GOP seeks to gut public campaign funding in Conn.

The Connecticut State Capitol building in Hartford. The Connecticut State Capitol building in Hartford. Photo: Carol Kaliff / Carol Kaliff Buy photo Photo: Carol Kaliff / Carol Kaliff Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close GOP seeks to gut public campaign funding in Conn. 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

With a glut of politicians seeking public financing in the governor’s race but Connecticut mired in a $2 billion budget hole, the future of the state’s clean-elections program is in doubt.

Even at the height of its popularity — and cost.

More than $40 million is expected to be disbursed to statewide office and legislative candidates in 2018, based on Republican budget projections.

That would shatter the record of $33.4 million handed out in 2014, including $15.8 million spent in the governor’s race.

For the first time in the history of the decade-old Citizens’ Election Program, GOP lawmakers say, it does not have enough money to sustain itself. Until now, it has relied on proceeds from the sale of abandoned property and unclaimed bottle deposits to cover the cost of the grants.

Republicans are calling for the program to be gutted for next year, which could turn the entire campaign financing system upside-down during a pivotal election cycle.

“We do not have the funds available to be spending on bumper stickers and buttons,” said state Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, a longtime critic of the program who is co-chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

The state Elections Enforcement Commission, the nonpartisan agency in charge of the program, disputed the GOP’s math. Commission officials said they did not have estimates for 2018 and declined to comment further.

Pay to play

Jolted by a pay-to-play scandal that led to the resignation and imprisonment of Gov. John G. Rowland a decade ago, the state created the program to wean candidates off special-interest money and free them from the time required for fundraising. Qualifying candidates must raise $5,000 to $250,000 — depending on the office they are seeking — in $100 increments or less.

Government watchdogs say the program is a national model that should be spared, with some embracing a bill to raise bottle deposits from 5 to 10 cents.

“Everyone is benefiting from the opportunity to go out and meet with their constituents and not have to worry about taking money from restricted sources like state contractors,” said Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Common Cause Connecticut. “I’m disappointed that every time there’s a budget shortfall, they go looking at the Citizens’ Election Fund. ... It’s not enough money to make a difference.”

While Frantz has never accepted public campaign financing, a growing number of his GOP colleagues have since the program’s inception. Nowhere is that about-face more evident than in the governor’s race.

After spending $11 million of his own money in a narrow defeat in 2010, Republican businessman Tom Foley accepted $7.9 million in public funds for the 2014 primary and general election.

Then there’s Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, who voted against the program’s creation when he was in the Legislature and is making his third attempt to qualify for public financing for governor.

“Philosophically, I never have agreed with public financing of political campaigns, but it’s here to stay and the rules we’re operating under right now,” Boughton said.

Boughton has raised about $100,000 toward the $250,000 qualifying threshold in the governor’s race, which would make him eligible for a $1.4 million primary grant and $6.5 million for the general election if he wins the nomination. If funding is cut, Boughton said, the rules on who can contribute need to be reworked.

“It’ll be impossible to raise any money,” Boughton said. “I’m not saying we go back to the days of the state contractors.”

Democratic State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, who is exploring a run for governor, defended the program.

“Connecticut’s public financing helps level the political playing field and allows new people and more people to run for office,” Lembo said.

GOP leaders in the House and Senate support defunding the program, saying limited resources are needed elsewhere.

“At this point, taxpayer-funded elections isn’t where it should be going,” said House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby.

Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said the program is becoming insolvent, but he is open to a hybrid funding mechanism.

“If we keep the CEP grants, we’re going to have to add $10 million to the pot,” Fasano said.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said the Republicans’ efforts to gut the program and their refusal to back legislation curbing independent political expenditures undermines the progress made under the program.