(Host) The Vermont Senate has voted to override Governor Douglas’s veto of campaign finance reform legislation. The vote was 26 to 4.
Backers of the legislation say it will reduce the influence of money on the state’s political system. But opponents argue it’s nothing more than an incumbent protection bill.
VPRs Bob Kinzel reports:
(Kinzel) Douglas says he vetoed the bill because it limits how much money a political party can contribute to an individual candidate. The new cap in the governor’s race would be $30,000.
Backers of the bill say the limit is needed because these kinds of contributions have doubled the cost of running for governor.
For instance, in his first gubernatorial campaign in 2002, Douglas received a total of more than a half a million dollars from several national Republican organizations.
Senate Government Operations chairwoman Jeannette White says the $30,000 cap from a state party and a similar amount from a national party is still a lot of money:
(White) "That’s 60 thousand dollars of contributions from that one source so I don’t think that’s unreasonable. I realize that in the past gubernatorial candidates have taken a lot more than that from their national parties but I think that we are concerned about that amount of influence."
The bill also sets contribution limits for all statewide and legislative campaigns. White says this provision is needed to reduce the influence of big contributors:
(White) "We want to avoid that not only avoid it but avoid the perception of it by the public and for those people who have $25 or $15 that they can contribute to their favorite candidate they have a feeling that it’s not going to make any difference…so it’s important both for the perception that campaigns aren’t for being bought and also to give people more incentive to participate themselves on a smaller level."
Rutland senator Kevin Mullin voted to sustain the governor’s veto. He says the bill allows wealthy candidates to spend an unlimited amount of their own money on a campaign while it places contribution limits on other candidates:
(Mullin) "The bill is not able because you can’t do it constitutionally is not able to stop anybody from writing an unlimited amount so it basically allows the wealthy to raise a lot more money than their opponents and the bill if you look at it is really an incumbent’s protection bill because the way the planks are put in place it’s a lot easier for an incumbent to get out their message than it is for the opponent."
The override motion now goes to the House. Last summer, the House sustained the governor’s veto of a similar bill by a very small margin. Democrats think they have a better chance to win this year because several of their members were unable to attend the 2007 veto session.
For VPR News I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.