LD 454
pg. 2
Page 1 of 2 An Act to Clean Up Maine's Clean Election Law LD 454 Title Page
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LR 264
Item 1

 
3. Civil forfeiture. A candidate who uses an endorsement without
the authorization of the endorser violates this section and is
subject to a civil forfeiture of no more than $200. A person or
political committee that makes an expenditure for the purpose of
expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate without
the authorization of the candidate that the expenditure was
intended to benefit violates this section and is subject to a civil
forfeiture of no more than $200.__A person or political committee
who distributes a communication for the purpose of issue advocacy
without notifying the candidate who is identified in the
communication, as required in subsection 2, violates this section
and is subject to a civil forfeiture of no more than $200.

 
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1015, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 161, §6, is
amended to read:

 
4. Political committees; intermediaries. For the purpose of
the limitations imposed by this section, contributions made to
any political committee authorized by a candidate to accept
contributions on the candidate's behalf are considered to be
contributions made to that candidate.

 
For the purposes of the limitations imposed by this section, all
contributions made by a person, either directly or indirectly, on
behalf of a particular candidate, including contributions which
that are in any way earmarked or otherwise directed through an
intermediary or conduit to the candidate, are considered to be
contributions from that person to the candidate. The intermediary
or conduit shall report the original source and the intended
recipient of the contribution to the commission and to the
intended recipient.

 
For the purposes of the limitations imposed by this section, an
expenditure by a political committee for a communication that
expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly
identified candidate is considered an expenditure by the
candidate that the communication is intended to benefit.

 
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1015, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1991, c. 839, §11
and affected by §34, is further amended to read:

 
6. Prohibited expenditures. A candidate, a treasurer, a
political committee, a party or party committee, a person
required to file a report under this subchapter or their
authorized agents may not make any expenditures for liquor to be
distributed to or consumed by voters while the polls are open on
election day. Expenditure for a communication that expressly
advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified

 
candidate is prohibited without the authorization of the
candidate that the communication is intended to benefit.

 
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1056-A, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 715, §3, is
amended to read:

 
§1056-A. Expenditures by political action committees

 
A political action committee shall report all expenditures in
cash or in kind made by the committee and any expenditures used
for communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat
of a clearly identified candidate that were made with the
authorization of the candidate the communications were intended
to benefit.

 
Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§7, ķA, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17,
is amended to read:

 
A. Of $5 $10 in the form of a check or a money order
payable to the fund in support of a candidate;

 
Sec. 7. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§9, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is
amended to read:

 
9. Seed money contribution. "Seed money contribution" means
a contribution of no more than $100 per individual made to a
candidate, including a contribution from the candidate or the
candidate's family. To be eligible for certification, a
candidate may collect and spend only seed money contributions
subsequent to becoming a candidate as defined by section 1,
subsection 5 beginning November 1st immediately preceding the
election year and throughout the qualifying period. A candidate
may not collect or spend seed money contributions after
certification as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate. The
primary purpose of a seed money contribution is to enable a
participating candidate to collect qualifying contributions. A
seed money contribution must be reported according to procedures
developed by the commission.

 
Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§15 is enacted to read:

 
15.__Political action committee.__A participating candidate is
not eligible for certification if that candidate solicits
contributions or makes expenditures for a political action
committee as defined by section 1052.

 
SUMMARY

 
This bill amends the laws governing campaign practices by
defining "issue advocacy" and stating that expenditures made by
individuals or political committees that are used for
communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of
a clearly identified candidate are contributions to the campaign
of the candidate that the communication is intended to benefit.
Expenditures for such contributions are prohibited without the
authorization of the candidate that the communication is intended
to benefit. Under this bill, communications that are considered
issue advocacy can not be distributed without first notifying the
candidate mentioned in the communication at least 48 hours in
advance. This bill also amends the Maine Clean Election Act by
increasing the amount of qualifying contributions from $5 to $10,
extending the time frame in which a candidate may collect and
spend seed money and prohibiting participating candidates from
soliciting contributions or making expenditures for a political
action committee.


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