An Act To Improve the Disclosure of Financial Activities by Political Action Committees and Ballot Question Committees
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1510
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: LUCHINI
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1052, 21-A MRSA §1052-A, 21-A MRSA §1056-B, 21-A MRSA §1057, 21-A MRSA §1060, 21-A MRSA §1060-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1510 
H.P. 1033 
House of Representatives, December 23, 2015 
An Act To Improve the Disclosure of Financial Activities by Political 
Action Committees and Ballot Question Committees 
Submitted by the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices pursuant to 
Joint Rule 203. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 21, 2015.  Referred to the Committee on 
Veterans and Legal Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative LUCHINI of Ellsworth. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  21-A MRSA §1052, sub-§5, ¶A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §32, is 
further amended to read: 
A.  Includes: 
(1)  Any separate or segregated fund established by any corporation, membership 
organization, cooperative or labor or other organization whose purpose is to 
initiate or influence a campaign;  
(4)  Any organization person, including any corporation or association, other than 
an individual, that has as its major purpose initiating or influencing a campaign 
and that receives contributions or makes expenditures aggregating more than 
$1,500 in a calendar year for that purpose; and 
(5)  Any organization person, other than an individual, that does not have as its 
major purpose influencing candidate elections but that receives contributions or 
makes expenditures aggregating more than $5,000 in a calendar year for the 
purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any candidate to political 
office; and 
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §1052-A, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 588, Pt. 
A, §23, is further amended to read: 
A.  A political action committee as defined under section 1052, subsection 5, 
paragraph A, subparagraph (1) or (4) that receives contributions or makes 
expenditures in the aggregate in excess of $1,500 and a political action committee as 
defined under section 1052, subsection 5, paragraph A, subparagraph (5) that receives 
contributions or makes expenditures in the aggregate in excess of $5,000 for the 
purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any candidate to political office 
shall register with the commission within 7 days of exceeding the applicable amount. 
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §1056-B, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §§38 to 42 and 
affected by §62, is further amended to read: 
§1056-B.  Ballot question committees 
A person not defined as a political action committee who that receives contributions 
or makes expenditures, other than by 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.  Within 7 days of receiving contributions or 
making expenditures that exceed $5,000, the person shall register with the commission as 
a ballot question committee.  For the purposes of this section, expenditures include paid 
staff time spent for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign.  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. 
1-A.  Ballot question committee registration.  A person subject to this section who 
receives contributions or makes expenditures that exceed $5,000 shall register with the 
commission as a ballot question committee within 7 days of receiving those contributions 
or making those expenditures. A ballot question committee shall have a treasurer and a 
principal officer. The same individual may not serve in both positions unless the person 
establishing the ballot question committee is an individual. The ballot question committee 
when registering shall identify all other individuals who are the primary decision makers 
and fund-raisers, the person establishing the ballot question committee and the campaign 
the ballot question committee intends to initiate or influence.  The ballot question 
committee shall amend the registration within 10 days of a change in the information 
required in this subsection. The commission shall prescribe forms for the registration, 
which must include the information required by this subsection and any additional 
information reasonably required for the commission to monitor the activities of the ballot 
question committee.  
2.  Content.  A report required by this section must contain an itemized account the 
date, amount and purpose 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 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 for the purpose of 
initiating or influencing a campaign, and the name and address of the payee.  The report 
must include the contributions set out in section 1060-A. 
2-A.  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 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. 
3.  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. 
4.  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 initiating or influencing a campaign 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 $100. 
5.  Liability for penalties.  The commission may hold the treasurer and principal 
officer of a ballot question committee and any for-profit, nonprofit or other organization 
that established the ballot question committee jointly and severally liable with the ballot 
question committee for any fines assessed against the ballot question committee for a 
violation of this chapter. 
Sec. 4.  21-A MRSA §1057, sub-§1, ¶B, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 161, §6, is 
amended to read: 
B.  The identity and address of each candidate, campaign or committee; 
Sec. 5.  21-A MRSA §1057, sub-§§2 and 3, as amended by PL 2013, c. 334, 
§25, are further amended to read: 
2.  Receipts.  The treasurer of a political action committee shall retain a vendor 
invoice or receipt stating the particular goods or services purchased for every expenditure 
in excess of $50 $100 to initiate or influence a campaign. 
3.  Record of contributions.  The treasurer of a political action committee shall keep 
a record of all contributions to the committee, by name and mailing address, of each 
donor and the amount and date of the contribution.  This provision does not apply to 
aggregate contributions from a single donor of $50 $100 or less for an election or 
referendum campaign.  When any donor's contributions to a political action committee 
exceed $50 $100, the record must include the aggregate amount of all contributions from 
that donor. 
Sec. 6.  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 $100 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 in 
accordance with section 1060-A; and 
Sec. 7.  21-A MRSA §1060, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §48, 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 ballot question or the nomination or election of a candidate to political 
office campaign. 
Sec. 8.  21-A MRSA §1060-A is enacted to read: 
§1060-A.  Reporting of contributions by multipurpose organizations 
1.  Contributions to initiate or influence a campaign.  A committee qualifying as a 
political action committee under section 1052, subsection 5, paragraph A, subparagraph 
(5) or a ballot question committee shall disclose the following contributions: 
A.  A contribution solicited by the committee, in whole or in part, for the purpose of 
initiating or influencing a campaign; 
B.  Funds that the contributor specified were given in connection with a campaign; 
C.  Funds provided in response to a solicitation that would lead the contributor to 
believe that all or a portion of the funds would be used for the purpose of initiating or 
influencing a campaign; or 
D.  Funds 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. 
2.  Sources of other funds.    If the contributions reported under subsection 1 do not 
account for the full amount of the committee’s expenditures during a reporting period, the 
committee shall identify the organization that formed the committee as the contributor of 
the remaining balance, according to the procedures of the commission. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the law governing campaign financing and reporting by: 
1.  Clarifying that the definition of "political action committee" does not apply to an 
individual; 
2.  Requiring political action committees to register with the Commission on 
Governmental Ethics and Election Practices within 7 days of receiving contributions 
totaling more than the applicable threshold of $1,500 or $5,000; 
3.  Requiring ballot question committees to register with the Commission on 
Governmental Ethics and Election Practices in a manner similar to political action 
committees, including appointing a principal officer who would be jointly liable with the 
committee and the committee treasurer for penalties assessed against the committee; 
4.  Establishing a uniform threshold of $100 for both political action committees and 
ballot question committees regarding political contributions in campaign finance reports; 
and 
5.  Modifying the criteria for when a political action committee must report a 
contribution made for the purpose of influencing a candidate or ballot question election.