Statement by Common Cause President Chellie Pingree on High Court?s Decision to Review Vermont Spending Limits

“A great step for reform”

The U.S Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday to review the constitutionality of Vermont’s campaign spending limit law is a great step forward for reform. Common Cause has fought for campaign finance reform for 35 years, including passage of the landmark reform law that the court largely upheld in the Buckley v. Valeo decision. In that case, the court struck down mandatory spending limits. Now the court has the opportunity to examine the evidence of the past 30 years of out-of-control spending in campaigns at all levels of government and decide that reasonable spending limits are constitutional.

We applaud the work done the National Voting Rights Institute and Vermont Public Interest Research Group to advance this case over the past several years. Common Cause participated as an amicus in this case and will continue to support this effort. As this legal effort moves ahead, Common Cause is working to pass reforms in states and cities around the country that will limit the role of money in elections. We look forward to a victory on October 4 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a reform measure that includes spending limits tied to public financing.