For Fourth Consecutive Year, Lobbying Spending Reaches New High o...

In line with its mission to increase accuracy and transparency in the reports filed by those who seek to influence government decision-making, the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) identified $23.47 million in lobbying compensation discrepancies in 2025 and resolved 92.4% of the discrepancies, Executive Director Sanford Berland announced as part of today’s release of the 2025 Annual Report. Final data shows spending to influence government decision-making rose slightly in 2025 to a record high of more than $384.8 million, up 0.69% from 2024, representing the fourth consecutive year of record lobbying spending. 

Other COELIG units also continued to respond to increased activity. Audit staff conducted 737 audits of lobbying registrations, disclosures, and reports, generating more than 1,300 findings and recommendations, affecting nearly half of audited filings. Investigations and Enforcement staff processed 198 matters in 2025, elevated 16 to formal investigations, and closed 126, including five settlements. In addition, more than 267,400 state officers and employees completed live or on-demand ethics training in 2025. 

“The people of New York are entitled to have a clear, accurate, and timely view of the efforts being made to influence government decision-making, and the Commission requires lobbying filings to be complete, accurate, and filed when due,” Executive Director Berland said. “Over the past four years, we have seen considerable growth in lobbying spending and activity. We have increased and adjusted staffing across the agency, tightened regulations, prioritized aggressive enforcement, and expanded outreach and training.  Our objective is to increase the thoroughness and effectiveness of our agency in every area of its operations, and we believe we are achieving that.”   

“Lobbying spending reached a new record level in 2025 led by spending on gaming and housing,” Chair Seymour W. James said. “With the increased lobbying spending, the agency’s efforts to ensure accuracy in lobbying reporting is more important now than ever. To that end, staff conducted hundreds of audits with thousands of findings and identified more than $24 million in discrepancies. The agency’s diligence resulted in amendments to hundreds of filings. COELIG continues to strive to foster public confidence in our state’s government.” 

Lobbying Compliance Efforts  

The record-breaking $384.8 million in lobbying spending reported for 2025 follows Commission staff’s reconciliation of discrepancies, totaling over $23.47 million, between the compensation reported in 2025 by clients and the amounts reported by their lobbyists. By working with lobbyists and clients, Commission staff succeeded in resolving 92.4% of filing disparities and errors, totaling $21.7 million, that were impeding the full and accurate disclosure of lobbying expenditure data.  

In addition, staff identified five unregistered lobbyists, with a total of $102,982 in unreported compensation and expenses, and 25 registered filers who failed to list itemized advertising or event expenses, for a total of $864,329 in unreported lobbying activity-related expenditures. 

Table: Top 10 Largest Discrepancies in 2025 Lobbyist and Client Reported Compensation

The Commission conducts a Random Audit Program that independently selects and objectively conducts audits of reports and registration statements filed by lobbyists and their clients. The random selection of audits is made by an outside consulting firm, and a second outside consulting firm certifies that the Commission’s random audit selection process complies with the requirements of the Lobbying Act. 

In 2025, audit staff conducted 737 audits of lobbying registrations, disclosures, and reports, generating 1,323 findings and recommendations affecting 342 lobbying filings, or 46.4% of audited filings. Staff issued findings and recommendations to improve filing and recordkeeping procedures and to require the filing of amended reports correcting discrepancies discovered in the audit process.  

Examples of corrected filings in 2025 include:

• $166,681 in unreported lobbying expenses at a fuel gas company. A reporting discrepancy of $166,681 was found between the itemized expenses reported on the July-December 2023 Client Semi-Annual Report ($0) and the amount supported by source documentation ($166,681). The cause of the discrepancy was the client’s failure to report itemized expenses for advertising and consulting fees paid for advocacy. 
   
• $100,336 in unreported lobbying expenses at a national fuel gas company. A reporting discrepancy of $100,336 was found between the itemized expenses reported on the July-December 2024 Client Semi-Annual Report ($0) and the amount supported by source documentation ($100,336). The reason for the discrepancy was that the client did not report itemized expenses as shown in the source documentation submitted for this audit. Specifically, the client had omitted consulting fees paid to a lobbying group for advocacy and advertising expenses. 
   
• $45,668 in unreported lobbying compensation at a not-for-profit civil rights organization. A reporting discrepancy of $45,668 was found between the amount of Source of Funding contributions reported to the Commission on the July-December 2023 Source of Funding Form ($0) and the amount supported by source documentation ($45,668). The reason for the discrepancy was that the client had not reported the contributions they had received.

Investigations and Enforcement Activities

Investigations staff processed 198 investigative matters, and the Commission closed 126 matters in 2025. Of the 126 matters closed, 15 were matters carried over from JCOPE. The Commission settled five matters and closed a case involving former state Senator Jeffrey Klein, voting not to issue a Substantial Basis Investigation Report but to issue and make public its closing letter. The settlements amounted to more than $20,300 in penalties and payments. 

In general, allegations covered a broad range of potential violations of the Public Officers Law, including conflicts of interest, misuse of state resources and authority, improper gifts, nepotism, post-employment restrictions, and other issues. In addition, some matters involved alleged violations of the Lobbying Act, including failure to register as a lobbyist and failure to submit required or accurate and complete filings, as well as the so-called “Little Hatch Act,” Section 107 of the Civil Service Law.

