After a protracted negotiation process and the adoption of more than a dozen budget extender bills, the New York State Legislature began passing the 2026-2027 Executive Budget on May 20, 2026. Included in the hundreds of pages of legislative policy changes that will be enacted as part of the budget are key provisions that will affect New York lobbyists and their clients.
1. Lobbyist Registration Fees to Increase by 250%
New York’s Legislative Law has long required that all individuals and entities, including lobbying firms and business organizations, that register with the state of New York as a lobbyist, do so on a biennial basis. For the last two decades, the state has required lobbyists to pay a $200 fee when filing a registration during the first year of the two-year cycle, or a $100 fee if initially registering exclusively for the second year of the cycle.
The agreed to version of the Public Protection and General Government Article VII (PPGG) bill (S.9005-C/A.10005-C) amends the Legislative Law to increase the registration fee to $250 per year, regardless of whether the lobbyist filed the registration in the first or second year of the biennial cycle. This increased fee applies to all lobbyist registrations completed on or after April 1, 2026, other than for those lobbyists who are exempt from registration fees due to not meeting the expenditure or compensation threshold, and public corporations. Given that the state budget was enacted weeks after the April 1 start of the new fiscal year, it is not immediately clear when the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) will start imposing the increased registration fee. It may only apply for registrations filed after May 21, 2026, and potentially without retroactive application, despite the statutory start date of the new fiscal year.
2. Training Timing and Penalty Requirements
The agreed-to PPGG bill also includes a requirement that COELIG amend its regulations regarding lobbying ethics training enforcement. As of late May, COELIG is empowered to clarify the deadlines for lobbyists and clients of lobbyists to take a lobbying ethics course and to impose late penalties for non-completion. Beginning with the 2027/2028 biennial registration cycle, all lobbyists and clients are required to complete COELIG’s ethics training course once per biennial cycle, and at least once every two years thereafter, as long as the individual continues to be listed on a statement of registration. This is in contrast to the historical three-year training cycle. Lobbyists and clients who fail to timely complete the training may be subject to a late fee of up to $25 per day.
3. Procurement Lobbying
New York laws regarding the regulation of procurement lobbying activity, which have been in effect for more than two decades and have been continuously extended, are currently scheduled to expire on July 31, 2026. The governor initially proposed extending the law through July 31, 2031, and increasing the threshold from applying to articles of procurement valued greater than $15,000 to $50,000. The agreed-to PPGG bill, however, only extends the procurement lobbying law through July 31, 2028, and makes no alteration to the threshold amount.
The agreed to 2026-2027 New York State Budget includes introduces notable changes for lobbyists and their clients. The 250% increase in registration fees, the shift to a biennial ethics training cycle with potential daily late penalties, and the two-year extension of the procurement lobbying law each carry practical compliance implications. Lobbyists and their clients should monitor guidance from COELIG regarding the effective date of the new registration fee structure and plan to meet the updated training deadlines beginning with the 2027/2028 cycle, accordingly.
