An Act To Require Participating Candidates Who Are Principal Officers of Political Action Committees To Give a Percentage of Funds to the Maine Clean Election Fund

Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1124, sub-§2, ¶G,  as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended to read:

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1124, sub-§2, ¶H,  as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended to read:

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1124, sub-§2, ¶I  is enacted to read:

Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1125-A  is enacted to read:

§ 1125-A.  Participating candidate and political action committees

A participating candidate who is running for State Senator or State Representative and who is a principal officer of a political action committee that receives contributions and makes expenditures for the purpose of promoting the election or defeat of another candidate shall remit 25% of the funds received by the political action committee to the commission for deposit to the fund. Deposits to the fund from participating candidates as required by this section are limited to $5,000 from a participating candidate who is running for State Senator and $1,000 from a participating candidate who is running for State Representative.

summary

This bill requires a candidate for the Senate or House who is a participating candidate in the Maine Clean Election Act and a principal officer of a political action committee established for the purpose of promoting the election or defeat of another candidate to deposit a percentage of the contributions received by the political action committee to the Maine Clean Election Fund. Deposits to the fund are capped at $5,000 for Senate candidates and $1,000 for House candidates.