In the wake of the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Connecticut legislature worked this year to overhaul its election finance law. The goal was to comply with Citizens Uniteds mandates, which relaxed corporate restrictions on contributions, and added new state election law accountability.
But now more than a dozen organizations have asked Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to veto the 55-page bill. Businesses, represented by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, oppose the bill as unworkably cumbersome for big corporations. The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut opposes a provision that requires disclosure of the names of people who donate money to groups that advocate on behalf of candidates, a measure that the ACLU says would have a chilling effect on issue-oriented organziations.
