Beginning its first full biennial period in 2023, the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (“CELG”) will require all registered lobbyists, including principal lobbyists, individual lobbyists, and in-house lobbyists, to complete a new online “Ethics for Lobbyists and Clients” course per the Ethics Commission Reform Act of 2022. CELG, in a departure from the former Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) requirement, has mandated that all clients of a lobbyist will also be required to complete the training. The registered Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is responsible for taking the training on behalf of the client organizations.

This new “Ethics for Lobbyists and Clients” training initiative is expected to launch Wednesday, January 18, 2023 and must be completed by March 18, 2023, or within 60 days for any organization registration filed after January 18. Training notifications will be sent to those organizations and individuals required to complete training when the course has launched. Once training has been completed, all lobbyists and CAOs will be required to certify, attest, and record their training completion date in CELG’s online Lobbying Application.

If you have questions on the rules involving this training requirement for lobbyists, please contact Joan P. Sullivan (jsullivan@lippes.com, 518.462.0110 x1461), Christian R. Flemming (cflemming@lippes.com, 202.888.7610 ext. 1621) or any member of our Government & State Attorneys General Investigations Practice Team.