Push for Anti-"Citizens United" Bill

A proposal (SB 101) from Democratic Senator Dan Squadron that would weaken the broad authority of the Citizen United Supreme Court case is being pushed for committee consideration.
Squadron's bill would require that a company's shareholders be involved in any decision's about political activity, which theoretically would make it harder for a company to become politically active.
The senator has previously brought this bill forth, and argued that it would provide greater transparency in the political process. In that incarnation the bill died in the Senate Finance Committee. Now, with a Republican controlled chamber, the proposal has even less of a chance, which explains why he had to formally request committee consideration.
Here is the Main Language from the bill's memo:

sections 2 through 11 requires that corporations formed under the business corporation law, the cooperative corporation law, the not-for-profit law, the railroad law, the transportation corporations law, the banking law, and the limited liability company law, professional service corporations as well as foreign corporations, and foreign professional service corporations authorized to do business in New York, (1) at least annually obtain prior authorization of a majority of shares voting before making any corporate political donations in New York, up to a total annual aggregate amount approved by the shareholders, and (2) disclose to its shareholders and file with the secretary of state an accounting of all such corporate donations, including the identity of the candidates, committees and initiatives funded and the business rational for such contributions. Sections 2 through 11 also provide the attorney general with the authority to enforce the provisions of each section.

Senate Bill would "Chill" Freedom Of Information

On Monday the Senate is scheduled to address a proposal (SB 2168) from Republican Sen. Martin Golden that some critics in the chamber believe will have negatively impact the freedom of information in New YOrk.
The bill would make the use of public records, secured through FOIL requests, for committing a crime a Class E felony.
Without citing any specific incidents or evidence, the bill's memo argues that FOIL requests are being abused "by convicts and others with questionable and/or harmful motives," who are using the data they obtain to commit crimes like identity theft.
The Republicans in the Senate are hoping to deter this law will have a damper on these crimes, but Democratic Sen. Dan Squadron suggested it could just scare away legitimate FOIL requests.
In March 8 Senate Codes Committee meeting, Squadron argued that ambiguities in the bill would deter people from putting in FOIL requests on the basis that their information might be used illegally by someone else. He laid out a scenario where an overzealous prosecutor might use this law to go after a media outlet with coverage he didn't like.
Shortly after Squadron described his problems with the ambiguity of the bill, he turned his focus on the intent portion of the bill, which he said would be too specific for prosecutors to get a conviction. Both arguments were rejected by Committee staff, who contended that his scenarios weren't credible.
Squadron and Sen. Bill Perkins voted without recommendation. Senators Parker and Duane voted in the negative. This bill regularly passes the Senate, but hasn't been introduced in the Assembly this session.

Ball Blasts NY Dream Act

In response to a proposal in the state legislature that would resurrect most of the provisions of the failed federal Dream Act, Republican Senator Greg Ball has characterized it as a major victory for terrorists.
Ball, who is Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, issued a statement on Thursday where he laid out the alleged security risks of the bill (SB 4179), which he labled as “a national security nightmare that should formally be renamed the ‘Terrorist Empowerment Act’.”
He argues that some requirements placed on DMV employees as the result of this bill would make it necessary for them to become experts at verifying every national identity card or voter card in the world.
Seizing on the driver's license portion of the proposal, which was a major controversy for former Gov. Elliot Spitzer, Ball said it would provide illegal identity documents to potential terrorists. "This is not about immigration; this is about security," he said.
Ball explained how the 19 terrorists responsible for 9/11 used over 300 fake IDs that were made with driver’s licenses and other documents.
In his statement, Ball did not address issues of financial aid, employment opportunities and health insurance coverage that are offered as incentives in the bill. Additionally, on Capital Tonight, Democratic Senator Dan Squadron laughed off Ball's rhetoric about the bill. All of this is probably a moot point, though, because the Dream Act will go nowhere in the Republican controlled Senate.