A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for next week on whether strict new spending guidelines should apply to Vermont’s campaigns this year. Judge William Sessions will hear from lawyers next Tuesday.
An appeals court in New York says the spending limits Vermont adopted in a 1997 law are constitutional. But it gave Sessions an opportunity to determine whether it’s too late in the election cycle to implement those limits.
Secretary of State Deb Markowitz says state lawyers expect to recommend to the judge that the spending caps be suspended for the current election. She says candidates have prepared budgets that assume there will be no limits on their spending and she says it would be unfair to change the rules so late. (AP)