[Ed. note: On March 28, we published an editorial by DTC Chairman Jim Diamond asking that Rep. John Frey (R, Ridgefield) support campaign finance reform proposals before the Ct. House of Representatives. Rep. Frey's repsonse follows]
In a recent editorial, the Chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, Mr. Jim Diamond, challenged me to vote for campaign finance reform. Unfortunately Mr. Diamond did not do his homework.
And he only told part of the story. My record clearly indicates support of reform. Real campaign finance reform begins by limiting the dependence on special interest contributions for political campaigns, thereby reducing the public perception that lobbyists and Political Action Committees (PACs) influence our votes.
This past fall, Governor Rowland charged the nonpartisan State Election Enforcement Commission (SEEC) to recommend changes to Connecticut's campaign finance laws. After holding their first ever public hearing, the commission presented us a list of comprehensive reform measures in House Bill 5603.
Included in these proposals were:
More importantly, their reform recommendations did not include taxpayer-financed elections. House Bill 5603 has since stalled in the Democrat controlled legislature, and has served as a basis for Republican reform amendments throughout the committee process.
I voted on parts of this measure on two separate occasions, once in the Government Administration and Elections Committee and in the Finance Committee. I intend on voting for this reform measure again as we debate the issue of campaign finance reform in the state House of Representatives.
I support real campaign finance reform but I refuse to vote for a bill that would spend hard-earned tax dollars on political campaigns. If you think there is a degree of public cynicism and apathy toward elections now, just wait until people see their money being used for negative issue ads not necessarily by just Democrat and Republican candidates, but by other groups such as pro-or anti-abortion rights, KKK, Green Party, Communist Party of Connecticut, etc.
A recent Hartford Courant/UConn Poll found that 77% of Connecticut residents oppose the idea of using their money for political campaigns. Taxpayers agree that tax dollars should be used for education, senior services and public health, not for partisan campaigns. Furthermore, the Democrat taxpayer financing measure only 'reforms' 6 of the 193 state offices.
Connecticut has very strong campaign finance laws, among the most stringent in the nation. When people stop me to talk about campaign finance reform, they generally are not talking about Connecticut politics. They are talking about Al Gore raising money at Buddhist Temples, Bill Clinton renting out the Lincoln Bedroom, George W. Bush spending $1 million a day in South Carolina. They are also talking about soft money, which has been banned in Connecticut since 1997. By enacting the proposals outlined by the SEEC, and adopted by the House Republicans, Connecticut by all measures would have the strongest campaign finance laws in the nation.
I invite Mr. Diamond to join me in my call for campaign finance reform, and I hope he will urge his fellow democrats in the General Assembly to vote for real reform, now and for everyone.
John H. Frey
State Representative
Ridgefield
April 4, 2000
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