Connecticut has missed a golden opportunity to enact meaningful campaign finance reform this year. Throughout this year's legislative session, Ct. Democrats in the House and Senate , supported by myriad citizen's groups, worked hard to enact a meaningful measure to reduce the effect of special-interest money in Ct. election campaigns.
Most Republican legislators, including Ridgefield's Rep. John Frey, voted against reform at every step. Despite this, the compromise measure pushed by Democrats was finally approved by both House and Senate. Last month, in a sad reminder of his real anti-reform philosophy, Republican Gov. John Rowland vetoed the measure.
The Ct. Democracy 2000 Campaign, comprised of Common Cause, the AFL-CIO, the Federation of Educational and Professional Employees, the State Employees Association, Women's Education and Legal Fund, the League of Women Voters-CT, and a dozen other organizations, lamented the Governor's action in a statement published on the Common Cause web site. The statement concluded, "It is becoming increasingly clear that the public wants to restore faith in our democracy by limiting the influence of special interest money... The Connecticut General Assembly did it, and Governor Rowland chose to ignore it. The future of campaign financing is clear. To everyone, that is, except Governor Rowland."
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| DTC Chair Jim Diamond has urged passage of campaign finance reform in Ct. this year. |
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