Onondaga County legislators on Tuesday unanimously passed a law requiring more reporting from the county leadership to the legislature when the county accepts gifts of more than $10,000 from some county foundations.
The new law comes after the April revelation that the vast majority of the money donated from Friends of the Aquarium to the county’s aquarium project came from the sale of the CNY Film Hub. Legislators had previously pressed the county to give more details about the identities of donors to the Friends organization.
The law addressed the county’s “Friends” organizations, foundations that provide financial support to various county entities, such as the zoo and Beaver Lake Park.
County Executive Ryan McMahon intends to sign the legislation into law, he said in a Tuesday morning statement. In the statement, McMahon called the legislation a “commonsense update.” After the legislation was first proposed, McMahon said he could veto the legislation.
If he vetoes the proposal, the legislature will need a supermajority — 12 votes — to pass it. The legislature’s 10 Democratic legislators would then need two Republican legislators to join them to override the county executive.
In April, board members from a second Friends organization, Friends of the Zoo, accused county officials of retaliation after they refused to give $1 million to the aquarium project.
The Friends group and the county came to the table and signed an agreement shortly after the group spoke to the legislature.
The Republican-controlled county legislature in 2025 passed a law allowing the county to accept gifts from Friends of the Aquarium without legislature approval. Under that law, the legislature had to approve gifts to the county of more than $1,500, but did not have the right to know the names of donors.
The new law, which would apply to all Friends organizations, would change this. Donors who give more than $10,000 would have their names, the date of the gift and gift amounts shared with the chair of the legislature, the floor leaders and relevant committee chairs. The information would not be publicly available.
The county has previously said that because of a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, nonprofits have a First Amendment right to keep their donors private.
This is breaking news and will be updated with more information.
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