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New disclosure law in court

Dec 15, 2016 12:02 am
Casey Seiler reports in The Albany Times-Union that the good government group Citizens Union sued the state Dec. 12, claiming a financial disclosure law, "chill[s] speech by forcing both donors and the organizations to make choices between exercising speech and association rights and subjecting themselves to burdensome obligations and public disclosures." Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the members of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics and its Executive Director Seth Agata are named in the lawsuit. Legislation passed by the state Senate and Assembly in the session's final hours during a late June night, is at issue. A Cuomo spokesperson, Dani Lever, said in a statement, "Everyone is all for transparency, except when it comes to them. We are just surprised to learn that applies to self-appointed good-government groups, too." But CU Executive Director Dick Dadey says state law makes a distinction between the level of disclosure required of educational nonprofits and nonprofits with lobbying or other political efforts. Read the full story in The Albany Times-Union.