Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Malloy, legislature make last stab at campaign reform

  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • June 25, 2012
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration is in difficult talks with the Democratic legislative majority over campaign finance reform, one of the flashpoints in Malloy’s relationship with legislators in his second year as governor.

The General Assembly would return in special session if a compromise can be reached, an unlikely prospect given that the scope of the issues reach beyond legal questions raised by Malloy in his veto last week of a finance disclosure bill.

“I think we’re more or less at an impasse in terms of doing anything significant before the November elections,” said House Majority Leader J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden.

In a trailer session Monday, the legislature will make no attempt to override any of Malloy’s vetoes.

Sharkey

J. Brendan Sharkey: ‘An impasse’

Democratic legislators prefer a narrow bill that would afford them a measure of immediate protection against hostile independent campaign expenditures during their re-election bids this fall, while the governor wants broader changes that also would strengthen his re-election in 2014.

Karen Hobert Flynn of Common Cause said the administration has to decide what is most important: Holding out for a more generous public financing grant in 2014, or acting now to stem a potential flood of secret money.

“The governor’s inaction has left candidates running this fall vulnerable to secret attacks,” she said. “The governor can say he supports disclosure, but he needs to demonstrate it with action.”

Roy Occhiogrosso, the governor’s senior adviser, said the governor is committed to disclosure, but there is no reason the legislature cannot look beyond this fall.

Without a change in state law, Malloy faces a choice of running his 2014 re-election campaign on a $6 million public grant or opting out of the voluntary system of publicly financing campaigns. His Republican opponent, Tom Foley, spent $12.7 million in 2010.

“We’re talking about ways to try to maintain something of a level playing field,” Occhiogrosso said.

Democratic legislators say Malloy has legitimate concerns about the ability of a publicly financed candidate to compete in 2014 on a $6 million budget, but they object to Malloy’s insistence on a solution now.

In short, legislators see no reason to cast what could be an unpopular vote in a bad economy — increasing public financing for a gubernatorial campaign — as they run for re-election. It is an issue, they say, that can be addressed in 2013.

“The administration and legislature are just on different pages. I think both sides acknowledge there is a genuine concern to be addressed in terms of how outside expenditures influence our elections,” Sharkey said. “I think the difference is those of us in the legislature have to face elections in four months.”

The difference in perspectives is a symptom of the inability of Malloy, the first governor in 40 years without legislative experience, and the legislature to always understand the other’s political concerns. Legislators have been more willing to push back in 2012 against a governor whose approach to public policy seems to be bigger, bolder, faster.

Malloy

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy

Legislators have a limited appetite for election-year risk-taking after voting in 2011 for a $1.5 billion tax increase, a higher-education reorganization and a major investment in bioscience research at the University of Connecticut Health Center, including a major genetics center in partnership with The Jackson Laboratory.

“The relationships have had their ups and downs. I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Occhiogrosso said. “I think on balance, on the governor’s behalf, he appreciates the work (lawmakers) have done and the tough decisions they’ve been asked to make.”

Occhiogrosso took issue with legislative concerns that the administration has left Democratic legislators vulnerable at the polls.

“The relationship between this governor and this Democratic-controlled legislature has produced a 20-percent drop in unemployment, a balanced budget for the first time in three years and a state government that is producing billions in [long-term] savings,” he said. “While the relationship hasn’t always been easy, it’s been productive, and that is something they can run on this fall.”

Adam Joseph, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats, said the legislature’s relationship with the governor has been productive, despite the differences now.

“On the big issues like creating jobs and education reform, we’ve been able to work out our differences and get things done,” Joseph said. “When it comes to campaign finance reform, our top priority is transparency. It is important for people to know who is funding political advertising.”

Campaign finance reform has been an especially sensitive issue for the governor and legislators, since it directly involves his political interests and theirs, and the failure to resolve their differences before last week’s veto points to an inability or unwillingness to negotiate.

The Malloy administration initially proposed that a publicly financed candidate for governor be allowed to also accept unlimited special interest money if outspent by an opponent who is not constrained by the spending limits of the public-financing program.

