Albany

Former Senate GOP Majority Leader Joe Bruno is closing out his campaign and legal defense funds, donating the bulk of the $1.5 million that is left to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee.

"There comes a time when you have to move on. I've decided to do just that with regard to my campaign accounts," Bruno, 86, said in a prepared statement.

Of the funds, $1.4 million will go to the SRCC and $100,000 will go for scholarships at Tech Valley High School, an institution Bruno supported during his leadership. The scholarships will benefit students at Tech Valley who want college credits.

Any excess will go to a number of local charities, according to the announcement, which came by email from John McArdle, one of Bruno's longtime political strategists and advisers.

Bruno had three funds: the Committee to Re-Elect Senator Bruno, the Joseph L. Bruno Legal Defense Fund, and the recently created entity Creating NY Jobs.

Senate Democrats jumped on news that funds, including the legal defense account, would go to help Bruno's fellow Republicans,

That's because Bruno's campaign and defense accounts were eventually reimbursed by the state for the more than $2.2 million that was spent in his defense on corruption charges.

Those reimbursements were legal according to state law that calls for reasonable legal costs to be paid when a public official is acquitted of charges related to his office, but Democrats have proposed bills to change that.

"It is not surprising that the Republican conference that brought us Dean Skelos and Tom Libous would accept this money from Joe Bruno," Senate Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy said in a prepared statement. Libous, the chamber's former deputy majority leader, lost his seat in July after he was found guilty of lying to federal investigators; Skelos, Bruno's successor as GOP leader, was arrested on corruption charges in May and is headed for trial in the coming months.

"This million-dollar payoff is a glaring example of the desperate need to reform New York state election law," Murphy said.

Lawmakers in both the Democratic and Republican parties over the years have tapped their accounts to pay for legal costs when charged with wrongdoing.

Bruno in 2009 was convicted of concealing payments from businesspeople and others with issues before the state.

But a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned parts of the honest-services statute Bruno had been charged under, a decision that erased his conviction.

Federal prosecutors tried him again under a different set of laws, and he was acquitted.

As the longtime 43rd District senator and GOP majority leader, Bruno was among the most prominent Capitol Region politicians for years.

The $1.4 million going to the SRCC will significantly boost its account: The fund was at just under $1.2 million as of September, when the organization filed its most recent report with the state Board of Elections.

Bruno, in announcing the money shift, said he believes it's important to retain a partisan balance of power in the state. Republicans control the Senate by a slim majority, while the Assembly is overwhelmingly Democratic. Democrats control all statewide elective offices.

"As Republican leader it was my job to return Republicans to the majority every two years to assure there was balance in a government dominated by Democrats," Bruno said in Friday's statement.

"I strongly believe that preserving that balance and maintaining a Republican majority is more important than ever. That, unfortunately will take a significant financial effort," he said.

Current Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan said the conference was "extremely grateful.''

Good-government advocates said they remain troubled that taxpayer dollars were used for legal defense costs, for not just Bruno but other politicians accused of wrongdoing.

"This is becoming a runaway train,'' remarked Prudence Katze, research and policy manager at Common Cause.

rkarlin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5758 • @RickKarlinTU • Chris Bragg contributed