CHAPTER 575
S.P. 780 - L.D. 2029
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Study Alternative Voting Procedures, the Citizen Initiative Process and Minor Party Ballot Access
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §903-A, sub-§3 is enacted to read:
3. Information to circulators. An applicant for a direct initiative or a people's veto referendum pursuant to section 901 shall provide to each person who will be circulating petitions a copy of the laws and rules governing the circulation of petitions for a direct initiative or people's veto as provided by the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall provide a copy of the laws and rules governing the circulation of petitions for a direct initiative or people's veto when an approved petition form is provided to an applicant for a direct initiative or people's veto referendum. The copy of the laws and rules provided by the Secretary of State may also include comments that may aid in the comprehension of those laws and rules.
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1012, sub-§3, ¶A, as amended by PL 2003, c. 615, §1, is further amended to read:
A. Includes:
(1) A purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value made for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any person to political office, except that a loan of money to a candidate by a financial institution in this State made in accordance with applicable banking laws and regulations and in the ordinary course of business is not included;
(2) A contract, promise or agreement, expressed or implied, whether or not legally enforceable, to make any expenditure;
(3) The transfer of funds by a candidate or a political committee to another candidate or political committee; and
(4) A payment or promise of payment to a person contracted with for the purpose of supporting or opposing any candidate, campaign, political committee, political action committee, political party, referendum or initiated petition or circulating an initiated petition; and
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1052, sub-§3, ¶C, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 161, §6, is amended to read:
C. Any funds received by a political action committee which that are to be transferred to any candidate, committee, campaign or organization for the purpose of promoting, defeating or initiating a candidate, referendum, political party or initiative, including the collection of signatures for a direct initiative, in this State; or
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1052, sub-§4, ¶A, as amended by PL 1997, c. 683, Pt. A, §12, is further amended to read:
A. Includes:
(1) A purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value, made for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any person to political office; or for the initiation, support or defeat of a campaign, referendum or initiative, including the collection of signatures for a direct initiative, in this State;
(2) A contract, promise or agreement, expressed or implied, whether or not legally enforceable, to make any expenditure for the purposes set forth in this paragraph; and
(3) The transfer of funds by a political action committee to another candidate or political committee; and
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1052, sub-§5, ¶A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 729, §6, is further amended to read:
A. Includes:
(1) Any separate or segregated fund established by any corporation, membership organization, cooperative or labor organization whose purpose is to influence the outcome of an election, including a candidate or question;
(2) Any person who serves as a funding and transfer mechanism and spends money to initiate, advance, promote, defeat or influence in any way a candidate, campaign, political party, referendum or initiated petition in this State;
(3) Any organization, including any corporation or association, that has as its major purpose advocating the passage or defeat of a ballot question and that makes expenditures other than by contribution to a political action committee, for the purpose of the initiation, promotion or defeat of any question; and
(4) Any organization, including any corporation or association, that has as its major purpose advocating the passage or defeat of a ballot question and that solicits funds from members or nonmembers and spends more than $1,500 in a calendar year to initiate, advance, promote, defeat or influence in any way a candidate, campaign, political party, referendum or initiated petition, including the collection of signatures for a direct initiative, in this State; and
Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §1053, first ¶, as amended by PL 1999, c. 729, §7, is further amended to read:
Every political action committee that accepts contributions, incurs obligations or makes expenditures in the aggregate in excess of $1,500 in any single calendar year to initiate, support, defeat or influence in any way a campaign, referendum, initiated petition, including the collection of signatures for a direct initiative, candidate, political committee or another political action committee must register with the commission, within 7 days of accepting those contributions, incurring those obligations or making those expenditures, on forms prescribed by the commission. These forms must include the following information and any additional information reasonably required by the commission to monitor the activities of political action committees in this State under this subchapter:
Sec. 7. 21-A MRSA §1058, as amended by PL 1997, c. 567, §1, is further amended to read:
§1058. Reports; qualifications for filing
A political action committee that is registered with the commission or that accepts contributions or incurs obligations in an aggregate amount in excess of $50 on any one or more campaigns for the office of Governor, for state or county office or for the support or defeat of a referendum or initiated petition shall file a report on its activities in that campaign with the commission on forms as prescribed by the commission. A political action committee organized in this State required under this section to file a report shall file the report for each filing period under section 1059. A political action committee organized outside this State shall file with the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices of this State a copy of the report that the political action committee is required to file in the state in which the political action committee is organized. The political action committee shall file the copy only if it has expended funds or received contributions or made expenditures in this State. The copy of the report must be filed in accordance with the schedule of filing in the state where it is organized. If contributions or expenditures are made relating to a municipal office or referendum, the report must be filed with the clerk in the subject municipality. Any person or organization organized to oppose a question to be voted on by the electorate at referendum shall report, within 10 days following the drafting of the question by the Secretary of State and prior to the distribution of any petitions for voter signatures pursuant to chapter 11, to the commission as required in this section and sections 1059 and 1060.
Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §1060, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2005, c. 301, §27, is further amended to read:
4. Itemized expenditures. An itemization of each expenditure made to support or oppose any candidate, campaign, political committee, political action committee, political party, referendum or initiated petition, including the date, payee and purpose of the expenditure and the address of the payee. If expenditures were made to a person described in section 1012, subsection 3, paragraph A, subparagraph (4), the report must contain the name of the person; the amount spent by that person on behalf of the candidate, campaign, political committee, political action committee, political party, referendum or initiated petition, including, but not limited to, expenditures made during the signature gathering phase; the reason for the expenditure; and the date of the expenditure. The commission may specify the categories of expenditures that are to be reported to enable the commission to closely monitor the activities of political action committees;
Sec. 9. Secretary of State to report on information provided to voters regarding statewide referendum questions on ballot. By September 1, 2006, the Secretary of State using existing budgeted resources shall issue a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs that examines voter awareness in other states that mail voter information pamphlets on statewide referendum questions directly to voters. The report must include suggestions for improving the way information is provided to voters regarding statewide referendum questions in this State.
Sec. 10. Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices to report regarding campaign finance reports for direct initiative campaigns and public access to those reports. By September 1, 2006, the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices shall issue a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs regarding campaign finance reports for direct initiative campaigns. The report must include the commission's examination of the feasibility of requiring political action committees to identify the direct initiative campaigns that the political action committees are receiving or expending money in support of or opposition to, whether voter information pamphlets or posters published by the State and publications by political action committees in support of or opposition to ballot measures should be required to include information indicating where campaign finance reports about the measure may be obtained, reducing the spending threshold that triggers reporting as a political action committee and, in the months prior to an election, increasing the frequency of reports by political action committees that have raised or spent in excess of $40,000 on a ballot measure.
Sec. 11. Secretary of State and Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices to work collaboratively on providing information about direct initiatives. By September 1, 2006, the Secretary of State and the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices shall jointly develop a plan to provide information on their respective public accessible websites directing the public to information currently published and available about direct initiative petitions and campaign finance reports filed relative to those direct initiative petitions and submit that plan to the Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs.
Effective August 23, 2006.
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