Gov. M. Jodi Rell sent state lawmakers today a proposed bill that would preserve the state’s public campaign financing program without increasing the base grants for candidates.
A federal appeals court last month ruled portions of the program unconstitutional, including a provision that increased grants to candidates participating in the program if a non-participating opponent spends more than a statutory limit. Legislative Democrats tried to address that ruling by raising the base grant for gubernatorial candidates from $3 million to $6 million, but Rell vetoed the measure.
Her proposed bill would simply eliminate the provision increasing the base grant. It also addresses another court finding by eliminating the ban on contributions by lobbyists.
If the legislature and Rell don’t agree on a way to modify the program, the entire public financing system will be invalidated. Rell said if the legislature does not act, she will force them to come back into special session.
Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.
