Most PAC Funds Dry Up, But Law Firm Looks To Cities

As the plotters of campaign finance reform hoped, music from all the fundraising parties that used to ring around town in the weeks following each legislative session has been quieted.

Lobbyists and association directors this time of year are used to getting pretty envelopes in the mail asking if they would like to attend one dinner party or another, pay a fee of a few hundred dollars and also buy an advertisement in the event pamphlet.

But now that lobbyists may not participate in fundraising for candidates of state offices, the parties have stopped.

“I haven’t had any invitations or solicitations because of the new requirements. That’s all dried up,” said Robert A. Kehmna, president of the Insurance Association of Connecticut.

Normally at this time of year, he recalls, “there would have been fundraising invitations for candidates, caucuses and committees.” Two years ago at this time, for instance, the IAC’s political action committee had $17,590 on hand and was fresh off giving contributions to the House Democrats, the Senate Republicans and a number of individual candidates.

Without the parties, Kehmna said the committee would remain closed, barring a change to the new rules by the courts or the state.

“We figured, given the various unknowns, we’ll just shut it down,” he said.

The trucking lobby closed its committee two months ago. Michael J. Riley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, said the group also cut its advertising budget from $30,000 for this year to $3,000 for 2008, given the paucity of event pamphlets in which to advertise.

“We’re out of that business now,” he said.

Cash Flow
Jeffery B. Garfield, executive director of the State Elections Enforcement Commission, said there was little doubt that the new rules were the cause for the rash of terminated committees. As of July 17, there were 514 PACs, down from over 700 in December.

“I suspect it has a lot to do with the fact that lobbyists and contractors are no longer allowed to contribute to the candidates and committees,” he said.

So if business groups can no longer sway state candidates through campaign donations, where is all the money going?

Well, when there’s only a little money left over it sometimes goes to charity. The IAC emptied its account by giving $404.52 to House of Bread, in Hartford, while Riley’s truckers gave its last $31.63 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut.

But it also might be headed to one of the only remaining places where lobbyists’ dollars can be used in campaigns: municipal elections.

Consider the Robinson & Cole political action committee, run by one of the state’s strongest lobbying units. Robinson & Cole has decided to keep its PAC despite the fact that two of its top competitors, Gaffney, Bennett and Associates, of New Britain, and Sullivan & LeShane, of Hartford, both terminated theirs and emptied their accounts.

In doing so, it indicated to the state that it would be contributing to municipal elections only.

Not only is Robinson and Cole’s committee still alive, it is still humming. It raised $3,614 in the first quarter of 2007, according to filings with the State Elections Enforcement Commission, doing so through payroll deductions from 34 of the firm’s lawyers.

Could the strategy be to pepper the state municipal elections with small contributions, rather than write big checks to the Senate and House committees, the way they would before the end of fundraising parties?

Commitment To Hartford
It’s probably too early in the campaign season to tell, and S. Frank D’Ercole, treasurer of the Robinson & Cole committee, declined to comment when reached on the phone.

But his committee has already made a start in spending its new money locally. On March 21 the committee wrote a check for $500 to something called “Perez for Mayor 2007.”

If other municipal candidates are smart, they will follow Eddie’s lead and try to get the remaining committees to get back into the fundraising game, at least before the campaign finance reformers take aim at shutting down the local parties, too.