An Act To Treat Party Formation Committees the Same as Ballot Question Committees for Purposes of the Campaign Finance Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1879
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: FOSSEL, KATZ, BURNS, FITZPATRICK, HAYES, NUTTING, O'CONNOR, OLSEN, SIROCKI
Amends: 1 MRSA §1002, 1 MRSA §1015, 21-A MRSA §1003, 21-A MRSA §1005, 21-A MRSA §1014, 21-A MRSA §1056-C, 21-A MRSA §1059, 21-A MRSA §1062-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1879 
H.P. 1391 
House of Representatives, March 14, 2012 
An Act To Treat Party Formation Committees the Same as Ballot 
Question Committees for Purposes of the Campaign Finance Laws 
(AFTER DEADLINE) 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
205. 
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative FOSSEL of Alna. 
Cosponsored by Senator KATZ of Kennebec and 
Representatives: BURNS of Whiting, FITZPATRICK of Houlton, HAYES of Buckfield, 
McKANE of Newcastle, Speaker NUTTING of Oakland, O'CONNOR of Berwick, OLSEN of 
Phippsburg, SIROCKI of Scarborough. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  1 MRSA §1002, sub-§2-B, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 571, §3, is amended 
to read: 
2-B.  Annual disclosure statement.  Each member shall file a disclosure statement 
with the executive director of the commission by February 15th of each year, which must 
include: 
A.  The names of and the positions held in all candidate committees, political action 
committees, ballot question committees, party formation committees and party 
committees of which the member or the member's spouse or domestic partner was an 
officer, director or primary decision maker or fund raiser during the previous calendar 
year; 
B.  The names of and positions held in all nonprofit or commercial organizations of 
which the member or the member's spouse or domestic partner was an owner, officer, 
director or primary decision maker or fund raiser that, during the previous calendar 
year, made expenditures of more than $1,500 to influence an election or employed a 
lobbyist who was required to register with the commission; and 
C.  Any additional information that the commission determines appropriate. 
A member shall notify the executive director if the member becomes an officer, director, 
employee or primary decision maker or fund raiser of a party committee, political action 
committee, ballot question committee, party formation committee or candidate committee 
within 21 days of the event. 
Sec. 2.  1 MRSA §1015, sub-§3, ¶B, as amended by PL 2009, c. 286, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
B.  The Governor, a member of the Legislature or any constitutional officer or the 
staff or agent of the Governor, a member of the Legislature or any constitutional 
officer may not intentionally solicit or accept a contribution from a lobbyist, lobbyist 
associate or employer during any period of time in which the Legislature is convened 
before final adjournment, except for a qualifying contribution as defined under Title 
21-A, section 1122, subsection 7.  A lobbyist, lobbyist associate or employer may not 
intentionally give, offer or promise a contribution, other than a qualifying 
contribution, to the Governor, a member of the Legislature or any constitutional 
officer or the staff or agent of the Governor, a member of the Legislature or any 
constitutional officer during any time in which the Legislature is convened before 
final adjournment.  These prohibitions apply to contributions directly and indirectly 
solicited or accepted by, or given, offered and promised to a political action 
committee, ballot question committee, party formation committee or party committee 
of which the Governor, a member of the Legislature, a constitutional officer or the 
staff or agent of these officials is a treasurer, officer or primary fund-raiser or 
decision maker. 
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §1003, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
1.  Investigations.  The commission may undertake audits and investigations to 
determine the facts concerning the registration of a candidate, treasurer, party committee, 
political action committee, ballot question committee, party formation committee or other 
political committee and contributions by or to and expenditures by a person, candidate, 
treasurer, party committee, political action committee, ballot question committee, party 
formation committee or other political committee.  For this purpose, the commission may 
subpoena witnesses and records whether located within or without the State and take 
evidence under oath.  A person or entity that fails to obey the lawful subpoena of the 
commission or to testify before it under oath must be punished by the Superior Court for 
contempt upon application by the Attorney General on behalf of the commission. 
Sec. 4.  21-A MRSA §1003, sub-§3-A, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 571, §6, is 
amended to read: 
B.  Information belonging to a party committee, political action committee, ballot 
question committee, party formation committee, candidate or candidate's authorized 
committee that, if disclosed, would reveal sensitive political or campaign 
information; 
Sec. 5.  21-A MRSA §1005, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 571, §7, is amended to 
read: 
§1005.  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 sections 1056-B and 1056-C 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. 6.  21-A MRSA §1014, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 389, §13, is 
amended to read: 
6.  Exclusions.  The requirements of this section do not apply to: 
A.  Handbills or other literature produced and distributed at a cost not exceeding $100 
and prepared by one or more individuals who are not required to register or file 
campaign finance reports with the commission and who are acting independently of 
and without authorization by a candidate, candidate's authorized campaign 
committee, party committee, political action committee, party formation committee 
or ballot question committee or an agent of a candidate, candidate's authorized 
campaign committee, party committee, political action committee, party formation 
committee or ballot question committee; 
B.  Campaign signs produced and distributed at a cost not exceeding $100, paid for 
by one or more individuals who are not required to register or file campaign finance 
reports with the commission and who are acting independently of and without 
authorization by a candidate, candidate's authorized campaign committee, party 
committee, political action committee, party formation committee or ballot question 
committee or an agent of a candidate, candidate's authorized campaign committee, 
party committee, political action committee, party formation committee or ballot 
question committee; and 
C.  Internet and e-mail activities costing less than $100, as excluded by rule of the 
commission, paid for by one or more individuals who are not required to register or 
file campaign finance reports with the commission and who are acting independently 
of and without authorization by a candidate, candidate's authorized campaign 
committee, party committee, political action committee, party formation committee 
or ballot question committee or an agent of a candidate, candidate's authorized 
campaign committee, party committee, political action committee, party formation 
committee or ballot question committee. 
