A Bronx Assemblyman distributed free COVID-19 tests that came with a prohibited request for money.
Democrat Kenny Burgos slapped stickers with his face on them on the test kits available at his district office in Soundview. The stickers had a QR code which provided links to various websites including his campaign’s and one asking for campaign donations.
Under state civil service law, state offices may not be used for soliciting or collecting any political contributions, according to the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
The links asking for donations to Burgos’ campaign disappeared Friday after The Post asked about them. Steve Sanchez/Pacific Press via ZUMA“If there are materials being distributed at a district office that link to a campaign, that certainly is questionable,” said Rachael Fauss, senior research analyst for Reinvent Albany, a watchdog group.
Fauss added that the COVID-19 tests “are obviously paid for with public dollars. I don’t think the intent is for them to be distributed for campaign purposes whatsoever.”
The campaign links disappeared Friday after The Post asked about them.
The test kits were available at Burgos’ district office in Soundview in the Bronx. J.C. Rice for NY PostChristian Barbato, a spokesman for Burgos, said the links on the QR code “change regularly.”
“The inclusion of campaign-related links on the stickers were limited and an inadvertent error which has since been rectified,” Barbato said.
