Cuomo defends ethics panel decision on retroactivity

Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to defend a decision by a state ethics board to keep secret the names of donors to a lobbying group that is a key ally of the governor. 

Cuomo, speaking at an appearance in Batavia, says he supports the ethics board’s decision to only require that lobbying entities report donors going forward, not retroactively, as some reformers had called for.

The decision by the board, which was created by Cuomo and the legislature, means the pro-business Committee to Save New York, which helps promote the governor’s agenda through millions of dollars in TV ads, will not have to make public the names of their contributors.  

The governor says it’s not fair to change the rules in the middle.

“To do that retroactively, we frown upon as a state and as a nation,” Cuomo said. “And I understand that.”

The governor says there’s a positive aspect to the new rules. New York will be the first state in the nation to require donor disclosure from not-for-profit lobbying entities like the Committee to Save New York, in the future.