Sec. 7.  21-A MRSA §1056-C is enacted to read: 
§1056-C.  Party formation committees 
A person not defined as a political action committee, who has filed a declaration of 
intent pursuant to section 303 and who receives contributions or makes expenditures, 
other than by contribution to a political action committee, aggregating in excess of $2,500 
for the purpose of encouraging a person to sign a petition to form a new party, shall file 
reports with the commission in accordance with this section.  Within 7 days of receiving 
contributions or making expenditures that exceed $2,500, the person shall register with 
the commission as a party formation committee. For the purposes of this section, 
expenditures include paid staff time spent for the purpose of gathering signatures to form 
a new party. The commission must prescribe forms for the registration, and the forms 
must include specification of a treasurer for the committee, any other principal officers 
and all individuals who are the primary fund-raisers and decision makers for the 
committee. 
1.  Filing requirements.  A report required by this section must be filed with the 
commission according to the reporting schedule in section 1059. After completing all 
financial activity, the committee shall terminate its campaign finance reporting in the 
same manner provided in section 1061. The committee shall file each report required by 
this section through an electronic filing system developed by the commission unless 
granted a waiver under section 1059, subsection 5.  
2.  Content.  A report must contain an itemized account of each expenditure made to 
and contribution received from a single source aggregating in excess of $100 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 $100 in 
the aggregate. The filer is required to report only those contributions made to the filer for 
the purpose of encouraging a person to sign a petition to form a new party 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 party formation reports.  
3.  Contributions.  For the purposes of this section, "contribution" includes, but is 
not limited to:  
A.  Funds that the contributor specified were given in connection with a campaign; 
B.  Funds provided in response to a solicitation that would lead the contributor to 
believe that the funds would be used specifically for the purpose of initiating or 
influencing a campaign; 
C.  Funds that can reasonably be determined to have been provided by the contributor 
for the purpose of gathering signatures to form a new party when viewed in the 
context of the contribution and the recipient's activities regarding the gathering of 
signatures to form a new party; and 
D.  Funds or transfers from the general treasury of an organization filing a party 
formation report. 
4.  Forms.  A report required by this section must be on a form prescribed and 
prepared by the commission. A person filing this report may use additional pages if 
necessary, but the pages must be the same size as the pages of the form. 
5.  Records.  A person filing a report required by this section shall keep records as 
required by this subsection for 4 years following the election to which the records pertain. 
A.  The filer shall keep a detailed account of all contributions made to the filer for the 
purpose of gathering signatures to form a new party and all expenditures made for 
those purposes. 
B.  The filer shall retain a vendor invoice or receipt stating the particular goods or 
services purchased for every expenditure in excess of $50. 
Sec. 8.  21-A MRSA §1059, first ¶, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §43 and 
affected by §62, is further amended to read: 
Committees required to register under section 1053, 1053-B or, 1056-B or 1056-C 
shall file an initial campaign finance report at the time of registration and thereafter shall 
file reports in compliance with this section.  All reports must be filed by 11:59 p.m. on 
the day of the filing deadline, except that reports submitted to a municipal clerk must be 
filed by the close of business on the day of the filing deadline. 
Sec. 9.  21-A MRSA §1062-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 190, Pt. A, 
§28, is further amended to read: 
1.  Registration.  A political action committee required to register under section 1053 
or 1053-B or, a ballot question committee required to register under section 1056-B or a 
party formation committee required to register under section 1056-C that fails to do so or 
that fails to provide the information required by the commission for registration may be 
assessed a fine of $250. 
Sec. 10.  21-A MRSA §1062-A, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §49, is 
further amended to read: 
4.  Maximum penalties.  The maximum penalty under this subchapter is $10,000 for 
reports required under section 1056-B, section 1056-C or section 1059, except that if the 
financial activity reported late exceeds $50,000, the maximum penalty is 1/5 of the 
amount reported late. 
Sec. 11.  21-A MRSA §1062-A, sub-§8-A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 190, Pt. 
A, §31, is further amended to read: 
8-A.  Penalties for failure to file report.  The commission may assess a civil penalty 
for failure to file a report required by this subchapter.  The maximum penalty for failure 
to file a report required under section 1056-B, section 1056-C or section 1059 is $10,000.   
SUMMARY 
This bill requires a group that receives or spends more than $2,500 to form a new 
political party to be treated in the same manner as a ballot question committee for 
purposes of the campaign finance laws.