A years-long debate over whether to update the state’s campaign finance laws came to a surprisingly swift close in the Vermont Senate Friday morning. With hardly a word of discussion, the body voted 24 to 3 to send an ambitious, 50-page bill forward to final passage.
“That was kind of the sound of a logjam breaking,” said Vermont Public Interest Research Group executive director Paul Burns.
That’s not to say it was an easy lift.
The bill was almost derailed several times — including as recently as Thursday evening, when Democrats meeting in caucus debated whether to strip out a previously passed amendment banning corporate contributions to candidates. Two weeks before, the bill had been abruptly pulled from the floor after senators unexpectedly approved that amendment by a 21 to 8 margin.
But in the end, the ban on direct corporate contributions remained intact, potentially dramatically changing the way private industry seeks to influence Vermont elections.
“I’m pleasantly surprised, given the tortured history of the bill,” said Sen. Peter Galbraith (D-Windham), whose two-year quest to ban such contributions has irritated the hell out of many of his colleagues. “I think it sends a very clear signal that Vermont wants to … have clean elections.”
(Pictured above: Galbraith)
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