Attorney General William Sorrell issued a formal opinion confirming the state’s current contribution limits will remain in effect through the 2014 elections. Early in the legislative session, Vermont enacted Senate Bill 82, repealing the existing campaign finance law upon passage and establishing new contribution limits to take effect January 1, 2015.

The bill contained a drafting error, however, repealing the existing limits without anything in their place before the new limits take effect in 2015. The House attempted to correct the error through an additional bill, but it was never acted upon by the Senate Finance Committee.

While the Elections Division issued a statement confirming the old limits still applied, Secretary of State Jim Condos requested a formal opinion from the state’s attorney general since his office lacked statutory authority to enforce the old limits.

Relying on legislative deliberations on Senate Bill 82, Sorrell ruled the Legislature did not intend to repeal existing limits for the 2014 election cycle, and the existing limits at the time of the bill’s passage will be enforced until the new limits take effect next year.

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 Senate Bill 82, signed by Governor Peter Shumlin on January 23, repealed Vermont’s existing campaign finance law and enacted a new framework in its place.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.