Levy revisiting campaign finance initiative

Saying he wants to give legislators another chance to enact a local campaign finance law, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said Saturday he plans to offer such a measure, although a similar bill he backed died in the county legislature in 2007.

The proposal by Levy, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor this year, would create a campaign fund by imposing a surcharge on county contractors. Candidates, limited to the two major statewide political parties, who opt into the system would be barred from accepting donations directly from county contractors or "interested parties," such as unions representing government workers.

Members of the Suffolk Legislature were planning to announce their campaign finance proposals Tuesday, and some suspected Levy's announcement was an attempt to get a jump on them.

"He's doing that because Jay Schneiderman and I are introducing a bill this week," Legis. Edward Romaine (R-Center Moriches) said Saturday. Schneiderman is an Independence Party legislator from Montauk.

Romaine said their bill would set a limit, perhaps $200, on the amount that could be contributed by a vendor who does more than $10,000 in county work.

"It doesn't cost taxpayers anything," he said, adding he thought the county legislature had the power to implement the change on its own, but would seek state legislation if need be.

Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) said he would be "happy to take a look" at Levy's proposal, adding "Obviously, the system needs reform."

Levy's parallels New York City's 12-year-old voluntary public financing law. But instead of money from taxpayers, his plan imposes a sliding-scale fee on county contractors. A contractor earning $10,000 to $50,000 from the county would pay $100 into the fund. Those getting more than $1 million from the county would pay $5,000.

Levy's similar bill in 2006 stalled. "They had the opportunity to reform the system and they didn't," Levy said of his earlier bid. "Now they have that opportunity again."