Information on the Mandated Ethics Training Requirement for Lobbyists and Clients

As part of the Ethics Commission Reform Act of 2022, the mandated ethics training requirement for Lobbyists (Principal, Individual, and In-House Lobbyists) has been expanded to include Contractual Clients and Beneficial Clients. 

The Commission has developed a new online ‘Ethical Standards for Lobbyists and Clients’ training course that is available on the COELIG website.   Filers may access the course by utilizing the hyperlink located on the top-right hand corner of this page or directly at https://lobbyingtraining.ethics.ny.gov/

All Lobbyists and Clients are required to take this new training in 2023 and certify completion of the training requirement.

Legislative Mandates requiring Ethics Training:

Executive Law § 94 (8)(d)

The Commission shall develop and administer training courses for lobbyists and clients of lobbyists.

Lobbying Act § 1-d(h)

The Commission shall have the power and duty to provide an online ethics training course for individuals registered as lobbyists pursuant to section one-e of the Lobbying Act. The curriculum for the course shall include, but not be limited to, explanations and discussions of the statutes and regulations of New York concerning ethics in the public officers law, the election law, the legislative law, summaries of advisory opinions, underlying purposes and principles of the relevant laws, and examples of practical application of these laws and principles. The Commission shall prepare those methods and materials necessary to implement the curriculum.

Each individual registered as a lobbyist pursuant to section one-e of the Lobbying Act shall complete such training course at least once in any three-year period during which he or she is registered as a lobbyist.

All Lobbyists (Principal, Individual, and In-House Lobbyists), Contractual Clients and Beneficial Clients listed on a submitted 2023-2024 Lobbyist or Public Corporation Statement of Registration are required to take the NEW 2023 Ethics Training course.

The Training requirement is triggered by and applicable to those individuals and entities listed as a Lobbyist or Client on a 2023-2024 Statement of Registration once a 2023-2024 Registration is submitted.  See ‘Training Required Roles’.

Training Required Roles

For purposes of Training compliance by organizations listed as a Lobbyist or Client, the Chief Administrative Officer of the organization is responsible for taking the Training.

The following individuals, when listed on a submitted 2023-2024 Statement of Registration, are considered to be in a Training Required Role:

• Principal Lobbyist (includes Retained and Employed Lobbyists, and Public Corporations)
  • If an organization = the CAO listed in the Lobbyist’s Organization Profile
  • If a person = the individual listed as the Principal Lobbyist

• All Individual Lobbyists listed on a submitted 2023-2024 Registration (including "In-House" Lobbyists) 

• Contractual Client 

  • If an organization = the CAO listed in the Contractual Client's Organization Profile
  • If a person = the individual listed as the Contractual Client.

• Beneficial Client 
  • If an organization = the CAO listed in the Beneficial Client's Organization Profile
  • If a person = the individual listed as the Beneficial Client.

The new online training launched January 18, 2023.  Due dates to complete ethics training are as follows:

• individuals associated with 2023-2024 Registrations submitted on or before January 18, 2023 (the training release date) will have an extended training due date of March 18, 2023.

• Individuals associated with 2023-2024 Registrations submitted after January 18, 2023 (after the training release date) will have 60 days from the Registration submission date to complete the training.

• Following a Filer’s initial training completion, they will be required to take the training again (Refresher Training) every 3 years.

Notifications to Lobbyists and Clients listed on a 2023-2024 Statement of Registration submitted on or before January 18, 2023 (the release date of the new training) will go out the evening of January 18, 2023. Thereafter, notifications will go out nightly relating to Statements of Registrations submitted each day.

Notifications are triggered by the submission of a Statement of Registration. (NOTE: the system is designed to notify each person once based upon the earliest submission of a Registration listing the Lobbyist or Client.)

Principal Lobbyists that may create profiles on behalf of new Clients and Beneficial Clients that do not already have an Organization Profile established in the online Lobbying Application (‘LA’) must include a valid email address (preferably the email address of the Chief Administrative Officer, if known) when creating an orphan and/or placeholder profile for the purpose of submitting a Registration.

The Commission STRONGLY advises Principal Lobbyists to message their Clients (Contractual and Beneficial) that they need to actively verify their User and Organization Profiles to receive notifications regarding the training requirement to ensure timely compliance of the training mandate.

As best practice, to ensure timely compliance with the mandated training requirement, the Commission requests that Lobbyists:

1. Notify your Clients (Contractual and Beneficial) that they will be subject to the ethics training requirement and encourage Client Filers to actively verify their associated User and Organization Profiles to avoid late compliance;
2. Verify that the name and email addresses of all Individual Lobbyists or In-House Lobbyists listed in their Organization Profiles are correct to ensure these individuals will receive notification of how to comply with the training requirement.  Please note that if, while reviewing the accuracy of the names and email addresses of those Individual and In-house Lobbyists listed on your Organization Profile, you notice any duplicate names, contact the lobbying helpdesk at [email protected] for assistance; and
3. Verify that the CAO listed in the Lobbyists’ Organization Profile is still accurate given that the CAO is responsible for completing the mandatory ethics training for the Organization.

The ‘Ethical Standards for Lobbyists and Clients’ training was built using ‘responsive technology’ that allows users to view the online training utilizing a variety of devices such as a desktop computer, tablet or mobile device.  For best results, we recommend the training be viewed on a desktop computer with a screen resolution of at least 1009 x 669. Filers viewing the online training using a mobile device must hold their device in a landscape (horizontal position).

Depending on your device, Filers may navigate the training utilizing either the ‘back’ or ‘next’ arrows found on the bottom right hand-side of the training or may use the ‘Table of Contents’ located at the top right of the training course.