As discussed last fall, against the fairly settled case law around the country, New York continued to fight against Super PACs. A Super PAC is a political committee that typically funds ads advocating for or against candidates, but that may not coordinate its spending with candidates and their campaigns. New York argued that its annual

In March 2010, following the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United, a federal appeals court ruled that that a political committee making independent expenditures (i.e., not direct contributions or coordinated expenditures) has a constitutional right to receive unlimited contributions. The ruling triggered a proliferation of so-called Super PACs that have been active in federal and

New York State’s ethics and lobbying watchdog, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (“JCOPE”), released revised draft amendments to its gift and honoraria rules and source of funding (“SOF”) regulations. JCOPE will seek formal public comment on all of these proposed rules. Copies of the new draft rules can be found here.

In January,