by Derek Garcia
News Editor

Students for Campaign Finance Reform, a new activist group headed up by Benjamin Wyatt-Greene ’02, testified in front of the Government Affairs and Election (GAE) Committee in the
Connecticut State Legislature this past Friday. They are part of a new student initiative pushing for campaign finance reform on a state-wide level.

The group, which is attempting to build a coalition with other student activists at schools like the University of Connecticut, Trinity and Yale, gave voice to student concerns in front of
the joint House and Senate Committee.

Eight students from Wesleyan attended the event, while only three addressed the committee directly. The group also drew members from USLAC, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy,
the Wesleyan Democrats, Havurah, and the Student Unity Network (SUN). 

The group sought to give student support for Raised House Bill 6790 which will eventually be voted on by both the House and Senate. 

According to Wyatt-Greene, this bill seeks to change existing Connecticut laws which allow donations up to $250 from private parties and corporations. He said this old system allows
abuse or "bundling" because corporations and wealthy individuals make maximum donations in the name of individual family members and associates. In some states these laws don’t
require a contributor’s full disclosure. 

"If you’re not spending 70 percent of your time financing your campaign, you’re going to lose the election," Wyatt-Greene said.

The new bill attempts to create a general "clean" election fund where all money will go before redistribution to individual candidates. A candidate will qualify by meeting a stipulated
number of contributions, regardless of their actual dollar amount. This approach will focus on the number of contributions, rather than actual value. The bill also allows individuals to
voluntarily contribute money to the general fund on their tax returns, without regard to party affiliation. 

"These bills usually fail [in other states] where there are huge corporate ad campaigns against them," Wyatt-Greene said.

A similar bill was vetoed last year by Republican Connecticut Governor John Rowland, who did not agree with establishing a public fund for election finance. About 30-40 students
protested outside his office last year for 48 hours to try and convince him differently.

"One of the reasons it [the former bill] was vetoed is because the coalition wasn’t widened to encourage student participation," said Wyatt-Greene. "[The] general perception is that
students are pretty apathetic ... Nowhere in the country are there student groups [specifically] dedicated to campaign finance reform."

"The hope on my part was to broaden the coalition and bring more pressure on Rowland," he said.

Wyatt-Green, along with Byron Alex ’04, and Ben Adler ’03 each testified for about 8 minutes combined. They were also questioned in front of the committee following their testimony, .

"It does look like one of the most significant problems is going to be dealing with the governor," Alex said. "We need to let him know that it’s the students, as well the general public of
Connecticut, that wants this bill passed."

"I focused my testimony on how there is a great deal of cynicism [among] people of my age," Wyatt-Greene said. "Public financing of campaigns is so important because it is the only
way [politics] is going to project a positive image through creating some positive news."

In an effort to better educate themselves about the complexities of campaign finance reform, Tom Swan, the head of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, came to Wesleyan to speak
with students last week. He talked about the bill and worked with them to develop ideas on effective student lobbying. 

"I’m not a socialist, but if there is one thing that I want the government to socialize, it’s elections," Wyatt-Greene said.

Wyatt-Greene gives the bill about a 40 percent chance of passing this time around. In the meantime, his group will continue to lobby, build a larger coalition, and push for reform.