On March 11, 2013, Schneiderman, together with 12 other state attorneys general, sent a letter to Congress in support of the Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act, a bill that sought to ban for-profit colleges from using federal funds for marketing and recruiting techniques. Senators Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chaired the chamber's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, sponsored the bill. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) stated that the proposed law aimed to “ensure that scarce federal education dollars will be used to serve and educate students rather than to finance advertising campaigns, recruitment operations, and aggressive marketing.”

In the letter, the attorneys general wrote, “Federal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for aggressive recruiting and deceptive sales tactics of colleges that have placed profits ahead of ensuring student success.” At the time, there were an estimated 3,000 for-profit schools nationwide, though neither the letter nor the bill cited the name of any specific institutions.

On March 12, 2013, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, but no subsequent action was taken and the bill died in committee. On April 23, 2013, a related bill—HR 340—was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce's subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, but it also died in committee.

In June 2012, Schneiderman announced the New York Attorney General's office had finalized a $410 million civil settlement with hedge-fund manager J. Ezra Merkin, whose collaboration with Bernard Madoff in his perpetration of one of history's most devastating Ponzi schemes led to almost $2 billion in losses for New York investors and charitable organizations. Schneiderman called the settlement, which stood to reimburse up to 40 percent of losses for eligible investors, "a victory for justice and accountability.” According to the attorney general, Merkin falsified quarterly reports and other financial documents in order to deceive hundreds of investors into believing their money was safe in his control. In actuality, Merkin was rerouting clients' fortunes to Madoff, working primarily as his "middleman and marketer," and making hundreds of millions of dollars in management and incentive fees in the process. Two years prior to the settlement, the New York attorney general's office first brought charges against Merkin for violations of the Martin Act, "General Business Law § 352; and Executive Law § 63(12)," for concealing Madoff’s control of the Merkin Funds and for breaches of his fiduciary duty to manage the funds prudently." The lawsuit sought damages, disgorgement of all fees by Merkin and injunctive relief.

Settlement negotiations concluded on Friday, June 22, 2012, with Merkin agreeing to pay $405 million over three years to compensate his investors and an additional $5 million to the New York for general expenses incurred as a result of the investigation.

During his 2010 campaign, Schneiderman promised to review the New York Police Department's controversial Stop And Frisk program for fairness. He announced in April 2012 that a "working group" within his office was analyzing data from the program to determine if further investigation was necessary. While numerous lawsuits have been brought against the policy, Schneiderman has not been involved.

New York State Senate (1998-2010)

Senator Schneiderman served on the following legislative committees during his tenure:

• Children and Families (Member)
• Codes (Chair)
• Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks, and Recreation (Member)
• Energy and Telecommunications (Member)
• Environmental Conservation (Member)
• Higher Education (Member)
• Judiciary (Member)

Hit-and-Run allegation

On Tuesday, July 13, 2010, Schneiderman was accused of being involved in a hit-and-run car accident located in Manhattan. The Democratic state Sen. "was in a car driven by a staff member (Rachel Kagan, niece of United States Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan) when it hit a parked car Monday night and drove away," but not before an eyewitness recorded the license plate number of the vehicle. The automobile, owned by an executive editor for NY1, a twenty-four hour cable-news television channel focusing on the five boroughs of New York City, sustained about $3,000 worth of damage in the fender bender. A spokesman for the state senator called the allegation of a hit-and-ran "outrageous" and said that Schneiderman "expressed his sincere apology, and offered to pay for all repairs."

Truancy

Despite having a perfect attendance record in 2009, Schneiderman finished the next year's session with the second worst record in the state senate after missing six out of the eighty days the upper house was convened. His absence had a direct effect on at least two pieces of legislation. The first was on May 28 when his late arrival, "delayed action on a measure needed to restore funding to state parks slated for closure," while the other on June 18 contributed to, "the delay of a key budget vote."

On Monday, April 12th, 2010, Schneiderman announced his candidacy for the statewide office of attorney general, the seat vacated by Democratic incumbent Andrew Cuomo, who, rather then seek re-election, chose to run for the state's governorship. Five months later, Schneiderman fought off four other contenders to secure the party nomination and received slightly over thirty-four percent of the vote. Schneiderman would go on to win the office in the general election on Tuesday, November 2 against Republican State Island District Attorney Dan Donovan. As Attorney General of New York, Schneiderman was the state's highest ranking law enforcement officer and was responsible for representing New York and its citizens in legal matters. One of his first acts upon taking office was to launch the "Taxpayer Protection Bureau" to uncover fraud and return money stolen from taxpayers.

