Connecticut’s commitment to democracy, particularly through the Citizens’ Election Program (CEP), sets our state apart. For nearly 20 years, the CEP, overseen by the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC), has leveled the playing field, enabling individuals from all backgrounds to run for state office without relying on wealthy donors.
Established in 2005 through bipartisan legislation and first implemented in the 2008 cycle, the CEP provides campaign funds to candidates who raise a significant number of small donations. These funds come with strict spending limits and transparency rules. A national model for public financing, the CEP has successfully removed dark money from state elections, fostering an independent electoral process and encouraging ordinary people to run for office.
However, the system isn’t perfect. In recent election cycles, campaigns have struggled with the SEEC’s complex policies and procedures.
While multiple checks are essential to ensure legitimate donations, communication has been a major challenge. Campaigns wait weeks for explanations from SEEC when donations are rejected, despite multiple phone calls and emails asking for information. Protocols were unclear, and there seemed to be no differentiation between a trivial error, such as a donor writing “CT” rather than “Connecticut” on a five-dollar donation check, and a serious violation of election law.
These problems greatly frustrated campaign treasurers, and the confusion caused by the process made it more difficult to persuade good people to volunteer for campaigns or to run for office themselves, undermining one of the very original purposes of the Citizens’ Election Program.
As co-chairs of the new Government Oversight Committee, we welcomed the opportunity to apply our own professional expertise and commitments to the work of improving transparency and accountability among our own government agencies.
As Senate Chair, Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox’s background in law and constitutionalism provide a unique legal perspective that is particularly relevant for bills pertaining to government accountability. As House Chair, Lucy Dathan’s background in financial auditing, as a certified public accountant and a chief financial officer brings her vast experience in financial accountability to bills pertaining to public audits and audit processes.
Our committee worked with other legislators and advocates to craft solutions to the problems brought to our attention. We sought to give SEEC more resources, including by reducing their workload, so that their work can be more effective to carry out their mission. We also worked on Senate Bill 1405. This legislation, which has now passed both Connecticut’s House and Senate and awaits the Governor’s signature, expands public access to SEEC meetings, adds important disclaimers to text messages, and clarifies the materials that campaign treasurers need to retain to assist in compliance with audits.
The key objective of the bill is to update and improve the efficiency of the Citizens Election Program, while maintaining its independence and oversight of public campaigns. To ensure that changes are not perceived to be partisan, it was also important that the legislation to be supported by all four legislative caucuses.
SB 1405 ensures that updates and guidelines are released sooner, to ensure that candidates have adequate time to plan. Moreover, the bill requires additional clarity and communication over campaign disclosures. Importantly, no updates have been made to SEEC’s determination and review of qualifying grants, so 100% of all contributions will continue to be reviewed for that purpose.
The bill includes reforms to the post-election audit process. As of mid-April 2025, not even a third of audits from the November 2022 election have been finalized (29%) and none of the November 2024 audits have been finalized. This level of delay is unworkable. The agency has been auditing 100% of expenditures for approximately 50% of all campaigns, with each audit undergoing three to four levels of review or re-review by various staff.
While there is no doubt that ensuring that public funds are spent carefully is essential, this level of scrutiny is excessive and inefficient. There are no auditing standards anywhere that require this level of scrutiny, and with this level of work done to get a clean audit opinion. This underscores why the audit parameters must change.
SB 1405 includes important changes that will strengthen the CEP and assist campaigns and treasurers in understanding what they need to do to comply. The legislation passed the Connecticut Senate on a vote of 34 to 1. Critics in the Connecticut House, where the bill also passed on a 92 to 46 vote, maintain that watchdog agencies such as SEEC should remain independent and that this legislation subordinates SEEC to the legislature.
But the bill does not do so. It does not allow the legislature to approve or disapprove any regulations passed by SEEC whatsoever. The only aspect of this bill that has become a central point of contention when it comes to agency independence is the provision that requires a SEEC Executive Director seeking reappointment after a four-year term to receive confirmation by the legislature. The legislation does not change SEEC’s right to appoint its Executive Director in the first place. The legislature is the voice of the people; its function is to provide public oversight.
There are other areas too where agency independence is critical to the functioning of agency power, and where there is nevertheless minimal oversight by the legislature. For example, the judicial branch must be independent of the legislature, but the legislature still confirms judges, including the chief justice. To require some confirmation process of unelected public employees by legislators who are accountable to the people is also a part of our democratic process. The key is for that oversight to be limited to a minimal check on the agency and not become a kind of legislative overreach on its decision-making.
Over the course of the last several months, we have all witnessed the destruction wrought by an unaccountable watchdog agency whose leadership is not confirmed by the legislature. That description perfectly fits the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk. While we are not comparing SEEC, which is replete with excellent public officials, to DOGE, we are suggesting that the claim that DOGE should be entirely isolated from the legislature as a watchdog agency should give us pause, and raises an important question for all of us: what are the potential consequences of other watchdog agencies that seek an exemption from any legislative oversight? This is why we must balance the independence of watchdog agencies with the need for such agencies to also be transparent and accountable to the public.
Senate Bill 1405 attempts to strike this delicate balance. It allows SEEC to remain independent and therefore shields its regulations from scrutiny by the legislature. While earlier drafts contained some language that seemed to infringe more on separation of powers, that language was appropriately removed, and the final bill does not cross that line.
It requires SEEC operations to be more transparent, and its procedures to be clearly defined to campaigns. It also requires some oversight of a SEEC Executive Director by a legislature that is accountable to the public. That is already the process in place for the remaining commissioners of SEEC, and the bill does not include any legislative approval of agency regulations and guidelines. Those agency protocols, which are entirely initiated by the agency, and must be transparent and universal, serve as the basis of SEEC’s regulatory decisions when it comes to each individual candidate. That further isolates SEEC from any legislative overreach into agency decision-making.
This legislation is a win for Connecticut, encouraging public financing, clarifying audit procedures, and allowing SEEC to operate more efficiently. We’ve already received positive feedback from campaign treasurers, and we remain committed to supporting the Citizens Election Program and SEEC and advocating for transparent, accountable, and ethical government in Connecticut.
State Sen. Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox and Rep. Lucy Dathan serve as co-chairs of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Government Oversight Committee. Sujata represents Senate District 22 (Bridgeport, Trumbull, and Monroe). She is also a Professor of Legal Studies in the Department of Justice and Law at Quinnipiac University. Lucy represents House District 142 (Norwalk and New Canaan). She also maintains her role as a finance executive for a number of venture backed technology start-up companies.