SPRINGPORT – Republican Assemblyman Gary Finch (R-126th Assembly District) is making an expanded ethics agenda a priority during the final weeks of the legislative session.
Finch says he’s working with other Republicans in the Assembly to draft legislation that will reform the state’s bidding process for private sector contractors and vendors, and redue the highest allowable donations to state and county campaign committees.
Ethics reform has been an issue of concern in the state legislature since the 2015 indictments of ex-Senate Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver – two of New York State’s highest profile Democrats.
“For years now, taking pensions from corrupt politicians and imposing term limits on legislative leaders and committee chairs have been our focus when it comes to public ethics reform,” Finch said. “Those items are still critical, but these ongoing investigations are showing us that there is even more work to do than we thought when it comes to cleaning up Albany and restoring the public trust.”
Politico, New York reported on Monday that lobbyists who worked on the governor’s re-election effort steered donations to the campaign from vendors and contractors who had business before the state and were awarded lucrative contracts.
Finch called the maneuver “bid-rigging.”
“It’s wrong,” he said. “Taxpayers need to know that the contractors who are being paid with their money are selected because they are the best firm for the job, not because the contractor’s lobbyist has free rein with their checkbook.”
Finch’s proposal would ban entities that are seeking state contracts from donating to political campaigns after they have submitted bids.
The proposal would also decrease the maximum allowable donation to state and county campaign committees from $10,000 to $100,000.
Finch says that decreasing the top allowable contributions to these committees will give in-district voters a greater say in the process and de-incentivize outside political forces.