Vermont Republicans filed a formal complaint Wednesday with the Vermont Attorney General's office alleging that Gov.Peter Shumlin violated Vermont's campaign finance laws by soliciting donations from lobbyists during the legislative session.
The formal complaint comes on the heels of a letter Monday from the state Republican Party Chairwoman Pat McDonald sent to Shumlin and the media.
Shumlin's people referred questions to the Vermont Democratic Party, which acknowledged it may have sent e-mail solicitations to lobbyists.
The kind of complaints leveled by the GOP are common, according to Jim Condos, the Vermont Secretary of State.
Here's the formal complaint from the Vermont GOP that was filed today:
Dear Attorney General Sorrell:
Please regard this as a formal complaint of a violation of Vermont's lobbying law. Governor Shumlin has solicited contributions from registered lobbyists during the legislative session in two recent letters, which we believe is against the law. 2 V.S.A. ยง 266.
This law is in place to prevent politicians from using the legislative session as a political fundraising tool and to prevent lobbyists from using contributions to influence public policy or to create the perception of undue influence.
I understand that according to the Secretary of State "similar charges are leveled by lobbyists, media, and political parties on all sides almost every year. In almost every circumstance, the charge was an inadvertent mistake, generally done by a staffer or volunteer who, when reviewing email and mail lists, missed removing a lobbyist."
If this is in fact a law that is easily misunderstood, where mistakes are made, or no one really cares to enforce it, perhaps it is time to take a look at how we improve the oversight of our campaign finance laws. These laws help keep the public trust of elected officials. It's important that we have an open and transparent system in place.
I look forward to your report on this specific matter and any recommendations you may have on improving our system.
The letters, dated April 6th and April 18th are attached.
Sincerely,
Pat McDonald
Cc: Governor Peter Shumlin
Secretary of State Jim Condos
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