Vermont has passed comprehensive campaign finance reform early in the second year of its biennial session. Senate Bill 82, signed by Governor Peter Shumlin on January 23, repealed Vermont’s existing campaign finance law and enacted a new framework in its place. The most notable provision of the bill is new campaign finance limits. The new limits, effective January 1, 2015 are as follows:

• Candidates for the office of state representative: $1,000 per election cycle from a single source or political committee;
• Candidates for the office of state senator: $1,500 per election cycle from a single source or political committee;
• Candidates for the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, auditor of accounts, or attorney general: $4,000 per election cycle from a single source or political committee;
• Candidates for candidates for local office: $1,000 per election cycle from a single source or political committee;
• Candidates for county office: $1,500 per election cycle from a single source or political committee;
• Contributions to a political committee: $4,000 per election cycle from a single source, political committee, or political party; and
• Contributions to political parties: $10,000 per election cycle from a single source, political committee, or political party.

Critics of the bill noted the high limit on contributions to political parties, notable because political parties may give unlimited contributions to candidates under the new framework. The bill also included an aggregate election cycle limit of $40,000 from a single source to take effect January 1, 2015, unless the U.S. Supreme Court holds such limits unconstitutional when it delivers its decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission.