Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D-Round Lake) announced the Assembly passed legislation she sponsored that would increase accountability and transparency by making limited liability corporations (LLCs) subject to the same limits on political donations as other corporations (A.6975-B).

“Special interests have for too long wielded tremendous power in Albany, blocking meaningful reforms that would help create jobs and lower taxes,” said Assemblywoman Woerner. “Closing the LLC loophole is an important step in reducing the corrupting influence of special interests so we can move forward with policies that will help middle-class families and improve our region’s business climate.”

Current state election law does not adequately address political contributions that an LLC may make to candidates, parties or political committees. In 1996, the State Board of Elections issued an opinion that stated that LLCs should be subject to the same aggregate campaign finance limit as individuals, rather than the lower limits applied to corporations. This allowed LLCs to give a maximum of $150,000 per year to state candidates.

Assemblywoman Woerner noted that in instances where one person or corporation owns multiple LLCs, contribution limits were easily circumvented. This so-called “LLC loophole” has allowed LLCs to give millions in campaign contributions to individual candidates or committees. By closing this loophole, LLCs will now be treated like other corporations and be subject to the same $5,000 aggregate contribution limit.