Ban campaign cash from contractors
Suffolk executive Steve Levy, left, and Suffolk Legislature President William Lindsay. Credit: Newsday / Jim Peppler
It seems that the Suffolk County Legislature is considering a bill to bar unions and businesses that do business with Suffolk County from making campaign contributions to county candidates ["A flurry of campaign-finance bills," News, May 10]. That would seem like a good thing, however the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that corporate contributions are political speech, which is protected by the U.S. Constitution.
A better solution is to bar any county elected official, or anyone running for county office, from accepting these contributions. Any county official may be required to vote or rule on contracts, contract conditions or work rules of these organizations, and doing so after accepting donations would be unethical. It therefore should be banned.
David Rothenberg, Stony Brook
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