{news} WTNH's News story -Lawsuits target Cam. Fin Law (GP mentioned)

[Green Party-CT]

                                  Lawsuits target campaign finance law
  (Hartford-WTNH, Feb. 17, 2006 6:15 PM) _ Connecticut's groundbreaking campaign finance law could come crashing down before it even goes into effect. At least two potential lawsuits could torpedo parts or all of the law. 
    
   by Chief Political Correspondent Mark Davis 
  Several clean government groups who worked to get this bill passed late last year are now scrambling to submit a revised version to address several flaws in the law.
  Back in December when Gov. Jodi Rell signed the campaign finance bill into law it was hailed as a major breakthrough for clean elections in the aftermath of the Rowland scandal.
   
  But the Association of Lobbyists at the state capitol is planning a lawsuit claiming that the provision of the law that forbids them from making any campaign contributions could be a violation of their constitutional rights.
   
  "If they say it's unlawful to prohibit lobbyists from donating, then the lobbyists are going to be able to give to their hearts' content as if they were any other citizen in the State of Connecticut," says Sen. Andrew Rorarback, R-Campaign Finance Reform Committee.
   
  When the bill passed in the assembly, it contained no fallback provision of any kind.
  But the potentially most damaging lawsuit is expected from the Connecticut Green Party, and that lawsuit could end up scuttling the entire law and they don't even have to win it.
   
  A provision in the law makes it very difficult for third parties to qualify for the public financing. All the Green Party would have to do is to get a judge to issue a 72-hour restraining order. A paragraph deep in the bill says that would suspend most of the law. It's called a severability clause.
   
  "It brings the entire program crashing down after seventy-two hours, even if the law is later found to be constitutional," says attorney Christine Horrigan from the Connecticut League Of Women Voters.
   
  "There were a group of legislators that didn't want this legislation to pass at all last year," says Rep. Chris Caruso, D-Campaign Finance Reform Committee. "In order to get their votes what they did was, they just filled the bill up with issues such as the 'severability clause.'"
   
  "It's unrealistic to believe that reforms that have to go through the legislative process are going to be perfect when they come out the end," says Phil Sherwood, Connecticut Citizens Action Group. "It's like sausage. It's rarely perfect at the end."
  Several changes to this law have been proposed to address these issues. The question is; is it realistic to expect lawmakers to correct the flaws or do they want it to fail. 
  
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