What’s worse? That Gov. Andrew Cuomo has accepted millions of dollars in campaign contributions from people who win or seek contracts from New York state agencies — or that his practice is perfectly legal?

It may seem like a tough call, but we’ll go with the latter, since the same practice is considered acceptable by other elected New York state officials as well. It all needs to change.

The Times reported on Monday that since Mr. Cuomo became governor in 2011, he has accepted more than $3 million in campaign contributions from contractors and industry groups affiliated with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subways and buses and suburban rail lines. He has raised a total of $88 million in that time. Mass transit unions, which negotiate with the Cuomo administration over labor contracts, have also donated to the governor ’s campaigns .

One company, Haugland Group, held a fund-raiser for Mr. Cuomo in 201 8, generating roughly $200,000 only months after Haugland won a $23 million contract with the authority to clean clogged drains in the subway system.