(a) Providing advice to any one candidate for a period of no more than 20 hours in any election;

(b) Recruiting and overseeing volunteers for campaign activities involving 3 or more candidates; or

(c) Coordinating campaign events involving 3 or more candidates;

(8) Campaign training sessions provided to 3 or more candidates;

(9) The use of offices, telephones, computers and similar equipment when that use does not result in additional cost to the provider; or

(10) Activity or communication designed to encourage individuals to register to vote or to vote if that activity or communication does not mention a clearly identified candidate.

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1012, sub-§3, ¶B, as amended by PL 1999, c. 432, §2, is further amended to read:

B. Does not include:

(1) Any news story, commentary or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication, unless the facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee or candidate;

(2) Activity or communication designed to encourage individuals to register to vote or to vote if that activity or communication does not mention a clearly identified candidate;

(3) Any communication by any membership organization or corporation to its members or stockholders, if that membership organization or corporation is not organized primarily for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any person to state or county office;

(4) The use of real or personal property and the cost of invitations, food and beverages, voluntarily provided by an individual to a candidate in rendering voluntary personal services for candidate-related activities, if the cumulative value of these activities does not exceed $50 with respect to any election;

(5) Any unreimbursed travel expenses incurred and paid for by an individual who volunteers personal services to a candidate, if the cumulative amount of these expenses does not exceed $50 with respect to any election;

(6) Any communication by any person that is not made for the purpose of influencing the nomination for election, or election, of any person to state or county office;

(7) The payment by a party's state, district, county or municipal committee of the costs of preparation, display or mailing or other distribution incurred by the committee with respect to a printed slate card or sample ballot, or other printed listing, of 3 or more candidates for any political office for which an election is held;

(8) The use or distribution of any communication, as described in section 1014, prepared for a previous election and fully paid for during that election campaign which was not used or distributed in that previous election;

(9) Documents, in printed or electronic form, including party platforms, single copies of issue papers, information pertaining to the requirements of this Title and lists of registered voters, created or maintained by a political party for the general purpose of party building and provided to a candidate who is a member of that party;

(10) Compensation paid by a political party to an employee of that party, or compensation paid by a membership organization to an employee of that membership organization, for the following purposes:

(a) Providing advice to any one candidate for a period of no more than 20 hours in any election;

(b) Recruiting and overseeing volunteers for campaign activities involving 3 or more candidates; or

(c) Coordinating campaign events involving 3 or more candidates;

(11) Campaign training sessions provided to 3 or more candidates; or

(12) The use of offices, telephones, computers and similar equipment when that use does not result in additional cost to the provider.

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1012, sub-§5 is enacted to read:

5.__Membership organization.__"Membership organization" means a nonprofit corporation in good standing under Title 13-B with one or more classes of members who pay dues on a regular basis and have direct participatory rights in the governance of the organization pursuant to the organization's articles of incorporation or bylaws.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the laws governing campaign finance reports and finances to specify that compensation paid by a "membership organization" to an employee for certain activities is not considered either a contribution or a political expenditure.