Public Ethics, Joint Commission on
skip breadcrumbsAgency Web Site: http://www.jcope.ny.gov
Mission
The mission of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) is to promote public trust in government by ensuring compliance with the State's ethics and lobbying laws. Established in 2011 by the Public Integrity Reform Act, JCOPE assumed and continued the business of the Commission on Public Integrity in addition to being granted broader regulatory and oversight authority to include responsibility for legislative employees, as well as executive branch employees and elected officials.
JCOPE provides information, education and guidance regarding current ethics and lobbying laws, and ensures compliance with these laws through audits, investigations and enforcement proceedings. JCOPE has jurisdiction over 250,000 Executive and Legislative officials and employees, who file approximately 27,000 financial disclosure statements annually, as well as approximately 6,300 lobbyists and their 4,300 clients who reported spending $210 million for their lobbying efforts during 2013. The Commission also makes available to the public required disclosures filed by those under its jurisdiction.
Budget Highlights
The Executive Budget recommends $4.4 million and a workforce of 45 FTEs for JCOPE, both of which are unchanged from the 2014-2015 budget.
| Category | Available 2014-15 |
Appropriations Recommended 2015-16 |
Change From 2014-15 |
Reappropriations Recommended 2015-16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Operations | 4,382,000 | 4,382,000 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 4,382,000 | 4,382,000 | 0 | 0 |
| Program | 2014-15 Estimated FTEs 03/31/15 |
2015-16 Estimated FTEs 03/31/16 |
FTE Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Ethics | |||
| General Fund | 45 | 45 | 0 |
| Total | 45 | 45 | 0 |
Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/21/2015