An Act Regarding the Matching Funds Provisions of the Maine Clean Election Act
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled on matching funds provisions in a program that provides public financing to legislative candidates similar to the Maine Clean Election Act; and
Whereas, the Maine Clean Election Act will be administered during the 2012 election cycle, which commences prior to 90 days after adjournment; and
Whereas, the Legislature must conform the Maine Clean Election Act to the court's ruling as soon as possible; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1017, sub-§3-B, as corrected by RR 2009, c. 2, §46, is repealed.
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1019-B, sub-§4, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 524, §7, is amended to read:
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1020-A, sub-§4-A, as amended by PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. A, §22, is further amended to read:
Any penalty of less than $10 is waived.
Violations accumulate on reports with filing deadlines in a 2-year period that begins on January 1st of each even-numbered year. Waiver of a penalty does not nullify the finding of a violation.
A report required to be filed under this subchapter that is sent by certified or registered United States mail and postmarked at least 2 days before the deadline is not subject to penalty.
A registration or report may be provisionally filed by transmission of a facsimile copy of the duly executed report to the commission, as long as the facsimile copy is filed by the applicable deadline and an original of the same report is received by the commission within 5 calendar days thereafter.
The penalty for late filing of an accelerated campaign finance report as required in section 1017, subsection 3-B may be up to but no more than 3 times the amount by which the contributions received or expenditures obligated or made by the candidate exceed the applicable Maine Clean Election Fund disbursement amount, per day of violation. The commission shall make a finding of fact establishing when the report was due prior to imposing a penalty under this subsection. A penalty for failure to file an accelerated campaign finance report must be made payable to the Maine Clean Election Fund. In assessing a penalty for failure to file an accelerated campaign finance report, the commission shall consider the existence of mitigating circumstances. For the purposes of this subsection, "mitigating circumstances" has the same meaning as in subsection 2.
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1020-A, sub-§5-A, ¶¶C and D, as amended by PL 2003, c. 628, Pt. A, §4, are further amended to read:
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1020-A, sub-§5-A, ¶E, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 714, Pt. PP, §1 and affected by §2, is repealed.
Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-A, ¶¶A and B, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 302, §17 and affected by §24, are amended to read:
Sec. 7. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-A, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 302, §17 and affected by §24, is repealed.
Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§9, as repealed and replaced by PL 2009, c. 652, Pt. A, §25 and affected by §26, is repealed.
Sec. 9. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§13-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §58 and affected by §62, is further amended to read:
This subsection takes effect September 1, 2011.
[PL 2011, c. 389, § 58 (AMD).][PL 2011, c. 389, § 62 (AFF).]Sec. 10. 21-A MRSA §1127, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 302, §23, is further amended to read:
Sec. 11. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
ETHICS AND ELECTION PRACTICES, COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL
Governmental Ethics and Election Practices - Commission on 0414
Initiative: Reduction in payments to candidates from eliminating matching funds.
| OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
|
All Other
|
($473,001) | ($927,880) |
 |
|
|
| OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL | ($473,001) | ($927,880) |
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
This bill strikes provisions governing and references to matching funds within the Maine Clean Election Act in response to the 2011 ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett (2011). The bill also repeals candidate and independent expenditure reporting requirements directly related to the matching funds provisions. The bill includes an appropriations and allocations section.