The lawmaker-led charity behind an annual weekend of networking events that’s a must-attend for New Yok’s political elite will overhaul its bylaws and financial oversight as part of a settlement with state Attorney General Letitia James’ office.
The attorney general's office found the NYS Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislators — which organizes the well-attended “Caucus Weekend” event each year in Albany — went through a period of disarray from fiscal years 2015 to 2017, filing inaccurate disclosure forms with the state and failing to properly keep track of its expenses.
At the same time, the association took in contributions from corporate sponsors to help fund a college scholarship program, which is the centerpiece of its annual fundraising gala at an Albany hotel. But there was no written criteria for selecting scholarship winners, who instead were simply chosen by the organization’s members. In at least 2017 and 2018, the organization failed to pay out the scholarships on time, delaying them until 2019 and 2020, according to the settlement.
The deal, announced this week by James’ office, does not require the organization to pay any fines, but does require an overhaul of its bylaws, add independent members to its board and set formal rules for the scholarship program.
“All charitable organizations are required to comply with the same laws in our state,” James said in a statement. “Under this agreement and with new bylaws, [the association] will be able to continue its great contributions to New York.”
The organization is the charitable branch of an influential group of dozens of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian state lawmakers, which is known in Albany as “the Caucus.”
The charity’s main responsibility is organizing the annual Caucus Weekend, a series of workshops and conferences about any number of issues facing the state, New York City and people of color. It regularly attracts huge names in New York politics, such as New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Hillary Clinton when she was one of New York’s U.S. senators.
As part of that event, which draws thousands of participants — and an accompanying swarm of lobbyists — to the state facilities near the Capitol, the association holds its fundraising gala and an afterparty at an Albany hotel that generally features a musical headliner — including past headliners Busta Rhymes and Big Daddy Kane.
Caucus Weekend regularly attracts dozens of big-name sponsors — including companies like Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), McDonald’s and Amazon — as well as a grant from the New York City Council.
The attorney general’s investigation found the organization’s expenses — which ranged from $560,000 to $610,000 a year from 2015 to 2017 — outpaced its revenues of $500,000 to $560,000 a year during the period in question.
James’ office launched its investigation in 2019, shortly after a series of reports in the Times Union of Albany and the New York Post raised questions about the charity’s finances and scholarship program.
The settlement agreement acknowledges the organization’s financial oversight has improved since 2018, when a new set of lawmakers — led by Assemblymember Latrice Walker (D-Brooklyn) — took over leadership of its board.
In a statement, Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesperson for the association, said the settlement requests “minor bookkeeping changes,” and said “many of these matters were resolved years ago.”
“Specifically, the present [association] leadership inherited a poorly managed organization which required changes, and those changes were undertaken and completed,” he said, adding that the organization will continue to stay true to its mission of “promoting the common good” and saluting “the sacrifices of those who went before us.”
Sheinkopf also suggested James herself had a role in crafting the organization’s by-laws, saying she was its “attorney at the time of incorporation.”
The organization, however, was founded in 1985, when James was still in law school. James went on to work for a pair of assemblymembers in the 1990s and early 2000s who were part of the association but did not work directly for the organization, according to her office.
Sheinkopf declined to provide further detail to his claim.
