Rep. France Disappointed in Progress Surrounding Election Program Issue

According to an article published in the Norwich bulletin last month, during the 2014 election cycle, Connecticut “provided grants to candidates in 326 General Assembly races totaling $33.4 million under the Citizens’ Election Program (CEP)”. Based on analysis of Eastern Connecticut legislative candidates, The Bulletin concluded that, Democrat candidates spent most CEP funds on “high-priced political consulting firms” while Republicans spent far less on “political activists serving as ‘consultants’ to handle day-to-day campaign chores.

“Taxpayer-funded campaigns should provide clear and complete visibility to the public on how funds are expended during the campaign,” said Rep. France. “When CEP was enacted, the principal goal was to reduce the impact of large donors on state political races. A secondary goal was to incentivize candidates to raise funds from a broader and more diverse group. Based on observations made during the past two election cycles, I proposed legislation to the General Assembly to remedy this issue. The purpose of my proposals were address expenses related to consultants for future election years and to ensure unopposed candidates did not obtain taxpayer funds for their campaign. Unfortunately, neither proposal made it out of committee.”

Rep. France introduced H.B. 5171, An Act Prohibiting Unopposed Candidates From Receiving Grants Under the Citizens’ Election Program, to ensure that the CEP is only used for opposed candidates and H.B. 5351, An Act Concerning Campaign Consultants, to ensure proper disclosure and transparency of taxpayer-funded campaign spending. Neither bill was presented for a vote by the Government Administration and Elections Committee or even considered for a public hearing.

“Especially considering the current economic situation and the state budget, we need to ensure taxpayer funds are expended judiciously and in a manner completely visible to the taxpayer,” said Rep. France. “There should be no requirement for taxpayers to fund unopposed candidates and campaign consultants should be required to document their expenditures of taxpayer funds to the State Elections Enforcement Commission for routine campaign expenses just like candidates who manage their own campaigns.”