Report: JCOPE Preparing Online Ethics Course for Registered Lobbyists

In today’s Albany Times Union, Rick Karlin reports that the staff of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) is working on putting in place the online ethics training program for registered lobbyist that is required under the 2011 law that created JCOPE.

As part of the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011, Legislative Law § 1-d was amended to require online ethics training for lobbyists. That language directs JCOPE to:

   (h) provide an online ethics training course for individuals registered as lobbyists pursuant to section one-e of this article. 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 this article shall complete such training course at least once in any three-year period during which he or she is registered as a lobbyist.