‘An Act To Define the Terms "Caucus Political Action Committee" and "Unenrolled Political Action Committee"’
| SP0654 LD 1902 |
Session - 129th Maine Legislature C "B", Filing Number S-392, Sponsored by
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LR 2667 Item 3 |
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| Bill Tracking, Additional Documents | Chamber Status | ||
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Define the Terms "Caucus Political Action Committee" and "Unenrolled Political Action Committee"’
Amend the bill by inserting after the enacting clause and before section 1 the following:
‘Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §1002, sub-§1-A, as amended by PL 2019, c. 323, §1, is further amended to read:
Amend the bill by inserting after section 1 the following:
‘Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1001, sub-§4 is enacted to read:
Amend the bill in section 2 in subsection 2 in the 3rd line (page 1, line 10 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "committees" the following: ' , unenrolled political action committees'
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 3 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1053-C is enacted to read:
§ 1053-C. Caucus political action committees and unenrolled political action committees
Amend the bill by inserting after section 4 the following:
‘Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§10 is enacted to read:
Amend the bill in section 5 in subsection 6-F in the blocked paragraph in the 5th line (page 2, line 5 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "committee," the following: ' an unenrolled political action committee,'
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
summary
This amendment, which is a minority report of the committee, clarifies the process for the designation of caucus political action committees by specifying that each Senate caucus leader and each House caucus leader may designate one caucus political action committee to promote the election of nominees of the caucus leader's political party to the body of the Legislature of which that caucus leader is a member. Under the amendment, a caucus leader is a member of a political party in a body of the Legislature who has been elected the leader of that political party in that body of the Legislature. If the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House is a member of a political party, the President of the Senate or Speaker of the House is the caucus leader of that political party in the respective body of the Legislature.
The amendment also makes technical changes to the law governing the appointment of members of the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. Specifically, in the provisions outlining who has the authority to propose individuals for appointment to the commission, the phrases "appointed leader from each political party in the Senate" and "appointed leader from each political party in the House of Representatives" are replaced with the newly defined terms "Senate caucus leader" and "House caucus leader."
The amendment further allows the unenrolled members of the Senate and the unenrolled members of the House of Representatives to elect a leader who may designate an unenrolled political action committee to promote the election of unenrolled candidates to that body of the Legislature. Like a caucus political action committee, an unenrolled political action committee may make unlimited donations to a candidate to fund a recount. In addition, although Maine Clean Election Act candidates are generally prohibited from serving as the treasurer, principal officer, primary fund-raiser or primary decision maker for a political action committee, the amendment authorizes Maine Clean Election Act candidates to engage in fund-raising or decision making for an unenrolled political action committee to the same extent that Maine Clean Election Act candidates may engage in such activities for a caucus political action committee.