SP0395
LD 1174
Session - 128th Maine Legislature
C "A", Filing Number S-214, Sponsored by
LR 460
Item 2
Bill Tracking, Additional Documents Chamber Status

Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:

‘An Act To Require Reporting of Expenditures for Bulk Mail by Candidates and Political Action Committees’

Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:

Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1017, sub-§5,  as amended by PL 2011, c. 522, §1, is further amended to read:

5. Content.   A report required under this section must contain the itemized accounts of contributions received during that report filing period, including the date a contribution was received, and the name, address, occupation, principal place of business, if any, and the amount of the contribution of each person who has made a contribution or contributions aggregating in excess of $50. The report must contain the itemized expenditures made or authorized during the report filing period, the date and purpose of each expenditure and the name of each payee and creditor and any refund that a payee has made to the candidate or an agent of the candidate. If the payee is a member of the candidate's household or immediate family, the candidate must disclose the candidate's relationship to the payee in a manner prescribed by the commission. The report must contain a statement of any loan to a candidate by a financial institution in connection with that candidate's candidacy that is made during the period covered by the report, whether or not the loan is defined as a contribution under section 1012, subsection 2, paragraph A. The report must contain documentation of any expenditure for bulk mail accompanied by a copy of United States Postal Service form 3602, or its successor form, for standard mail and form 3600, or its successor form, for first-class mail. The candidate and the treasurer are jointly and severally responsible for the timely and accurate filing of each required report.

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1060, sub-§6,  as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §47, is further amended to read:

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, except that an organization qualifying as a political action committee under section 1052, subsection 5, paragraph A, subparagraph (5) is required to report only those contributions made to the organization for the purpose of influencing a ballot question or the nomination or election of a candidate to political office and all transfers to or funds used to support the political action committee from the general treasury of the organization; and

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1060, sub-§7,  as amended by PL 2015, c. 408, §6, is further amended to read:

7. Other expenditures.   Operational expenses and other expenditures that are not made on behalf of a candidate, committee or campaign, except that an organization qualifying as a political action committee under section 1052, subsection 5, paragraph A, subparagraph (5) is required to report only those expenditures made for the purpose of influencing a campaign . ; and

Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1060, sub-§8  is enacted to read:

8 Bulk mail reporting.   Documentation of any expenditure for bulk mail accompanied by a copy of United States Postal Service form 3602, or its successor form, for standard mail and form 3600, or its successor form, for first-class mail.

summary

Like the bill, this amendment requires reporting of expenditures used for bulk mail. Unlike the bill, which only applied to campaigns with a candidate certified as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate, this amendment requires documentation of the use of bulk mail by all candidates and political action committees to be included in campaign finance reports.


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