On June 8, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., the case where Massey’s Chief Executive Don Blankenship spent approximately $3 million to help Brent Benjamin get elected as Justice to the highest Court of West Virginia. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that when Benjamin then overturned a $50 million verdict against Massey, and refused to recuse himself, it was a violation of due process. This landmark decision of judicial election law has clear implications here in Georgia, where legislators are trying to pass laws that force recusal when a judge has taken large campaign contributions from parties with cases before the Court. To read our article on the Caperton decision, click on Judge Not.

Brunswick House Party

Our house party in Brunswick drew over fifty people over the course of a sunny afternoon in western Maryland, as Common Cause sought to beef up membership all across the state. Special guests included Frederick County Commission President Jan Gardner and Delegate Rick Weldon.

This afternoon a joint House and Senate conference committee released a compromise ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance reform bill which is scheduled for a vote in both the House and Senate tomorrow.  Common Cause Massachusetts has reviewed the bill and endorsed it as a significant reform that will bring more transparency to government, tighten ethics rules, substantially increase penalties, and give the Ethics Commission and other enforcement authorities more tools to detect and punish wrong-doing.

 
Click here for a summary of the bill.

Click here for the text of the bill.

Click here to read about the history of this bill.

Next Tuesday, June 23, at 7:00 pm, Common Cause and Democracy North Carolina will host a forum about the new program of clean elections in Chapel Hill. UNC Law Professor Gene Nichol will also be present, to offer remarks on the importance of this innovative new system.

 

In November, the Town of Chapel Hill will become just the third municipality in the country (and the first in the state) to offer public grants to candidates. Those who run will thus be able to spend more time courting voters, and less time pursuing campaign cash. The program will also enable a level playing field, so that candidates are not excluded on the basis of personal wealth.

 

It's important that the citizens of Chapel Hill get acquainted with the new system. In addition to brief remarks from the panelists, there will be opportunities for the audience to get their questions about the program answered.

 

So join us Tuesday at 7:00 pm, in the Town Council Chambers at Town Hall!

Could public financing of elections work successfully in New York State?

Common Cause New York thinks so!

Join us on Thursday, March 19, for "Money in Politics: A Forum on Campaign Finance" to learn how public financing has worked in Connecticut, and to explore viable options for public funding here in New York.

Speakers will include Ed Gomes, the Assistant Majority Leader of the Connecticut State Senate who ran his re-election campaign using Connecticut's new Clean Election Program.

The program will also feature Karen Hobert-Flynn, Common Cause's Vice President for State Operations, who led the grassroots campaign that helped secure passage of Connecticut's Citizens' Election Program.

Be sure to mark your calendar:

Money in Politics: A Forum on Campaign Finance
Thursday, March 19, 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Albany Institute of History & Art
125 Washington Ave., near Dove St.
Albany, NY 12202

RSVP is not required, so bring a friend or two, and learn about how we can reform New York’s campaign finance system!

Common Cause study shows $4.4 million in contributions
from gaming industry to Pennsylvania candidates from 2001-2008

June 23, Philadelphia, PA - As Pennsylvania debates further expanding legalized gambling to include tables games in casinos, and possibly video poker machines in bars and clubs, the Common Cause Education Fund released a study showing that the gaming industry gave $4.4 million in campaign contributions to political candidates and committees in the state from 2001-08.

Pennsylvania is one of the few states that does not limit campaign contributions. In April of this year, the state supreme court overturned a ban on contributions from donors with a financial stake in a casino, so that gaming interests can give as much as they want to elected officials as they lobby to further expand legalized gambling. The study includes a list of the Top 20 Donors and Top 20 Recipients from 2001-2008. Among the top three donors are Louis DeNaples, whose casino license was temporarily revoked after the Dauphin County Attorney's Office questioned whether he had lied about his ties to organized crime, and Peter DePaul, who brought the lawsuit that voided Pennsylvania's ban on gaming contributions.

"This study helps explain the gaming industry's winning streak in Pennsylvania," said James Browning, Associate Director for Development for Common Cause/PA, "and it suggests that gaming interest will go on a giving binge now that they have the chance."

In the absence of any limits on the industry's ability to make political contributions, and with state legislators not required to file their next campaign finance reports until January 2010, Common Cause/Pennsylvania called on the legislature and statewide officials to voluntarily disclose gaming contributions they have received since the ban was struck down in April. Otherwise, contributions made since the decision will not have to be disclosed until January 2010, long after the legislature may have voted to expand gambling.

The complete study is available at http://www.commoncause.org/PA/GamingReport