An Act To Increase Transparency in the Direct Initiative Process (AFTER DEADLINE)
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1865
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: LUCHINI, FARRIN
Amends: 4 MRSA §954-A, 21-A MRSA §901-A, 21-A MRSA §903-A, 21-A MRSA §903-D, 21-A MRSA §903-E, 21-A MRSA §1060-A

Legislative Document
No. 1865
H.P. 1301
House of Representatives, March 15, 2018
An Act To Increase Transparency in the Direct Initiative Process
(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.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative LUCHINI of Ellsworth.
Cosponsored by Representative: FARRIN of Norridgewock.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  4 MRSA §954-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 425, §1, is further amended 
to read:
§954-A.  Conflict of interest
A notary public may not perform any notarial act for any person if that person is the 
notary public's spouse, parent, sibling, child, spouse's parent, spouse's sibling, spouse's 
child or child's spouse, except that a notary public may solemnize the marriage of the 
notary public's parent, sibling, child, spouse's parent, spouse's sibling or spouse's child.  It 
is a conflict of interest for a notary public to administer an oath or affirmation to a 
circulator of a petition for a direct initiative or people's veto referendum under Title 21-A, 
section 902 if the notary public also provides services that are not notarial acts to initiate 
or promote that direct initiative or people's veto referendum.  This section does not affect 
or apply to notarial acts performed before August 4, 1988.
Sec. 2.  21-A MRSA §901-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2009, c. 611, §1, is 
further amended to read:
2.  Required statements; placement of information.  On each page of a petition 
that contains space intended for voter signatures, the Secretary of State shall include a 
space at the top right or left corner of each such page to be submitted to the voters, which 
must be filled in with the name of the circulator collecting signatures on that petition and 
a unique identifying number, and include the fiscal impact of the initiative as described in 
Title 1, section 353 directly below the following statement at the top of the petition in a 
type size of no less than 16 points:
"Freedom of Citizen Information: Before a registered voter signs any initiative 
petition, signature gatherers must offer the voter the opportunity to read the proposed 
initiative summary and fiscal impact statement prepared by the Secretary of State."
Sec. 3.  21-A MRSA §901-A, sub-§3 is enacted to read:
3.  Circulator information; placement on petition.  At the top right or left corner of 
each page of a petition that contains space intended for voter signatures, the Secretary of 
State shall include a space, which must be filled in with the name of the circulator 
collecting signatures on that petition and a unique identifying number for the circulator.  
For petitions that will be circulated by a circulator who is being compensated or paid to 
circulate the petition, the Secretary of State shall include the following statement, in a 
bold type in a type size of no less than 16 points, below the space that contains the 
circulator's name:
"This circulator is being paid to solicit signatures for this direct initiative."
A circulator who is compensated or paid to circulate petitions may not collect signatures 
on a petition that does not include the statement described in this subsection.
Sec. 4.  21-A MRSA §903-A, first ¶, as amended by PL 2015, c. 99, §1, is further 
amended to read:
Petitions issued under this chapter may be circulated by any Maine resident who is a 
registered voter acting as a circulator of a petition.  A circulator of a petition solicits 
signatures for the petition by presenting the petition to the voter, asking the voter to sign 
the petition and personally witnessing the voter affixing the voter's signature to the 
petition.  The circulator of the petition must comply with the provisions of section 901-A, 
subsection 3 and section 902.
Sec. 5.  21-A MRSA §903-D, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 277, §5, is repealed.
Sec. 6.  21-A MRSA §903-E is enacted to read:
§903-E.  Persons not authorized to administer an oath or affirmation to a petition 
circulator
1.  Certain notaries public and others.  A notary public or other person authorized 
by law to administer oaths or affirmations generally is not authorized to administer an 
oath or affirmation to the circulator of a petition under section 902 if the notary public or 
other generally authorized person is:
A.  Providing any other services, regardless of compensation, to initiate the direct 
initiative or people's veto referendum for which the petition is being circulated.  For 
the purposes of this paragraph, "initiate" has the same meaning as section 1052, 
subsection 4-B; or
B.  Providing services, regardless of compensation, to promote the direct initiative or 
people's veto referendum for which the petition is being circulated.
Sec. 7.  21-A MRSA §1060-A is enacted to read:
§1060-A.  Campaign for direct initiative or people's veto; reporting by major 
contributors
This section governs the reporting of contributions aggregating in excess of $100,000 
for the purpose of initiating or influencing a campaign for a people's veto referendum 
under the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 17 or a direct initiative of 
legislation under the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 18.
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Contribution" has the same meaning as set out in section 1052, subsection 3 and 
also includes but is not limited to:
(1)  Funds or anything of value that the contributor specified were given in 
connection with a campaign for a people's veto referendum or direct initiative 
campaign;
(2)  Funds or anything of value provided in response to a solicitation that would 
lead the contributor to believe that the contribution would be used specifically for 
the purpose of initiating or influencing a people's veto referendum or direct 
initiative campaign; and
(3)  Funds or anything of value that can be reasonably determined to have been 
provided by the contributor for the purpose of initiating or influencing a people's 
veto referendum or direct initiative campaign when viewed in the context of the 
contribution and the recipient committee's activities during the campaign.
B.  "Major contributor" means a person, other than an individual, that makes one or 
more contributions aggregating in excess of $100,000 within a calendar year to a 
ballot question committee or political action committee for the purpose of initiating 
or influencing a people's veto referendum or direct initiative campaign.
