HP1019, LD 1480, item 1, An Act To Improve the Disclosure of Major Contributors Influencing Maine Elections

An Act To Improve the Disclosure of Major Contributors Influencing Maine Elections

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

Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1052, sub-§5, ¶B, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §32, is further amended to read:

B. Does not include:

(1) A candidate or a candidate's treasurer under section 1013-A, subsection 1;

(2) A candidate's authorized political committee under section 1013-A, subsection 1, paragraph B;

(3) A party committee under section 1013-A, subsection 3; or

(4) An organization whose only payments of money in the prior 2 years in a calendar year for the purpose of influencing a campaign in this State are cash contributions to candidates, party committees, political action committees or ballot question committees registered with the commission or a municipality and that has not raised and accepted any contributions during the calendar year for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign in this State.

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1056-B, first ¶, as amended by PL 2015, c. 408, §3, is further amended to read:

A person not defined as a political action committee that receives contributions or makes expenditures, other than by cash contribution to a political action committee or a ballot question committee, aggregating in excess of $5,000 for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign as defined by section 1052, subsection 1 shall register as a ballot question committee and file reports with the commission in accordance with this section. For the purposes of this section, "campaign" does not include activities to influence the nomination or election of a candidate. For the purposes of this section, expenditures include paid staff time spent for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign.

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1056-B, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2015, c. 408, §3, is further amended to read:

2. Content. A report required by this section must contain an itemized account with the date, amount and purpose of each expenditure made for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign; an itemized account of contributions received from a single source aggregating in excess of $50 in any election; the date of each contribution; the date and purpose of each expenditure; the name and address of each contributor, payee or creditor; and the occupation and principal place of business, if any, for any person who has made contributions exceeding $50 in the aggregate. The filer is required to report only those contributions made to the filer for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign and only those expenditures made for those purposes. The definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" in section 1052, subsections 3 and 4, respectively, apply to persons required to file ballot question reports.

Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1056-B, sub-§2-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §§40 and 41, is further amended to read:

2-A. Contributions. For the purposes of this section, "contribution" includes, but is not limited to:

A. Funds or anything of value that the contributor specified were given in connection with for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign;

A-1. Funds or anything of value solicited by the committee, in whole or in part, for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign;

B. Funds or anything of value provided in response to a solicitation that would lead the contributor to believe that all or a portion of the funds or thing of value, such as services, would be used specifically for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign;

C. Funds or anything of value that can reasonably be determined to have been provided by the contributor , in whole or in part, for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign when viewed in the context of the contribution and the recipient's activities regarding a campaign; and

D. Funds or transfers from the general treasury of an organization filing a ballot question report.

Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1060, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §47, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

6. Identification of contributions. Names, occupations, places of business and mailing addresses of contributors who have given more than $50 to the political action committee in the reporting period and the amount and date of each contribution as follows.

A. A person or fund qualifying as a political action committee under section 1052, subsection 5, paragraph A, subparagraphs (1) or (4) shall report the required information for all contributions exceeding the $50 aggregate threshold.

B. An organization qualifying as a political action committee under section 1052, subsection 5, paragraph A, subparagraph (5) shall report the required information only for those contributions made to the organization for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign, including:

(1) Contributions solicited by the political action committee, in whole or in part, for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign;

(2) Contributions that the contributor specified were given for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign;

(3) Contributions provided in response to a solicitation that would lead the contributor to believe that all or a portion of the funds or any services contributed would be used for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign;

(4) Contributions that can reasonably be determined to have been provided by the contributor, in whole or in part, for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign when viewed in the context of the contribution and the recipient's activities regarding a campaign; and

(5) Funds or transfers from the general treasury of an organization filing a political action committee report; and

Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §1060-A is enacted to read:

§ 1060-A. Reporting by major contributors

Any person, other than an individual, that makes cash contributions to a political action committee, party committee or ballot question committee aggregating in excess of $100,000 within a calendar year is considered a major contributor to the recipient committee and shall file reports as set out in this section. The requirement to file a report as a major contributor does not apply to a political action committee, party committee or ballot question committee registered with the commission or a municipality.

1. Notice to major contributor. Within 5 days of receiving more than $100,000 in the aggregate within a calendar year from a major contributor, the recipient committee shall provide written notice to the major contributor of the reporting requirement under this section and shall submit a copy of the notice to the commission. If the contribution that exceeds the $100,000 aggregate amount is received during the last 13 days before an election, the recipient committee shall provide written notice of the reporting requirement to the major contributor within 24 hours of receipt and submit a copy of the notice to the commission. The commission shall prepare a sample written notice for this purpose.

2. Required reports. A major contributor shall file a report containing the information required in subsection 3 on or before the filing deadline under section 1059, subsection 2 for the recipient committee's October quarterly or 11-day preelection campaign finance report, whichever occurs first after the major contributor receives notice of the reporting requirement. If a major contributor makes a contribution of more than $100,000 during the 13 days before an election, the major contributor shall file a report within 2 business days of receiving notice from the recipient committee or the commission. The commission shall prescribe and prepare forms for these reports and may require major contributors to file reports electronically.

3. Content. In the reports required under subsection 2, a major contributor shall provide:

A. The name of and relevant contact information for the major contributor and the name of a responsible officer of the major contributor;

B. The form of organization and purpose of the major contributor;

C. The amounts and dates of each contribution from the major contributor to the recipient committee during the calendar year;

D. A certification that the major contributor has not received contributions, in whole or in part, for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign in this State, or if the major contributor has received such contributions, the date, source and amount of any such contributions;

E. Information concerning the 5 largest sources of funds received by the major contributor during the 12 months prior to the filing of the report, including but not limited to the source and amounts of the funds and the dates received; and

F. A statement indicating whether the major contributor is exempt from taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code and a list of any governmental jurisdictions within the United States in which the major contributor has filed campaign finance reports during the previous 12 months.

The commission may require by rule additional information to be reported consistent with subsection 3 to facilitate disclosure to citizens of this State of financial activity conducted for the purpose of influencing elections in the State. The commission may, by rule, permit major contributors to exclude the sources of funds that are restricted to purposes unrelated to elections.

4. Noncompliance. The commission may assess a civil penalty against a major contributor that does not file a timely report required under this section. The preliminary penalty is 10% of the total contributions required to be reported, up to a maximum of $50,000. Within 2 weeks of receiving notice of the preliminary penalty from the commission, the major contributor may request that the penalty be waived in full or in part. In considering a request for a waiver, the commission shall consider, among other things, any lack of notice to the major contributor of the reporting requirement, the number of days that the report was filed late and the amount of the contributions required to be reported. The commission may assess a civil penalty in the same amount against a recipient committee that has not provided written notice of the reporting requirements to the major contributor, using the same procedures as set out in this subsection for penalties against the major contributor.

summary

This bill amends the law governing campaign financing and reporting by:

1. Setting more specific criteria for the reporting of contributions by an organization that has received funds for multiple purposes and has formed a political action committee; and

2. Requiring an organization that has contributed more than $100,000 to a political action committee, party committee or ballot question committee in this State to file a one-time report with the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices disclosing information about the organization, its top 5 sources of funding and a certification as to whether the organization has received money to influence elections in this State.

HP1019 LD 1480	Session - 128th Maine Legislature		LR 1213 Item 1
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