Vermont S. 158: An act relating to the Child Protection Registry

Bill Text

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S.158 1
Introduced by Senator Lyons 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Elections; campaign finance; contribution limitations 5
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to limit 6
contributions accepted by independent expenditure-only political committees 7
to $5,000.00 per single source, political committee, or political party. 8
An act relating to independent expenditure-only political committee 9
contribution limits 10
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 11
Sec. 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE 12
(a) It was the stated intention of the framers of the Constitution of the 13
United States of America that Congress should be “dependent on the people 14
alone” (James Madison or Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 52). That 15
dependency has evolved from a dependency on the people alone to a 16
dependency on those who spend excessively in elections through campaigns or 17
third-party groups—the result of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens 18
United v. Federal Election Commission, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010). Citizens United 19
removed restrictions on independent political spending, resulting in a legally 20

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permissible, but undue, influence of powerful economic forces on our elections 1
that has supplanted the will of the people by undermining our ability to choose 2
our political leadership, write our own laws, and determine the fate of our 3
State. 4
(b) Accompanying this spending is the equally problematic acceptance of 5
contributions by these independent entities that, funneled through a now-6
sanctioned process, nevertheless results in the impairment of a candidate—and 7
eventual officer—in the candidate’s duty to not advantage the contributor in a 8
manner inconsistent with that duty and the rights of Vermonters. The guise of 9
uncoordinated activities between a candidate and a monied interest fails to 10
prevent this corruption. 11
(c) While the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United invalidates 12
restrictions on independent expenditures, the issue of whether limitations may 13
be placed on contributions to independent expenditure-only political 14
committees remains unsettled law so long as the Second Circuit Court or the 15
United States Supreme Court have not directly decided on the matter. 16
(d) It is indeed the purpose of this act to amend the State’s campaign 17
finance laws to place limitations on contributions accepted by independent 18
expenditure-only political committees. 19
(e) The State has a sufficiently important interest in limiting corruption in 20
our political system and asserts a substantial relation between the limitation of 21

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contributions to independent expenditure-only political committees and the 1
anticorruption efforts of the State. 2
Sec. 2. 17 V.S.A. § 2901 is amended to read: 3
§ 2901. DEFINITIONS 4
As used in this chapter: 5
* * * 6
(4) “Contribution” means a payment, distribution, advance, deposit, 7
loan, or gift of money or anything of value, paid or promised to be paid for the 8
purpose of influencing an election, advocating a position on a public question, 9
or supporting or opposing one or more candidates in any election. As used in 10
this chapter, “contribution” shall does not include any of the following: 11
(A) a personal loan of money to a candidate from a lending 12
institution made in the ordinary course of business; 13
(B) services provided without compensation by individuals 14
volunteering their time on behalf of a candidate, political committee, or 15
political party; 16
(C) unreimbursed travel expenses paid for by an individual for 17
himself or herself themselves who volunteers personal services to a candidate; 18
(D) unreimbursed campaign-related travel expenses paid for by the 19
candidate or the candidate’s spouse; 20

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(E) the use by a candidate or volunteer of his or her the candidate’s or 1
volunteer’s own personal property, including offices, telephones, computers, 2
and similar equipment; 3
(F) the use of a political party’s offices, telephones, computers, and 4
similar equipment; 5
(G) the payment by a political party of the costs of preparation, 6
display, or mailing or other distribution of a party candidate listing; 7
(H) documents, in printed or electronic form, including party 8
platforms, single copies of issue papers, information pertaining to the 9
requirements of this title, lists of registered voters, and voter identification 10
information created, obtained, or maintained by a political party for the general 11
purpose of party building and provided to a candidate who is a member of that 12
party or to another political party; 13
(I) compensation paid by a political party to its employees whose job 14
responsibilities are not for