Connecticut: Should I recycle this bottle or help the public campaign fund?
AP reports: State legislators and the governor’s office are considering several sources of money to pay for a publicly funded campaign system, including unreturned bottle deposits, smaller lottery prizes and higher state fines and fees.
A working group of lawmakers, which held its second meeting Thursday, learned it will have to find about $8 million to $10 million a year — or roughly $35 million to $40 million over a four-year cycle — to create a new, voluntary election fund for legislative and constitutional officer races.
“I think several of the funding mechanisms will provide enough revenue,” said Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain, co-chairman of the group. “The question I think is which one. Which is the least painful of those various mechanisms?”
The bipartisan committee, created by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, plans to spend the summer attempting to hammer out a compromise by Sept. 15 that would reform Connecticut’s campaign finance system and limit special interest influence on elections. -- Panel floats plans for campaign financing