditures. Education-related lobbying, including charter schools, teacher tenure and evaluations, and the education tax credit, made up the majority ($15.6 million) of the nearly $25 million spent by the top 10 lobbying entities in 2014. Other top spenders for the year included the Greater NY Hospital Association, No More Casinos Coalition, Inc. (a gambling industry-funded coalition against a potential Native-American casino in Monroe County), the Public Campaign Action Fund, the Public Employees Federation, the Trial Lawyers Association, Inc., and AARP. Separately, in conjunction with this annual report, the Commission will publish in spreadsheet format on its website the complete data filed by lobbyists and their clients for 2014. Additional summaries of lobbying data are included in this report. The full 2014 listing of lobbyists and public corporations and their financial data is attached hereto as Appendix B. i Chapter 399 of the Laws of 2011. 8 THE JOINT COMMISSION ON PUBLIC ETHICS The Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 The Commission was formally constituted in December of 2011 pursuant to PIRA. The Commission continued the lobbying and ethics oversight functions of its predecessor agencies with regulatory authority over the four statewide elected officials, candidates for those offices, executive branch employees, State legislators, candidates for the Legislature and legislative branch employees, as well as, certain political party chairs, and lobbyists and their clients. The Commission is made up of 14 commissioners, three appointed by the Temporary President of the Senate, three appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, one appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate, one appointed by the Minority Leader of the Assembly, and six appointed by the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. The Commission chairperson is selected by the Governor. Terms for commissioners vary and are set forth in Executive Law §94. The Commission meets at a minimum bimonthly and appoints an executive director to run the functions and administration of the agency. Commissioners Daniel J. Horwitz, Chair Mr. Horwitz is currently a partner at McLaughlin & Stern, LLP, a mid-size law firm in New York City. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Horwitz was a partner in an AmLaw 100 law firm. He previously served as a New York County assistant district attorney for nearly a decade, where he investigated and prosecuted complex business crimes in the Frauds Bureau. Mr. Horwitz was recognized in the 2009-2013 editions of New York Super Lawyers and in The Best Lawyers in America, 19th and 20th Editions, in the area of White-Collar Criminal 9 Defense: White Collar and Business Litigation. In 2012 and 2013, Super Lawyers recognized Mr. Horwitz as a Top 100 New York Metro Attorney. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Horwitz served as legislative director to Congressman Thomas J. Downey. Mr. Horwitz received his J.D. cum laude from the American University Washington College of Law and his B.A. from Columbia University. Mr. Horwitz was appointed to the Commission by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. David Arroyo Mr. Arroyo is senior vice president, legal affairs at Scripps Networks Interactive. Before joining Scripps, Mr. Arroyo practiced as a trial lawyer at a global law firm, and early in his career he clerked for a federal judge. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Duke University. While at law school, he served as an associate and contributing editor of the Michigan Law Review. He previously served as the chairman of Latino Justice PRLDEF. Mr. Arroyo was appointed to the Commission by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. Paul Casteleiro Mr. Casteleiro is a private practitioner concentrating on criminal trial and appellate matters and specializing in seeking justice for the wrongfully accused and convicted. For the past 30 years, Mr. Casteleiro has been closely affiliated with Centurion Ministries, the oldest national organization devoted to freeing the innocent and imprisoned. He has obtained exonerations in a number of cases, the overwhelming majority of which were without DNA evidence. Mr. Casteleiro has been a frequent commentator on wrongful conviction cases. In 1997 Mr. Casteleiro spearheaded the passage of a wrongful conviction compensation statute in New Jersey. With a B.A. from New York University and an LL.D. from Rutgers University, Mr. Casteleiro has been both a public defender and an attorney for the Legal Aid Society before establishing his own office. He has served on various boards including Head Start of Rockland County and the New Jersey Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Casteleiro was appointed to the Commission by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. 10 Hon. Joseph Covello Justice Covello has more than 30 years of experience in law and justice. Justice Covello stepped down from the New York State Appellate Division in 2011 to return to private practice as a partner in the Long Island firm of Lynn, Gartner, Dunne & Covello, LLP. Before his appointment to the Appellate Division, he served as a trial judge in the Supreme Court, Nassau County. Prior to that, he served on the Appellate Term for the Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts, and as a trial judge in District Court, Nassau County.