Albany’s pay-to-play ‘Frankenstein’ lives

Albany’s notorious pay-to-play culture is alive and well, despite corruption indictments and convictions that have rocked both houses of the Legislature and Gov. Cuomo’s office.

At least 20 legislative campaign fund-raisers are already scheduled just blocks from the state Capitol building in the coming weeks, with dozens more being planned. And that’s just two months after incumbents were re-elected.

The lawmakers are fattening their campaign wallets by discussing government business with lobbyists and donors during the day and then schmoozing with them at night — for a campaign check.

That’s pay to play, government watchdog groups say.

Dick Dadey of Citizens Union called the fund-raisers “outrageous,’’ saying they prove that “the pay-to-play culture is alive and well in Albany — even in the face of significant corruption.

“It’s a beast that feeds on itself, a disease that keeps getting worse,” he said.

A disgusted Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group added of Albany, “It’s like what Willie Sutton said about robbing banks — you go where the money is.’’

The fund-raisers include a $1,000-per-person bash for Deputy GOP state Senate Majority Leader John De Francisco of Syracuse.

Majority Leader John Flanagan of Long Island, whose name is being floated to run for governor in 2018, has already held a $1,000-perhead fund-raiser, even though he has $643,000 in his campaign kitty.

“It wasn’t like this when I started lobbying in the 1980s,’’ Horner noted.

“It’s turned into a Frankenstein of special-interest fund-raising.”

Given New York state’s high donation limits, the same donors will get hit up for more checks throughout the two-year election cycle.

For state Senate races, donors can give a maximum of $7,000 for party primaries and $11,000 for the general election.

For the Assembly, donors can give up to $4,440 for primary and general-election contests alike.

Dadey said the pay-to-play culture is one of the reasons onethird of incumbents ran unopposed in last fall’s elections and only three out of 199 incumbents were defeated.

Lawmakers defended the Albany fund-raisers as essential.

“It takes money to run political campaigns and stay in the majority where we continue to deliver results for the people of New York,” said Flanagan spokesman Scott Reif. “Campaign contributions have no effect whatsoever on public policy.”

State Sen. George Latimer of Westchester insisted, “In my world, there’s never pay-to-play. I pass votes based on my belief system.”

But the watchdogs said New York should do what about half of the states already do and restrict or ban contributions from lobbyists and corporations — particularly during the legislative session.