[B]ENNINGTON — Vermont’s attorney general and secretary of state are seeking comment on campaign financing issues at one of a half-dozen public sessions planned around the state.
The officials and members of the Joint Committee on Campaign Finance Education, Compliance and Reform said Tuesday they will make recommendations to the Legislature on reforms to campaign financing laws.
The challenge is to propose legislation that is constitutional in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling that paved the way for unlimited spending by out-of-state political action committees.
“Because of Citizens United, we are not immune to big money from out of state,” Attorney General TJ Donovan said. “I don’t know what we can do about Citizens United, but we can do something about transparency.”
Secretary of State Jim Condos said the landmark 2010 federal case, which upheld corporate campaign spending as protected free speech, and other court rulings, overturned key parts of Vermont’s campaign spending limit statutes.
Reform efforts since then, Condos said, “really come down to disclosure and transparency.”
Michael Keane, one of about a dozen area residents who attended the discussion at the town firehouse, asked for examples of effective state campaign financing programs.
“There are states that get to 80 to 85 percent acceptance” of public financing and spending limits, Condos said, citing Maine and Connecticut in New England.
Often public pressure on both candidates to accept the limitations is a factor in compliance, the officials said.
Both Donovan and committee member Natalie Silver, executive assistant to the AG, said that in most cases, “nobody likes raising money,” and many candidates might embrace public financing if the system were fair and practical.
Jake Perkinson, an attorney with campaign finance experience and the former chairman of the Vermont Democratic Party, is chairman of the committee. He said spending at every level on Vermont races has escalated dramatically as well in recent elections.
“This is not going away in Vermont,” he said.
Condos said the former Vermont public financing spending limits for governor and lieutenant governor were hopelessly outdated after average spending in the race for governor exceeded $1 million for each candidate. In the November 2016 election, he said, the major candidates raised about $2 million each.
Even after the Citizens United decision, he added, Congress had the option to require transparency for those donations but hasn’t done so.
The effects of the current spending are being felt right down to the House race level, committee members said.
“Special interest groups have recognized the importance of controlling [state legislatures],” Perkinson said.
The two state officials said they work together in the roles of registrar of campaign finance complaints (the secretary of state’s office) and enforcement of campaign finance laws (the AG’s office).
Condos said he welcomes questions from candidates, PACs, political parties and others on Vermont’s requirements, and information about how to comply with requirements is posted on the office’s website, which also includes fundraising and spending reports.
When there is a question of law, he added, he will contact the attorney general’s office.
Donovan said his office stresses “a common sense approach” to enforcement.
He said the goal should be to provide enough information about the requirements for candidates and to pursue fair enforcement determinations that do not discourage potential candidates at the House level or municipal level, where candidates often lack expert financing advice, from running for office.
Condos said a funding mechanism for the public funds is key. In the past, payments to candidates came out of his office budget, and he had to go to the Legislature for reimbursement.
Most candidates have not used public financing because the amounts available are far too low. Candidates can raise a great deal more by soliciting contributions.
Audience members asked the committee to make the governor’s position and other statewide offices a four-year term, rather than a two-year term. Vermont and New Hampshire are the only states that have two-year terms for statewide office.
Condos, a former state senator, said he had introduced amendments to make such a change, but the long, difficult process of changing the constitution always broke down over which statewide and/or legislative officeholders should serve a four-year term. Even with agreement, he said, two votes by both chambers of the Legislature, approval by Vermont voters and at least four years of process are required to pass an amendment.
The committee held public meetings in Montpelier and Winooski prior to the Bennington visit. Other sessions are planned for St. Johnsbury, April 25, White River Junction on May 9, Rutland on May 23 and St. Albans on June 6.
Information on campaign financing requirements is available under Elections on the secretary of state’s website, at www.sec.state.vt.us/
