New York, NY (March 8, 2016) — PRSA, along with the PR Council and the Arthur W. Page Society, filed separate third-party affidavits with the New York State court to stay the enforcement of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) Advisory Opinion No. 16-01 that seeks to classify some public relations activities as lobbying. Four public relations agencies have filed a lawsuit regarding the same advisory. We are not a part of the lawsuit but our affidavits have been filed at the same time.

Because this issue is so important to the communication industry, our three trade associations have joined forces to help explain to the court the broad-reaching impact and perhaps unintended consequences that may affect all of our members. Our three groups have unique perspectives to provide to the court to explain our concerns about compliance and infringement on information exchange with the press.

PRSA Boston Press Contact: Joshua Milne, josh@joshuamilnepr.com, (617) 501-1620 for Mark McClennan, APR. Mark is the elected Chair of the 22,000 PRSA membership, is from PRSA Boston and a past president of this chapter. More on social: @prsaboston #JCOPE

To learn more about this subject, you can read PRSA’s full statement regarding the affidavit and earlier statement on the impact of this advisory opinion. 

Additionally, here are some recent articles related to the issue:

• PR Groups Outraged by Requirement to Register as Lobbyists (CyberAlert)
• EDITORIAL: New state ethics rule defies reason (Niagara Gazette)
• PRSA slams New York State lobbying rule changes (PRWeek)
• Industry Pushes Back on New York Proposal That PR Pros Register as Lobbyists (Advertising Age)