New York will create a database that will identify the names of owners of many limited liability companies within the state for the first time. But the public won’t be able to access it, thanks to a legislative amendment secured by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office.
The Democratic governor signed 42 bills late Friday and vetoed another 43, part of an end-of-year push to clear her desk of legislation approved by state lawmakers earlier this year.
Among the bills she signed was the LLC Transparency Act, a measure that will force limited liability companies to list their “beneficial owners” when they create a new company or change the structure of a current one. The bill’s sponsors pushed the measure as a way for New York residents to, for example, find out who their true landlord is if their building is owned by an otherwise nameless LLC.
But Hochul negotiated an amendment to the bill that will keep that database from the public. Instead, she said, that information will only be maintained for law-enforcement purposes, such as if a district attorney needs to access it for an investigation.
“The bill as drafted was overly broad, and required changes to ensure it serves the core purpose of exposing unlawful activity while balancing personal privacy,” Hochul wrote in a memo.
Among the other bills Hochul acted on late Friday:
- Hochul vetoed a bill that would have effectively banned noncompete agreements, which employers use to prevent their employees from going to work for a competitor for a period of time after their employment.
- She also vetoed a bill that would have required New York City to install recycling bins at every park, playground and historical site in the five boroughs, arguing it would have placed an unfunded mandate on the city.
- She approved a bill that will move many county- and town-level elections to even-numbered years, much to the chagrin of Republicans.
Major business interests, including Wall Street firms and the state Business Council, lobbied…
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