New York Assembly Bill A11043

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 4/23/26
• Refer: 4/23/26

Caption

Requires additional disclosures from lobbyists

Summary

A11043 is a broad ethics and campaign-finance bill that combines lobbyist disclosure requirements with new restrictions on campaign contributions, contracting, and the use of campaign funds. It would require lobbyists to disclose additional information about campaign contributions made by their clients and employees, compensation paid to public officials’ family members, and business relationships with public officials. The bill also creates new election-law provisions governing government contractors and other state vendors, including reporting obligations, contribution limits, and prohibitions on certain fundraising and political roles for covered contractors and their affiliates. The bill further tightens rules on campaign funds for personal use. It rewrites the definition of permissible campaign spending, expands the list of prohibited personal-use expenditures, bars campaign funds from paying legal defense costs in certain investigations or prosecutions, and requires advisory opinions from the State Board of Elections to be binding. It also requires continuing candidate committees to dispose of remaining funds within a set period and limits how those funds may be distributed. In addition, it prohibits certain state officers and employees who file financial disclosure statements from soliciting or receiving campaign contributions for state or federal office.

Impact

The bill would amend the Legislative Law, Election Law, and Public Officers Law to expand disclosure and ethics rules in New York. It would add new reporting obligations for lobbyists, create a new contractor-contribution reporting and restriction regime, impose contribution caps and related conduct bans on covered state contractors and their affiliates, and restrict appointments of certain lobbyists and contractors to public boards and commissions. It also would substantially revise Election Law section 14-130 on campaign funds for personal use and add new rules for disposition of leftover campaign funds under section 14-138, while adding a Public Officers Law restriction on fundraising by certain state employees.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to be framed as an anti-corruption and transparency proposal, with a clear emphasis on disclosure, separation of public office from private financial interests, and tighter campaign-finance controls. The caption and structure suggest a reform-oriented intent rather than a partisan policy change. There is no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided materials, so no direct evidence of support or opposition is available beyond the bill’s introduction and referral to committee.

Contention

The most likely points of contention are the breadth and intrusiveness of the new restrictions. Covered contractors, lobbyists, and public officials could object to the reporting burden, the limits on contributions and fundraising, and the bans on serving in certain political roles or conducting business transactions with covered officials. The bill’s expansion of what counts as personal use of campaign funds, including restrictions on legal defense spending and family-member compensation, may also draw concern from candidates and campaign committees. Supporters would likely emphasize transparency, anti-pay-to-play safeguards, and stronger guardrails against conflicts of interest.