Conn. governor proposes full public financing of state campaigns

[NewJeffCT]

Let's see, stem cell research, civil unions... is Jodi Rell really a Republican?

Rell Offers Reform Package
Proposes Full Public Financing For Wide Range Of Candidates
June 2, 2005
By MARK PAZNIOKAS, Courant Staff Writer

Gov. M. Jodi Rell has made a dramatic offer to revive stalled campaign finance legislation, proposing full public financing of campaigns for offices ranging from the General Assembly to governor beginning in 2010.

With only days remaining in the legislative session, Rell's staff promised legislators that the governor would drop her opposition to public financing if lawmakers accept her call for strict limits on contributions from state contractors, lobbyists and political action committees.

Rell's proposal would give Connecticut the most sweeping system of publicly financed elections in the nation, but some lawmakers and advocates were more interested in why the governor would so dramatically change positions in the waning days of the session.

"What is the governor's in this? That's really the question," said House Speaker James A. Amann, D-Milford. "Is it political, or is it pure?"

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-campfin0602.artjun02,0,5329219.story?coll=hc-big-headlines-breaking