By the Associated Press

HARTFORD — Lawmakers Friday passed legislation that attempts to fix the state’s campaign finance law after a federal appeals court found parts of it unconstitutional.

During a special legislative session, the Senate voted 23-12, and the House of Representatives voted 75-45, mostly along party lines in favor of the bill, which Democratic proponents said will help to save the state’s voluntary campaign financing program.

But minutes after the vote, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced she would veto the legislation, saying she opposed a part of the bill that calls for increasing public grants for gubernatorial candidates in order to make the law constitutionally palatable.

“I am disappointed that the legislature added $6 million in public spending on gubernatorial races at a time when our economy continues to be weak, jobs continue to be lost and families continue to struggle,” Rell said in a statement. “It begs the question from taxpayers: ‘What is the legislature thinking?’”

Lawmakers stood on the floor of the House and urged Rell to reconsider her veto threat. Rell signed the original reform bill into law and made the legislation a hallmark of her administration.

“This is a crossroads, this is a very important moment for the state of Connecticut,” said Rep. James Spallone, D-Essex, co-chairman of the General Assembly’s elections committee. He said Friday’s vote would preserve the underlying election reforms if there are future legal challenges.

The reforms were passed in 2005 in the wake of the government corruption scandal that led to former Gov. John G. Rowland’s resignation and imprisonment.

Earlier this month, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that parts of the campaign finance law, such as a ban on political contributions from lobbyists and a provision that provides extra funding or matching grants to candidates using the public financing system, known as the Citizens’ Election Program, were unconstitutional.

“If we don’t address these, this system will fail and we will not have a Citizens’ Election Program,” said Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, co-chairwoman of the elections committee. “I think that everybody in this room believes that would be a huge loss to the state.”

Yet, Republicans joined Rell in criticizing the provision in the bill that raises the base grant for participating gubernatorial candidates from $3 million to $6 million. Continued...

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“This state is broke,” said Sen. Michael McLachlan, R-Danbury. “We don’t have any money to spend and we should not be talking about expanding state spending for anything, especially not expanding state spending for TV advertising in a gubernatorial campaign.”

Proponents said money was already budgeted for the extra funding. They argue that the base rate must be increased because the appeals court ruled that the matching grants, triggered by how much a well-financed candidate or an outside group spends, are unconstitutional as they restrict free speech.

The legislation allows lobbyists and their families to contribute to political campaigns but only up to $100. The bill also re-establishes a ban on lobbyist contributions when the General Assembly is in session.

Meanwhile, representatives from the Green Party of Connecticut, an original plaintiff in the lawsuit that made its way to the appeals court, said it plans to appeal the court’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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