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An Example of Why Towns Need Lobbying Codes
Wednesday, May 14th, 2014
Robert Wechsler
Small towns don't need lobbying registration, because no lobbying of
any consequence occurs there.
Small towns don't need lobbying registration, because no lobbying of any consequence occurs there.
Say it often enough — as local government and lobbying associations do — and people believe it's true. But it's not. And here's a good example why.
According to an article yesterday on the Capital New York website, New York State law requires the disclosure of local lobbying except in municipalities with fewer than 50,000 people, which means the great majority of municipalities. Why? Because New York legislators felt that everyone would believe what the local government and lobbying associations say. But most state legislators are former local officials and, therefore, they knew that lobbying does go on in small cities, towns, and villages.
Right now, the big thing in New York state is getting permission to build four casinos. Guess what. "[A]ll but one of the known locations where the 22 different casino bidders have said they plan to build casinos are in towns, hamlets and villages with populations under the 50,000 population threshold."
Since local officials in these towns haven't considered it valuable to have their own lobbying codes, no one knows how much these casino bidders are spending to get the permission they need from local governments. Considering that they are going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, it's likely that these towns are getting inundated with lobbyists and money. And it's not only legal, it's legal for it to be done in secret.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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Small towns don't need lobbying registration, because no lobbying of any consequence occurs there.
Say it often enough — as local government and lobbying associations do — and people believe it's true. But it's not. And here's a good example why.
According to an article yesterday on the Capital New York website, New York State law requires the disclosure of local lobbying except in municipalities with fewer than 50,000 people, which means the great majority of municipalities. Why? Because New York legislators felt that everyone would believe what the local government and lobbying associations say. But most state legislators are former local officials and, therefore, they knew that lobbying does go on in small cities, towns, and villages.
Right now, the big thing in New York state is getting permission to build four casinos. Guess what. "[A]ll but one of the known locations where the 22 different casino bidders have said they plan to build casinos are in towns, hamlets and villages with populations under the 50,000 population threshold."
Since local officials in these towns haven't considered it valuable to have their own lobbying codes, no one knows how much these casino bidders are spending to get the permission they need from local governments. Considering that they are going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, it's likely that these towns are getting inundated with lobbyists and money. And it's not only legal, it's legal for it to be done in secret.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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