An Act To Improve the Campa~ Finance Laws aad Their Administratioa
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 2070
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: PATRICK, MARRACIIE
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1002, 21-A MRSA §1003, 21-A MRSA §1005, 21-A MRSA §1011, 21-A MRSA §1125

Legislative Document 
No.. 2070 
H.P.1454 
House of Representatives, December 21,2007 
An Act To Improve the Campa~ Finance Laws aad Their 
Administratioa 
Submitted by the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices pursuant to 
Joint Rule 204. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 19,2007. Referred to the Committee on 
Legal and Veterans Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401. 
Presented by Representative PATRICK of Rumford. 
Cosponsored by Senator MARRACIIE of Kennebec. 
Printed on recyc led paper 
7J1~1J?~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §l002, sub-§2, as amet:lded by PL 2005, c. 271, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
2. Qualifications. The members of the commission must be persons of recognized 
judgment, probity and objectivity. A person may not be appointed to this commission 
who is a member of the Legislature or who was a member of the previous Legislature, 
who was a declared candidate for an elective county, state or federal office within 2 years 
prior to the appointment, or who now holds an elective county, state or federal office, 
who is aA offieer ofa politieal eommittee, party eommittee or politieal lletioA eommittee 
or who holds a positioA iA a politieal paFt)' or eampaigA. A person may not serve on the 
commission who is an officer, director, employee or primary decision maker of a party 
committee, political action committee or candidate committee authorized under Title 
21-A, section 10 13-A, subsection 1, paragraph B. 
Sec.2. 1 MRS A §l002, sub-§2-A is enacted to read: 
2-A. Removal. A member of the commission may be removed by the Governor on 
the address of both branches of the Legislature or by impeachment pursuant to the 
Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 5. 
Sec.3. 1 MRSA §l002, sub-§2-B is enacted to read: 
2-D. Conflict of interest. This subsection governs conflicts of interest of members 
of the commission. 
A. A member of the commission has a conflict of interest in a matter before the 
commission if the member has a business or close political relationship with a party 
to the matter. A close political relationship exists when a member has significant past 
or ongoing involvement with a political committee or a candidate, as defined in Title 
21-A, section 1., subsection 30 and subsection 5, respectively, or other organization 
involved in the matter, that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the 
member is unable to objectively consider the matter. A close political relationsbip is 
not created by making a contribution to a political committee, organization or 
candidate; party enrollment status; or mere membership in an organization involved 
in the matter. 
B. If members of the commission have a conflict of interest in a matter before the 
commission, the members shall recuse themselves from the matter and may not vote 
on or attempt to influence the outcome of the matter. Whether or not recusal is 
required under this paragraph, members of the commission shall consider recusing 
themselves from any matter that would give rise to an appearance of a conflict of 
interest. 
C. 
I f the commission receives a written complaint alleging that a member has a 
conflict of interest, the commission shall provide the complainant an opportunity to 
be heard at the next meeting of the commission. At the meeting, the member may 
., 
.. 
• 
I 
address the allegations raised in the complaint and shall state whether the member has 
a conflict of interest in that matter. 
Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1002, as repealed and replaced by PL 2001, c. 667, Pt. A, 
§43, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
§1002. Meetings of commission 
II 
1. Meeting schedule. The commission shall meet in Augusta for the purposes of 
th is chapter at least once per month in any year in which primary and general elections 
are held and every 2 weeks in the 60 days preceding an election. 
In the 28 days 
preceding an election, the commission shall meet in Augusta within one calendar day of 
the filing of any complaint or question with the commission. Agenda items in the 28 
days preceding an election must be decided within 24 hours of the filing unless all parties 
involved agree otherwise. 
2. Telephone meetine.s. The commission may hold meetings over the telephone if 
necessary, as long as the commission provides notice to all affected parties in accordance 
IS 
with the rules of the commission and the commission's office remains open for 
attendance by complainants, witnesses. the press and other members of the public. 
Notwithstanding Title 1, chapter 13, telephone meetings of the commission are pennitted: 
A. During the 28 days prior to an election when the commission is required to meet 
within 24 hours of the filing of any complaint or question with the commission; or 
B. To address procedural or logistical issues before a monthly meeting. such as the 
schedul ing of meetings, deadlines for parties' submission of written materials, setting 
of meeting agenda, requests to postpone or reschedule agenda items, issuing 
subpoenas for documents or witnesses and recusal of commission members. 
3. Other meetine.s. The commission shall meet at other times on the call of the 
Secretary of State, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House or the chair or a 
majority of the members of the commission, as long as all members are notified of the 
time, place and purpose of the meeting at least 24 hours in advance. 
4. 
Office hours before election. 
The commission office must be open with 
adequate staff resources available to respond to inquiries and receive complaints from 8 
a.m. until at least 5:30 p.m. on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday immediately preceding 
I 
an election and from 8 a.m. until at least 8 p.m. on election day. 
Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1003, sub-§3-A is enacted to read: 
3-A. Audit working papers. Audit working papers are confidential and may not be 
disclosed to any person outside of the commission except the audited entity, other entities 
as necessary for the conduct of the audit and law enforcement and other agencies for 
purposes of reporting, investigating or prosecuting a criminal or civil violation. 
For 
purposes of this subsection, "audit working papers" means all documentary and other 
information acquired, prepared or maintained by the commission during the conduct of an 
audit or investigation, including all intra-agency and interagency communications relating 
to the audit or investigation and draft reports or any portion of a draft report. A final 
I 
audit report or any records made public in an enforcement or other proceeding of the 
commission are not confidential. 
Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §1005 is enacted to read: 
§l005. Restrictions on commercial use of contributor information 
Information concerning contributors contained in campaign finance reports filed by 
candidates, political action committees and party committees and reports filed under 
section 1056-8 may not be used for any commercial purpose, including, but not limited 
to, the sales and marketing of products and services, or for solicitations of any kind not 
directly related to activities of a political party, so-called "get out the vote" efforts or 
activities directly related to a campaign as defined in section 1052. Any person obtaining 
contributor information from the reports is prohibited from selling or distributing it to 
others to use for commercial purposes and also is prohibited from making publicly 
available the mailing addresses of contributors. This section does not prohibit a political 
party, party committee, candidate committee, political action committee or any other 
organization that has obtained contributor information from the commission from 
providing access to such information to its members for purposes directly related to party 
activities, so-called "get out the vote" efforts or a campaign as defined in section 1052. A 
person who violates this section is subject to a fine of up to $5,000. A person who 
knowingly violates this section commits a Class E crime. 
Sec. 7. 
21-A MRSA §1011, sub-§l, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 483, §2, IS 
amended to read: 
1. Role of the municipal clerk; commission. For candidates for municipal office, 
the municipal clerk is responsible for any duty assigned to the commission in this 
subchapter related to the registration of candidates, receipt of reports and distribution of 
information or forms, unless otherwise provided. Notwithstanding any other deadline set 
forth in this chapter, candidates mll5t file their reports by the close of business on the 
filing deadline established for the office of the municipal clerk. The commission retains 
the sole authority to prescribe the content of all reporting forms. 
Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §l059, first~, as amended by PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. A, §35, is 
further amended to read: 
Committees required to register under section 1053 shall file reports in compliance 
with this section. All reports must be filed by 11 :59 p.m. on the filing deadline. except 
that reports submitted to a municipal clerk must be filed by the close of business on the 
filing deadline. 
Sec. 9. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 240, Pt. F, § 1 
and by c. 443, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read: 
3. 
Qualifying contributions. 
Participating candidates must obtain qualifying 
contributions during the qualifying period as follows: 
• 
A. For a gubernatorial candidate, at least 3,250 verified registered voters of this State 
must support the candidacy by providing a qualifying contribution to that candidate; 
B. For a candidate for the State Senate, at least 150 verified registered voters from 
the candidate's electoral division must support the candidacy by providing a 
qualifying contribution to that candidate; or 
C. 
For a candidate for the State House of Representatives, at least 50 verified 
registered voters from the candidate's electoral division must support the candidacy 
by providing a qualifying contribution to that candidate. 
A payment, gift or anything of value may not be given in exchange for a qualifying 
contribution. 
A candidate may pay the fee for a money order that is a qualifying 
II 
contribution in the amount of $5 as long as the donor making the qualifying contribution 
pays the $5 amount reflected on the money order. Any money order fees paid by a 
participating candidate must be paid for with seed money and reported in accordance with 
commission rules. 
A money order must be signed by the contributor to be a valid 
IS 
qualifying contribution. The commission may establish by routine technical rule, adopted 
in accordance with Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A, a procedure for a qualifying 
contribution to be made by a credit or debit transaction and by electronic funds transfer 
over the Internet. Information that the commission maintains electronically concerning 
individuals who have made qualifying contributions over the Internet is confidential and 
is not a public record within the meaning of Title 1, chapter 13, subchapter 1, and the 
commission shall provide this information in electronic fonn only to the candidate 
supported by the qualifying contribution or the candidate's designee. 
It is a violation of this chapter for a participating candidate or an agent of the participating 
candidate to misrepresent the purpose of soliciting qualifying contributions and obtaining 
the contributor's signed acknowledgement. 
Sec. 10. 2l-A MRSA §1125, sub-§12, as enacted by IB 1995, c. I, §17, IS 
amended to read: 
12. 
Reporting; unspent revenue. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
participating and certified candidates shall report any money collected, all campaign 
expenditures. obligations and related activities to the commission according to procedures 
I 
developed by the commission. If a certified candidate pays fund revenues to a member of 
the candidate's immediate family or a business or nonprofit entity affiliated with a 
member of the candidate's immediate family, the candidate must disclose the family 
relationship in a manner prescribed by the commission. Upon the filing of a final report 
for any primary election in which the candidate was defeated and for all general elections 
that candidate shall return all unspent fund revenues to the commission. In developing 
these procedures, the commission shall utilize existing campaign reporting procedur~s 
whenever practicable. The commission shall ensure timely public access to campa: , 
finance data and may utilize electronic means of reporting and storing information. 
SUMMARY 
The bill authorizes the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices 
to hold telephone meetings to discuss procedural or logistical issues after providing notice 
Pagt: 4 - I23LR3164(OI)-1 
I 
II 
to any affected parties. It requires audit working papers to be kept confidential unless 
presented at a public meeting of the commission. It prohibits information filed with the 
commission concerning the names and address of political contributors from being used 
for commercial purposes, but allows the information to be used for political 
communications relating to state elections. It creates a filing deadline of the close of the 
business day for municipal clerks receiving campaign finance reports. It permits the 
commission to provide to candidates and their designees in electronic format the names 
and addresses of Maine voters who made $5 contributions in support of the candidate 
qualifying for public campaign financing, but prohibits the release of that information in 
electronic format to others. 
It requires a candidate participating in the Maine Clean 
Election Act to disclose the family relationship of any relative who has been paid public 
campaign funds for providing services to the campaign. It amends the qualifications for 
serving on the commission and clarifies which conflicts of interest require commission 
members to recuse themselves from a particular matter. 
"