Ever Since the Clean Elections Program law was put into effect, Connecticut has been trying to figure out how to implement it and what it means. For companies doing business here, the answers have not been clear. If they lobby or have state contracts they wonder if they can talk about candidates with their friends. They wonder if they can serve on their local town committees or work for colleagues running for office. For politicians running for office, the choices have not always been clear. Do I sign up for public financing and risk not having the same bank roll as my wealthier opponent? Will the state deplete the fund because of the budget crisis before I get a chance to run for office? It’s a sticky wicket indeed.
Now the court is trying to sort it all out. The constitutional issues and practical application issues are immense. The fact that we are in the middle of an election year makes the need for a decision truly important but one is not expected until right around election time. Until then, candidates will be forced to work in an impossible limbo and lobbyists and state contractors will have to assume second class status. There’s got to be a middle ground – we can only hope that the court is able to find it.
Tags: campaign finance, clean elections, election, lobbyist, state contract