Schneiderman resigned effective on May 8, 2018, amid allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse. To read more, .

Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act

On March 11, 2013, Schneiderman, together with 12 other state attorneys general, sent a letter to Congress in support of the Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act, a bill that sought to ban for-profit colleges from using federal funds for marketing and recruiting techniques. Senators Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chaired the chamber's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, sponsored the bill. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) stated that the proposed law aimed to “ensure that scarce federal education dollars will be used to serve and educate students rather than to finance advertising campaigns, recruitment operations, and aggressive marketing.”

In the letter, the attorneys general wrote, “Federal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for aggressive recruiting and deceptive sales tactics of colleges that have placed profits ahead of ensuring student success.” At the time, there were an estimated 3,000 for-profit schools nationwide, though neither the letter nor the bill cited the name of any specific institutions.

On March 12, 2013, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, but no subsequent action was taken and the bill died in committee. On April 23, 2013, a related bill—HR 340—was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce's subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, but it also died in committee.

Ponzi scheme settlement

In June 2012, Schneiderman announced the New York Attorney General's office had finalized a $410 million civil settlement with hedge-fund manager J. Ezra Merkin, whose collaboration with Bernard Madoff in his perpetration of one of history's most devastating Ponzi schemes led to almost $2 billion in losses for New York investors and charitable organizations. Schneiderman called the settlement, which stood to reimburse up to 40 percent of losses for eligible investors, "a victory for justice and accountability.” According to the attorney general, Merkin falsified quarterly reports and other financial documents in order to deceive hundreds of investors into believing their money was safe in his control. In actuality, Merkin was rerouting clients' fortunes to Madoff, working primarily as his "middleman and marketer," and making hundreds of millions of dollars in management and incentive fees in the process. Two years prior to the settlement, the New York attorney general's office first brought charges against Merkin for violations of the Martin Act, "General Business Law § 352; and Executive Law § 63(12)," for concealing Madoff’s control of the Merkin Funds and for breaches of his fiduciary duty to manage the funds prudently." The lawsuit sought damages, disgorgement of all fees by Merkin and injunctive relief.

Settlement negotiations concluded on Friday, June 22, 2012, with Merkin agreeing to pay $405 million over three years to compensate his investors and an additional $5 million to the New York for general expenses incurred as a result of the investigation.

Stop and Frisk

During his 2010 campaign, Schneiderman promised to review the New York Police Department's controversial Stop And Frisk program for fairness. He announced in April 2012 that a "working group" within his office was analyzing data from the program to determine if further investigation was necessary. While numerous lawsuits have been brought against the policy, Schneiderman has not been involved.

Committee assignments

Senator Schneiderman served on the following legislative committees during his tenure:

• Children and Families (Member)
• Codes (Chair)
• Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks, and Recreation (Member)
• Energy and Telecommunications (Member)
• Environmental Conservation (Member)
• Higher Education (Member)
• Judiciary (Member)

Noteworthy events

Hit-and-Run allegation

On Tuesday, July 13, 2010, Schneiderman was accused of being involved in a hit-and-run car accident located in Manhattan. The Democratic state Sen. "was in a car driven by a staff member (Rachel Kagan, niece of United States Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan) when it hit a parked car Monday night and drove away," but not before an eyewitness recorded the license plate number of the vehicle. The automobile, owned by an executive editor for NY1, a twenty-four hour cable-news television channel focusing on the five boroughs of New York City, sustained about $3,000 worth of damage in the fender bender. A spokesman for the state senator called the allegation of a hit-and-ran "outrageous" and said that Schneiderman "expressed his sincere apology, and offered to pay for all repairs."

Truancy

Despite having a perfect attendance record in 2009, Schneiderman finished the next year's session with the second worst record in the state senate after missing six out of the eighty days the upper house was convened. His absence had a direct effect on at least two pieces of legislation. The first was on May 28 when his late arrival, "delayed action on a measure needed to restore funding to state parks slated for closure," while the other on June 18 contributed to, "the delay of a key budget vote."