{news} (JI) Cam. Fin changes clear first hurdle

[Green Party-CT]

      03/23/2006    Campaign finance changes clear first hurdle     By Tom Breen , Journal Inquirer 
          
HARTFORD - Less than six months after changes to Connecticut's campaign finance laws were hailed as the toughest in the nation, a key legislative committee has approved measures that would make significant changes to the earlier law. 
Advocates say the changes are necessary to close loopholes in the 2005 law and to ensure the campaign finance changes can withstand court challenges.

                
 
        ');  }  // -->            ');   }   //-->           On Wednesday, four bills related to the earlier campaign finance legislation were passed by the Government Administration and Elections Committee, but not without rancor.

Republicans backed a proposed amendment to the bill that would have banned all so-called "leadership PACs," or political action committees controlled by leaders in both parties that can give unlimited money to campaigns.

That amendment was defeated, with Rep. Christopher L. Caruso, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the committee, charging it was little more than a distraction, because the General Assembly was unwilling to vote for a bill banning the PACs.

"It's easy to nitpick these little items and pretend we're making a big statement to the public, when in fact we're not," he said.

"The way this institution is run, it's run on the PACs," he said. "This culture of corruption we speak about is because of us. We've allowed it to exist."

The legislation, passed in December but not taking effect until 2008 for state legislative races and 2010 for the governor's race, was hailed at the time as a historic change in which campaigns could be publicly financed for the first time.

But some members of the committee expressed frustration that the 2005 campaign finance law had to be addressed by new legislation so shortly after it was passed.

"We were supposed to be doing it for the good of the people of the state of Connecticut," Rep. Richard F. Ferrari, R-East Granby, said. "I'm not sure we reached it then. I'm not sure this reaches it."

The bill the committee spent the most time on was a comprehensive package proposed by the Elections Enforcement Commission.

That legislation addresses everything from technical issues with language to what the commission's executive director, Jeffrey Garfield, says are serious flaws.

The three most serious issues with the 2005 legislation, advocates say, are:

* A "nonseverability" clause, which basically would kill the legislation if a judge were to put a 72-hour halt on publicly financed campaigns. Advocate groups such as Common Cause Connecticut say this provision could bring almost the entire law down with a single 10-day restraining order in the event of a lawsuit.

* The threshold by which minor-party and petitioning candidates can qualify for public funding means that such candidates would need 10 percent of the vote in the previous election to qualify for those funds. The Green Party already has threatened to sue over this provision.

* The unlimited use of party funds for "organizational expenditures" by candidates in publicly financed races essentially means such candidates could take the public money and still receive donations from private sources via their party.

The committee also approved separate bills that would address the nonseverability clause and the issue of minor-party candidate funding in essentially the same way as the comprehensive bill.

Sen. Donald J. DeFronzo, D-New Britain, co-chairman of the committee, said the reason for adding the three new bills was to give both the House and the Senate an opportunity to address those two issues.

"The bills say the same thing, but we wanted to have two vehicles available for looking at those issues," he said.
Since the minor-party candidate funding seems a likely source of a legal challenge and the nonseverability clause could mean such a challenge kills the 2005 law, DeFronzo said those issues were at the top of the legislature's agenda.

"If we do nothing else this year, we should address this portion of last year's bill," Rep. James F. Spallone, D-Essex, said.

Although the GAE committee has approved the bills, the final form of the legislation will take shape only after debates in the full House and Senate.

DeFronzo said not every provision in the legislation approved Wednesday will be in the final draft, but that clearing the GAE committee was an important step toward improving the 2005 law.   

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