But that proposal flew in the face of court rulings that ban supplemental funds triggered by an opponent’s spending, and it also drew near-universal scorn over the idea of mixing special interest money with public financing.

The legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee instead drafted a bill that would increase the public financing grant from $1.25 million to $2.5 million for a primary and from $6 million to $9 million for a general election.

In May, on the final weekend of the legislature’s regular session, legislative leaders presented their rank-and-file with an omnibus campaign finance bill based on the elections committee’s proposal, which also required far-reaching financial disclosure provisions on groups that make independent expenditures in Connecticut.

The bill also was calculated to offset the specter of expenditures by independent groups. It doubled the expenditures that a political organization could make on behalf of a publicly financed candidate for General Assembly to $20,000 for a state senator and $7,000 for a state representative.

But House Democrats defied leadership, refusing to accept increasing the grant for a gubernatorial campaign from $6 million to $9 million. The provision was then stripped from the bill, adding to the legislature’s friction with the administration.

Malloy vetoed the bill last week, calling it an unconstitutional intrusion in free political discourse. He was supported by the ACLU.

His veto message said the bill defined independent expenditure so broadly that it could apply to almost any communication involving a public office within 90 days of an election.

 

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Education is the cornerstone of democracy
by John J. Petillo

The events of January 6 represent an inflection point for our democracy and, in truth, for our concept of civil society. Much has already been written about the political and cultural tides that swept our nation toward these events —and a real understanding of their significance will not be possible for some time, in part because the reactions and responses to these events are still unfolding as I write.

A rebuttal to ‘A call to save arms’
by Tyler David Gavitt

A response to "A call to save arms: is vaccination really the solution?" published January 25: The aforementioned article, written by Genevieve Diamant, stands to do potentially significant damage to the efforts by the citizens and government of the State of Connecticut to bring under control the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Holocaust, history and today’s politics
by Avinoam Patt and Laura Hilton

On January 6 the world watched as domestic terrorists stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.  The pictures seared into our memories of this day are replete with symbols of hatred, racism, and extremism: The Confederate battle flag, the white power hand gesture, and the gallows erected near the Capitol reflecting pool. What many may not have noticed within this sea of white supremacy was the prominence of anti-Semitic images.

Sticker shock
by Eric W. Kuhn

It would award a modest amount to families making less than $203k in the first year of the program, ramping up to as much as $1,800 in year four. On a sliding scale, the money would also go to families making up to $682,000 a year. Really? That's 8.7 times the median household income in America.

Lamont edges close to deal on sports betting. Just don’t ask for odds.
by Mark Pazniokas

Connecticut is close to a deal with the tribes over rights to sports betting.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Education is the cornerstone of democracy
by John J. Petillo

The events of January 6 represent an inflection point for our democracy and, in truth, for our concept of civil society. Much has already been written about the political and cultural tides that swept our nation toward these events —and a real understanding of their significance will not be possible for some time, in part because the reactions and responses to these events are still unfolding as I write.

Opinion A rebuttal to ‘A call to save arms’
by Tyler David Gavitt

A response to "A call to save arms: is vaccination really the solution?" published January 25: The aforementioned article, written by Genevieve Diamant, stands to do potentially significant damage to the efforts by the citizens and government of the State of Connecticut to bring under control the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opinion The Holocaust, history and today’s politics
by Avinoam Patt and Laura Hilton

On January 6 the world watched as domestic terrorists stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.  The pictures seared into our memories of this day are replete with symbols of hatred, racism, and extremism: The Confederate battle flag, the white power hand gesture, and the gallows erected near the Capitol reflecting pool. What many may not have noticed within this sea of white supremacy was the prominence of anti-Semitic images.

Opinion Sticker shock
by Eric W. Kuhn

It would award a modest amount to families making less than $203k in the first year of the program, ramping up to as much as $1,800 in year four. On a sliding scale, the money would also go to families making up to $682,000 a year. Really? That's 8.7 times the median household income in America.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO