Reinvent Albany thanks Governor Hochul for signing legislation requiring public officials to list crypto holdings with other sources of income and property on annual state ethics disclosure forms. These disclosures are intended to help the lawmakers, ethics regulators and the public better understand and address potential conflicts of interests and attempts to buy influence. We also thank bill sponsors Senator Rachel May and Assemblymember Anna Kelles.
As noted in Reinvent Albany’s memo of support for A2873-B (Kelles) / S5621-B (May) – sent jointly with Earthjustice and NYPIRG – the legislation is a timely and sensible response to the increased lobbying and political activity of the crypto industry in New York. According to Bloomberg, the crypto industry spent $1.5 million lobbying state lawmakers in 2022.
We urge the Legislature and Governor Hochul to consider further legislation to improve financial disclosure by public officials.