A group of House Republicans, joined by one Democrat, called Thursday for increased reporting of candidate and political action committee campaign contributions and spending.
That should make changes to the state campaign finance law a slam dunk this legislative session, right? Just about everybody – Democrats, Progressives, Republicans, the Secretary of State’s Office and the governor all seem to agree that the public has a right to more information about who’s spending what on whom in elections.
It could be that the proliferation of super political action committees and the money they wield is making everyone uncomfortable enough to call for changes.
It has not always been so, as Republican opposed Democrats’ efforts several years ago to place lower limits on how much a candidate could raise and spend. So far, discussion of campaign finance reform isn’t going into the limit territory, which the U.S. Supreme Court did not look kindly on.
Last year, the Democratic majority in the Legislature culdn’t even agree among themselves what to do so they did nothing. And they can generally get away with that because campaign finance puts average people to sleep faster than sleeping pills.
Sleep-enducing though it may be, it’s important to know who’s paying for the messages that are telling you who to vote for. House MIntoirty Leader Don Turner, R-Milton, asserteed that Attorney General Bill Sorrell would likely have lost his Democrtic primary race to T.J. Donovan if not for political action committee spending that promoted Sorrell in TV ads.
Rep. Kurt Wright, R-Burlington, and Rep. Tom Koch, R-Barre, are working on legislation that would require more frewent reporting detailing who is spending how much and declaring so on campaign material if a single person is behind at least half the spending. Koch also said he wanted to require electronic campaign finance filing. “The method we have now is just a horror show,” he said.
That method involves candidates submitting confusing paper forms to local clerks or the secretary of state, often late and without repercussions for tardiness or errors. In fact, there is really no penalty for not bothering at all.
Secretary of State Jim Condos is calling for similar changes. There could be little standing in the way of changes this year, except who gets credit. “They’re trying to get ahead on an issue they haven’t led on in the past,” said Nick Charyk, political director for the Vermont Democratic Party.
