HP0861, LD 1187, item 1, An Act To Apply the Same Auditing Standards to All Candidates and Political Action Committees

An Act To Apply the Same Auditing Standards to All Candidates and Political Action Committees

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1003, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2013, c. 162, §1, is further amended to read:

1. Investigations. The commission may shall undertake the audits and investigations provided for under this section to determine whether a person has violated this chapter, chapter 14 or the rules of the commission. For this purpose, the commission may subpoena witnesses and records whether located within or without the State and take evidence under oath. A person or entity that fails to obey the lawful subpoena of the commission or to testify before it under oath must be punished by the Superior Court for contempt upon application by the Attorney General on behalf of the commission. The Attorney General may apply on behalf of the commission to the Superior Court or to a court of another state to enforce compliance with a subpoena issued to a nonresident person. Service of any subpoena issued by the commission may be accomplished by:

A. Delivering a duly executed copy of the notice to the person to be served or to a partner or to any officer or agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process on behalf of that person;

B. Delivering a duly executed copy of the notice to the principal place of business in this State of the person to be served; or

C. Mailing by registered or certified mail a duly executed copy of the notice, addressed to the person to be served, to the person's principal place of business.

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1003, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:

1-A. Random audits and investigations. The commission shall undertake random audits and investigations to determine whether candidates for state office and political action committees required to file reports with the commission under section 1058 have violated this chapter, chapter 14 or the rules of the commission. The commission shall adopt rules to implement this subsection. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. At a minimum, the rules must:

A. Require the commission to audit and investigate an equal percentage of primary candidates for all state offices who are certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates under section 1125, subsection 5 and primary candidates for all state offices who are not certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates;

B. Require the commission to audit and investigate an equal percentage of general election candidates for all state offices who are certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates under section 1125, subsection 5 and general election candidates for all state offices who are not certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates;

C. Require the commission to audit and investigate a percentage of all political action committees required to file reports with the commission under section 1058 equal to the percentage of candidates audited and investigated under paragraph B;

D. Require candidates and political action committees selected for an audit and investigation to disclose records of all contributions and expenditures to the commission or its auditor; and

E. Establish standard auditing requirements that must be applied to each candidate or political action committee selected for an audit and investigation under this subsection.

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§12-B, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. B, §6, is repealed.

summary

This bill directs the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices to conduct random audits of political action committees that are required to file campaign finance reports with the commission and candidates for state office, including candidates for Governor, State Senator, State Representative and presidential elector. The bill directs the commission to adopt rules to implement this requirement. The rules must direct the commission to audit an equal percentage of candidates for state office who are certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates, candidates for state office who are not certified as Maine Clean Election Act candidates and political action committees. The rules must also establish standard auditing requirements to be applied to each candidate and political action committee.

HP0861 LD 1187	Session - 129th Maine Legislature		LR 1764 Item 1
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