Despite New Ban, Golden Spent Campaign Funds On Country Club Dues

Governor Andrew Cuomo added new limitations to how legislators can use campaign funds in this year’s budget, but some Republican lawmakers, including Senator Marty Golden, have apparently chosen to ignore them.

Specifically, pols are now prohibited from using campaign nest eggs to pay for memberships at country clubs, health clubs, or recreational facilities — particularly Albany’s Fort Orange and University clubs, according the Albany Times Union.

Politicians were always prohibited from using money raised during a campaign for personal use, but in the past, exceptions were made for country clubs or recreational facilities if pols could show that the memberships were used for specific events or activities that supported their duties in public office, reports Capital New York.

But two senators — former Senate majority leader Dean Skelos and Golden — appear to have flouted the new rule by making payments to Fort Orange with campaign cash.

In a bizarre twist, Golden spokesman John Quaglione told a Capital reporter that there was an “agreement” with Cuomo’s office, and that such use was permitted:

And State Senator Martin Golden paid $202 in monthly dues to the club on April 3—two days after the budget passed, though nine before it was officially signed—and the same amount on May 8.

“There has been an agreement between the Legislature and the governor that they can maintain paying club memberships if it is for strictly business purposes,” said John Quaglione, a spokesman for Golden. “Marty does a good portion of his business there.”

The governor’s office denied that explanation.

“False. There was no such agreement,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi. “The law is crystal clear on this point.”

When pressed, Quaglione conceded that “agreement is not the right word” and referred the reporter to Senate Republican’s staff, who pointed to a subsection of the budget’s “personal use” rules which state that nothing “shall prohibit an elected public official from using campaign contributions to facilitate, support, or otherwise assist in the execution or performance of the duties of his or her public office.”

This is not the first time that the senator, whose district covers large swaths of Southern Brooklyn from Bay Ridge to Marine Park, was scrutinized for his use of campaign funds. Federal investigators started probing Golden’s campaign finances last fall, with some speculating that the investigation was related to his steering $541,599 to the Bay Ridge Manor, a catering hall he once owned and is now owned by his brother.

In December, Golden was criticized for using $31,000 of his campaign money to fend off a federal investigation into his finances — a practice which is technically legal, but some believe should not be.