The Erie County Campaign Finance Reform Act

Legislator Patrick Burke introduced a local law: “The Erie County Campaign Finance Reform Act, Ending Pay to Play” to restore public trust in governmental institutions and to ensure that pay to play schemes, which have plagued state and local government, do not occur at the county level. Among the reforms would be to limit the amount any official or candidate for county office could accept from an individual or entity entering into a contract with the County of Erie in excess of $5000. The receivable limit introduced by Legislator Burke is $100, an amount which has precedence since the 90’s. While $100 may not sound like a lot, Burke explained “this is a small community and influence is relegated to a few people. So the money that those in power receive in campaign donations has to be transparent.” . Other reforms would include greater transparency for government contractors entering in these contracts exceeding $5000. These entities would be required through the agreement to disclose a list, dating back 3 years, of contributions made to all officials or candidates in our region. Burke stated that this will work to eliminated the contractor’s motivation to incentivize decision makers in government. Depending on the offense, violations of this local law are to be fined up to $500 or 4 times the amount illegally contributed, whichever is higher. While state limits make campaign finance reform legislation complicated at a county level, Legislator Burke has been wanting to address the issues since becoming an elected official and found that this is the time to put effective legislation forward because public trust in government is at an all time low.]]>