May 2, 2017
It’s not unusual for a special interest group to have influence over state legislation. It’s lessen common for entire paragraphs to be taken directly from an interest group’s memo in support of its cause. That’s what happened in the case of a new bill introduced by Brooklyn Assemblyman Joe Lentol. The bill is backed by Airbnb, the prominent home-rental company, which Lentol’s office acknowledges played a role in drafting and crafting it. A 2016 memo by Airbnb pushing its cause contained 95 words that have only been slightly altered in a 96-word section of the “justification memo” that’s part of Lentol’s new bill…