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Corren suit may impact 2016 campaigns Dean Corren, Progressive/Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014.(Photo: RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS)Former lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Dean Corren's legal dispute with Attorney General Bill Sorrell over restrictions on campaigns that use public money may be stymieing some prospective candidates from seeking statewide office. Confusion over the rules prompted Senate Majority Leader Phil Baruth, who is considering a bid for lieutenant governor, to questionwhat activities are allowable when a candidate campaigns with public money. "I think that the greatly accelerated pace of the current cycle argues for a public advisory to be issued by your office, proactively defining the ways in which candidates may lawfully interact with parties who nominate them," Baruth wrote in a letter to Sorrell. "Speaking only for myself, the contents of such an advisory would weigh heavily on any decision to accept public funding, and therefore any decision to go forward with a statewide bid in the first place." Buy PhotoSen. Philip Baruth, D Chittenden and senate majority leader,speaks in the Senate in May. (Photo: APRIL BURBANK/FREE PRESS) Responding to the letter, Sorrell said he plans to hold a meeting with the Secretary of State's Office to compose a clarification of the rules. "The law has not fundamentally changed on that, and if our office and the Secretary of State's Office needs to make that clearer, we will," Sorrell said in a phone interview with the Burlington Free Press. Buy PhotoAttorney General William Sorrell (Photo: GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS) The Attorney General's Office accuses Corren of violating public financing laws and recommends fines andpenalties of up to $72,000 because the Democratic Party promoted his campaign in an email last year. Corren has challenged the constitutionality of the campaign finance law in federal court. Baruth, a Democrat from Chittenden County, said he may rule out public funding unless he receives clarification on how candidates may lawfully interact with a political party that supports them during the campaign. "Are there conditions under which a candidate might benefit from emails written by party officials to party lists, without running afoul of the prescriptions you've cited in the Corren case?" Baruth asked in the letter. Sorrell said political parties may promote a publicly funded candidate via email provided that the candidate did not ask for or coordinate sending the email. Answers to some of Baruth's other questions are less clear, Sorrell said. For instance, Sorrell said he is unsure whether campaign finance law would allow a party to canvass or distribute literature for a candidate who accepts public funding. He said he plans to address that issue in his upcoming clarification. The clarification will be publicized on the Secretary of State's website and sent in advisories to the news media, Sorrell said. No timeline has been set for release of the clarification. Corren is considering running another publicly funding campaign for lieutenant governor in 2016. He said a need for "clarification is an understatement." "We are in federal court because there are a number of constitutional issues, and if the attorney general is going to enforce things in way he has attempted to with me there really is no public financing until we resolve the issues because you could be liable for an infinite amount of money," Corren said. Emma Mulvaney Stanak, chair of the Vermont Progressive Party, said Sorrell's enforcement action against Corren is likely to have a chilling effect on the use of public financing. David Zuckerman, P/D Chittenden, also is consideringa bid forlieutenant governor using public financing. He has yet to decide whether to join the race.