Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1014, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1991, c. 839, §8, is further amended to read:

1. Authorized by candidate. Whenever a person makes an expenditure to finance a communication expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate through broadcasting stations, newspapers, magazines, outdoor advertising facilities, direct mails or other similar types of general public political advertising or through flyers, handbills, bumper stickers and other nonperiodical publications, the communication, if authorized by a candidate, a candidate's authorized political committee or their agents, must clearly and conspicuously state that the communication has been so authorized and must clearly state the name and address of the person who made or financed the expenditure for the communication. The following forms of political communication do not require the name and address of the person who made or authorized the expenditure for the communication because the name or address would be so small as to be illegible or infeasible: ashtrays, badges and badge holders, balloons, campaign buttons, clothing, coasters, combs, emery boards, envelopes, erasers, glasses, key rings, letter openers, matchbooks, nail files, noisemakers, paper and plastic cups, pencils, pens, plastic tableware, 12-inch or shorter rulers, swizzle sticks, tickets to fund-raisers and similar items determined by the commission to be too small and unnecessary for the disclosures required by this section.

A candidate who is a Maine Clean Election Act candidate under chapter 14 shall clearly and conspicuously state on a communication under this subsection that the communication has been paid for by the citizens of the State and authorized by the candidate.

SUMMARY

This bill requires a candidate who is a Maine Clean Election Act candidate to have a disclaimer on communications that state that the communication was paid for by the citizens of the State and authorized by the candidate.