Galbraith Wants To Curb Lobbyists' Influence On Lawmaking

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Galbraith rolled out a seven-point ethics proposal on the steps of the Statehouse Thursday, that would mitigate undue influence on lawmakers.

“Too often in the building behind us, the special interest prevails over the broader public interest,” Galbraith said. “Even a single wealthy or well-connected individual hiring a lobbyist can turn around the course of legislation.”

Asked later if there should be no influence from lobbyists over the legislative process, Galbraith acknowledged that “everybody should be heard, but lobbyists are heard over and over and over again.”

Galbraith’s first proposal — to ban corporate contributions to candidates — is not new to the discussion on how best to properly police politicians. All three Democrats in the primary — Galbraith, Matt Dunne and Sue Minter — have voluntarily pledged to reject corporate money this primary season.

Four of Galbraith’s other proposed reforms aim to curb the amount of power lobbyists hold in drafting legislation. The Townshend Democrat is hoping to prohibit participation by special interests in the markup hearings, when bills are debated and amended. This would be accomplished by separating official committee hearings — which allow lobbyists to testify on behalf of their clients — and the markup process, where actual draft language is debated.

“Not even in Washington, D.C., do lobbyists participate directly in the markup of legislation,” Galbraith said. “That is something that, in my experience, is unique to Vermont.”

Reflecting on his four years as a Windham County state senator, Galbraith said, “There are some committee chairs, in my experience, who actually shut up the senators and turn things over to the lobbyists. That’s just not the way the government’s done.”

He said he witnessed inappropriate lobbying by the wholesale beverage industry during his efforts in office to expand the bottle bill to non-carbonated beverages, a fight he eventually lost.

The legislative calendar would be shortened in Galbraith’s plan — to 12 weeks in the first year of the biennium and 10 in the second. Part of the savings generated by the short session would be directed towards hiring more professional staff under the golden dome. Galbraith says more staffers means legislators would rely less on the wonky knowledge of lobbyists.

Galbraith would also have both chambers of the Legislature — House and Senate — begin major bills simultaneously. The move, Galbraith contends, would allow for more consideration of lofty proposals, instead of with few weeks to go, as was the case with marijuana legalization last session.

Galbraith also said that, if elected governor, he would propose legislation to overturn Citizens United and get big money out of politics.

“Assuming a Democratic president appoints the next Supreme Court justice, there will be a majority on the court to overturn Citizens United,” he said, adding that if the state’s law was brought up before the court Vermont would be seen as “a leader for clean and honest government.”

Ethics reform has been a focus of the gubernatorial candidates of both parties this primary, largely because of recent scandals, including the alleged EB-5 fraud in the Northeast Kingdom and the allegations of sexual assault for Republican Franklin County Sen. Norm McAllister.

http://vtdigger.org/2016/07/22/galbraith-wants-to-curb-lobbyist-influence-on-lawmaking/

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