PART A

Sec. A-1. 3 MRSA §168-A, sub-§12 is enacted to read:

12.__Solicitation of funds prohibited without prior written approval.__No public or private entity may solicit or receive funds from any source on behalf of or for the benefit of the council without prior written approval of the Legislative Council or its executive director.__All such funds, if approved and when received by the requesting entity, must be immediately transferred in full to the Legislature and reserved by the Legislature for use by the council.

Sec. A-2. PL 2005, c. 414, §§3 to 5 are repealed.

Sec. A-3. Commissioner of Education to fund 2 public forums of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council during fiscal year 2006-07. The Commissioner of Education shall use funds received by the Department of Education to support the Task Force on Citizenship Education, established pursuant to Resolve 2003, chapter 143, to pay all costs associated with 2 statewide public forums to be held by the Legislative Youth Advisory Council established in the Maine Revised Statute, Title 3, section 168-A. Furthermore, the department shall reimburse the Legislature for Legislator expenses incurred in participating in the public forums. At the conclusion of the forums and payment of related costs, the department shall provide the Executive Director of the Legislative Council with a detailed financial accounting for all expenses incurred for each public forum, including the sources of the funding.

The 2 public forums must be held between July 1, 2006 and November 30, 2006, in high schools north and south of Augusta and must be for the purpose of soliciting input, suggestions and ideas for enhanced civic education in the State's secondary school system. The commissioner shall provide at least one staff person to attend each public forum and prepare written summaries of the meetings. The Legislative Council shall also provide a staff person to attend each public forum. These 2 public forums of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council constitute 2 of the 6 annual meetings of the council authorized under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 3, section 168-A, subsection 1. The Legislative Youth Advisory Council must include a summary of those public forums, along with any recommendations resulting from those forums, in a report submitted to the Legislative Council by January 15, 2007.