In 2025, COELIG elevated 16 matters to formal investigations and issued notices of allegation, also referred to as “15-day letters,” to the affected subjects. As of April 30, 2026, COELIG elevated an additional nine matters to formal investigations and issued 11 corresponding number of notices of allegation. These 15-day letters included those sent to current and former officials and employees of both the executive branch and the legislature. As of April 30, 2026, the Commission had 232 active cases and settled three additional matters in 2026. COELIG initially continued 154 pending matters carried over from JCOPE, including two matters that have proceeded to the due process hearing stage; 18 cases that carried over from JCOPE have since been closed or otherwise resolved.

To the extent permitted by law, information concerning the Commission’s enforcement actions is published on the Commission’s enforcement website as well as on its pressroom website.

Continuing Demand for Lobbying and Ethics Guidance

The Commission regularly provides advice, guidance, and assistance to state officers, employees, lobbyists, and clients concerning New York’s ethics and lobbying laws. In 2025,

Commission lobbying staff also made or responded to over 35,000 lobbying inquiries, a level that is moderately diminished from previous years which is likely due to increased training and other resources developed by the Commission. Lobbying filings also decreased in 2025 due to fewer amendments to lobbying filings being submitted in 2025.

Table: Lobbying Inquiries and Filings

Advice and Guidance staff provided ethics guidance in response to more than 1,400 requests on such topics as outside activities, post-state service employment, and conflicts of interest. The volume of inquiries represents a 7.7% increase from 2024 and a 72.48% increase from 2023. The most frequent inquiry topics included engaging in outside activities (31.3%) and post-employment restrictions (22.6%). Others included conflicts of interest (12.6%) and gifts (12.4%).

Financial Disclosure Statement Compliance

The Commission pursues compliance with the financial disclosure statement (FDS) requirement in the Public Officers Law and the Executive Law. COELIG issued approximately 7,000 confidential failure-to-file notices in 2025 to designated academic and non-academic threshold filers and policymakers who did not file their FDSs when due. With significant outreach efforts by Commission staff and the cooperation of individual agencies, compliance has been achieved for 97% of these late filers as of the date of this report. 

If an individual does not resolve a failure to file, the Commission publicly issues a notice of delinquency, which is published on the Commission’s website and sent to the individual’s appointing authority. If the filer still does not comply, the Commission may pursue an enforcement action against the individual, including civil penalties of up to $40,000.

Education and Training

In 2025, the Commission continued to build on its training foundation to support the 30-fold increase in the number of employees required to complete ethics training every year under the Ethics Commission Reform Act of 2022 (ECRA), by enhancing the suite of education and training resources available to state employees and agency ethics officers and trainers, and tracking trainings completed at the agency and individual levels.

More than 267,400 employees completed either live or on-demand ethics training in 2025. Of these, more than 210,700 employees attended live ethics training, and 56,600 completed on-demand ethics training. Over 20,000 employees completed and submitted training evaluations after attending a COELIG-led live Comprehensive Ethics Training Course (CETC); 86% indicated satisfaction in COELIG’s live ethics training.

Table: Total Number of Employees Who Received Comprehensive Ethics Training

The COELIG Training Team offers flexible, live training opportunities through both agency-specific training and open live sessions available to the entire state workforce. In 2025, there was a 23.4% increase in the number of CETC sessions hosted by COELIG over the prior year, from 128 in 2024 to 158 in 2025. In addition, over 7,200 live CETC sessions were delivered statewide by agency partners.

Final Data Confirms Another Record Year for Lobbying Spending 

Total lobbying spending in 2025 broke records for the fourth consecutive year, with more than $384.8 million spent, representing a 0.69% increase over the previous record of $382.1 million reported in 2024. The Commission released preliminary 2025 annual lobbying data in May.

Coalition for New York’s Future, Inc. was the highest spender in 2025, with $3.6 million spent, all in the form of expenses ($3.47 million on advertising and $132,000 in email advocacy). Gambling was a major focus in 2025, with Genting New York LLC and Queens Future, LLC among the highest 10 spenders at #2 and #3, respectively, up from #3 and #5 in 2024. 

To focus a timely spotlight on efforts to influence government decision-making, the Commission now releases clear and concise compilations of bi-monthly lobbying report data six times throughout the year and client semi-annual reports twice during the year, each time within weeks after the corresponding set of periodic reports is filed. The frequent release of lobbying data provides the public with a clearer understanding of how lobbying activity correlates with the work of state government and how it fluctuates over the course of the legislative session and the year, fluctuations that the yearly aggregate numbers in the annual report do not reflect. 

About the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government  

Established by the 2022 Ethics Commission Reform Act (ECRA) and made effective in July 2022, the Commission’s charge is to foster public trust in government by ensuring compliance with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws and regulations. It has jurisdiction over more than 330,000 officers and employees at state agencies and departments, including commissions, boards, state public benefit corporations, public authorities, SUNY, CUNY, and the statutory closely affiliated corporations; the four statewide elected officials and candidates for those offices; employees and members of the state Legislature and legislative candidates; and state and local lobbyists and their clients.      

The Commission administers, enforces, and interprets New York’s ethics and lobbying laws by providing information, education, and guidance regarding ethics and lobbying laws; promoting compliance through audits, investigations, and enforcement proceedings; issuing formal and informal advisory opinions; and promulgating regulations implementing the laws under its jurisdiction.     

The Commission promotes transparency by conducting its proceedings publicly to the fullest extent permitted by law and by making the financial and other disclosures filed by those subject to the Commission’s authority publicly available. These disclosures include, but are not limited to, annual financial disclosure statements filed by over 30,000 individuals, and millions of records contained in registrations and activity and expense reports filed by lobbyists and their clients.