2.  Notice to major contributor.  Within 5 days of receiving more than $100,000 in 
the aggregate within a calendar year from a major contributor, the recipient committee 
shall provide written notice to the major contributor of the reporting requirement under 
this section and shall submit a copy of the notice to the commission.  If the $100,000 
aggregate amount is exceeded as a result of a contribution received during the last 13 
days before an election, the recipient committee shall, within 24 hours of receiving the 
contribution, provide written notice of the reporting requirement to the major contributor 
and submit a copy of the notice to the commission.  The commission shall prepare a 
sample written notice for this purpose.
3.  Required reports.  A major contributor shall file a report containing the 
information required in subsection 4 on or before the filing deadline under section 1059, 
subsection 2 for the recipient committee's October quarterly or 11-day preelection 
campaign finance report, whichever occurs first after the major contributor receives 
notice of the reporting requirement.  If a major contributor has received a notice from a 
recipient committee or the commission during the last 13 days before an election as 
required under subsection 2, the major contributor shall file a report within 2 business 
days of receiving notice from the recipient committee or commission.  The commission 
shall prescribe and prepare forms for these reports and may require major contributors to 
file reports electronically.
4.  Content.  In the reports required under subsection 3, a major contributor shall 
provide:
A.  The name of and relevant contact information for the major contributor and the 
name of a responsible officer of the major contributor;
B.  The form of organization and purpose of the major contributor;
C.  The amount and date of each contribution from the major contributor to the 
recipient committee during the calendar year;
D.  A certification that the major contributor has not received contributions, in whole 
or in part, for the purpose of initiating or influencing a people's veto referendum or 
direct initiative campaign in this State or, if the major contributor has received such 
contributions, the dates, sources and amounts of any such contributions;
E.  Information concerning the 5 largest sources of funds received by the major 
contributor during the 12 months prior to the filing of the report, including but not 
limited to identifying the sources and amounts of the funds and the dates the funds 
were received; and
F.  A statement indicating whether the major contributor is exempt from taxation 
under the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and a list of any 
governmental jurisdictions within the United States in which the major contributor 
has filed campaign finance reports during the previous 12 months.
The commission may require by rule additional information to be reported consistent with 
this subsection to facilitate disclosure to citizens of this State of financial activity 
conducted for the purpose of influencing elections in this State. The commission may by 
rule permit major contributors to exclude the sources of funds that are restricted to 
purposes unrelated to a people's veto referendum or a direct initiative campaign.
5.  Noncompliance.  The commission may assess a civil penalty against a major 
contributor that does not file a timely report required under this section. The preliminary 
penalty is 10% of the total contributions required to be reported, up to a maximum of 
$50,000. Within 14 calendar days of receiving notice of the preliminary penalty from the 
commission, the major contributor may request that the penalty be waived in full or in 
part. In considering a request for a waiver, the commission shall consider, among other 
things, any lack of notice to the major contributor of the reporting requirement, the 
number of days that the report was filed late and the amount of the contributions required 
to be reported.  A major contributor requesting a determination may either appear in 
person or designate a representative to appear on the major contributor's behalf or submit 
a sworn statement explaining the mitigating circumstances for consideration by the 
commission.  After a commission meeting, notice of the final determination of the 
commission and the penalty, if any, imposed pursuant to this subsection must be sent to 
the major contributor. If a determination is not requested, the preliminary penalty 
calculated by the commission is final. The commission shall mail final notice of the 
penalty to the major contributor.  A final determination by the commission may be 
appealed to the Superior Court in accordance with Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 7 and 
the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 80C. The commission may assess a civil 
penalty in the same amount against a recipient committee that has not provided written 
notice of the reporting requirements to the major contributor as required by subsection 2, 
using the same procedures as set out in this subsection for penalties against the major 
contributor.
SUMMARY
This bill changes the requirements regarding the statements the Secretary of State 
must include on petitions used for the collection of signatures for a direct initiative.  If the 
circulator of a petition is being paid to circulate the petition, that petition must include, on 
each page intended for voter signatures, a statement under the circulator's name that the 
circulator is being paid.   The bill also states that a notary public or other person generally 
authorized to administer oaths or affirmations is not considered authorized to administer 
oaths or affirmations to a petition circulator if the notary public or person is also 
providing services to initiate that petition or promote the measure for which the petition is 
being circulated.  It also provides that a notary public has a conflict of interest if the 
notary public provides services, other than notarial acts, to a campaign for a direct 
initiative or people's veto referendum and also administers an oath to a circulator who is 
collecting signatures for that same direct initiative or people's veto referendum.  The bill 
requires financial reports from major contributors to a direct initiative or people's veto 
referendum campaign.  A major contributor is an entity, other than an individual, that 
makes contributions aggregating more than $100,000 in a calendar year to a ballot 
committee or political action committee for the purpose of initiating or influencing a 
direct initiative or people's veto referendum.  The report must disclose the name and 
purpose of the organization making the contribution, the amount and date of each 
contribution, the 5 largest sources of income in the year prior to filing the report, whether 
the organization has received contributions for the purposes of influencing a direct 
initiative or people's veto referendum, if the organization is a tax-exempt organization 
and if the organization has filed campaign finance reports in other jurisdictions in the past 
months.