Lobbyists Lose to Connecticut Clean Elections

As noted in the New York Times: “In a year when conservative politics have dominated even traditionally Democratic states like New Jersey and New York, Connecticut is closing out its most activist, liberal legislative session in memory.” (Peter Applebome, “Democratic Rule Remakes Connecticut’s Legislature,” NY Times June 7, 2011)

• Connecticut has passed a sweeping energy bill that modernizes the state’s energy regulatory structure, and will lower electricity rates for consumers, and help expand the Clean Energy fund and provide rebates that encourage energy efficiency, solar energy and electric vehicles.
• In addition, CT is the first state to mandate paid sick leave for businesses with more than 50 workers.

• The state passed a health care plan called Sustinet that will allow municipalities and some nonprofits to buy into the state employee health plan and create a Sustinet cabinet to oversee and explore new health reform efforts.

• CT also passed a bill to outlaw discrimination against transgender people, a bill providing in-state tuition at public colleges and universities for illegal immigrants, and they voted to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Though the New York Times article suggests these bills have passed because of democratic majorities in the House and Senate and a democratically-elected governor, Rep. Robert Godfrey said, “If there was ever an illustration of the loss of influence of lobbyists, this is it.”

Credit the Citizens’ Election Commission. Gov. Dan Malloy and  100 percent of other statewide officeholders ran under Connecticut’s public financing program. And 74 percent of the General Assembly – Democrats and Republicans – ran clean. For those of us who lobby at the Capitol, it is clear that legislators are not worrying about campaign money they need to raise from business lobbyists who represent clients that do not like these reforms. And at Common Cause, we are proud of helping to enact, protect and defend this landmark good government reform.