An Act to Require Disclosure of Campaign Funding Sources
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1590
Committee Amendment CA_A_S532 (Senate)
Amends: 21-A MRSA §1064

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " ^ " to S.P. 621, L.D. 1590, "An Act to Require
Disclosure of Campaign Funding Sources"
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following:
'See. 2. 21-A MRSA §1064 is enacted to read:
§1064. Sources of campaign funds
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless_the_contex.t otherwise mdicates,the
. followine terms have the following meanings.
A. i'Covered committee''means a commte reguired to file a report under section
1017-A or 1059 that makes, in one election cycle, more than $50.000 in expenditures
and receives a conb-ibution from a covered contributor.
B. "Covered contribution" means the total amount contributed by a covered contributor
to a_covered committee in an election cycle in excess_of $ 10,000,
C. "Covered contributor" means a person that contributes more than $10,000 to a
covered committee in an election cycle.
D. "Election cycle" means the 2-vear period beeinnmg the day after a general election
and ending the day of the next general election.
E. "Orieinal funds" means funds over which a person has legal control and to which
the person holds title that the person receives from:
d) Salary, wages or other earned income from employment;
(2) Investment income, sale of assets or bequests;
f3) Distributions from a tiartnershii^ limited liability company or trust m which the
person holds a leeal interest:
{4) Commercial transactions; or
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
g.^ COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " ^ " to S.P. 621, L.D. 1590 ^$^5^
(5) Membershin dues, union due^ _pr_other simjlar_ periodic _pa¥ments_to_ an
organization, association or group as long as the payments do not exceed $10.000
per year per person.
F, "Qriginal source"jneansthe_ person who directlvj'eceived the original funds.
G, "Pass-throughjunds" means_fi}nds_pver which & person has legal control _and to
which the person holds title that are not that person's original funds.
2. Notice to disclose or opt out._ Upon receiBt of a CQntributionfrom a covered
contributor, a covered committee shall notify the covered contributor in writing that the
funds may be used to make expenditures to influence a campaign in this State and that
information about the sources of pass-thrQUgh_funds_maY b_e required and reporter under
this section. The notice must provide that the covered contributor has 21 days in which the
covered contributor may state that those funds are solely the covered contributor's oripinal
funds, that the funds include pass-throujgh fands or that the covered contributor opts out of
allowing the funds to be used by the covered committee to influence a campaign in this
State. Any covered contributor that has not confu-med the original sources within 21 days
is presumed to have opted out of allowing the contribution to be used to influence a
campaign in this State. Notice provided pursuant to this subsection must be on a form
prescribed by the commission. The covered committee shall submit a copy of the notice
sent to the covered contributor to the comrnission.
3.Covered contributor disclosurej. Ifa. coyered _contributQr in response to the notice
under subsection 2 states that the funds include pass-through funds, the covered contributor
shall m'ovidethecovered comjnittee^iAthefoUowing^^^
A. The sources of all funds, including orieinal funds and Dass-throughfiinds.jncluded
uithe_contributiQn^
B. The amounts from each source, which must total at least as much as the
contribution; and
C. The identity of all 3rd parties that transferred original funds from AeoriginaLsource
until the funds were_received by fhe cgv_CTed_contnbutor,
A covered contributor that received oass-throueh funds exceeding the_amoynLojLthe
0 covered contribution may dioose which origmai sources to disclose _as long as the covered
contributor discloses a total amount of Qrigmal_funds_at Least egual to_the amount of the
covered contribution and identifies all persons JhattrMisferred those original funds from
fheorjgmal sources to the covered contributor.
4 4. Records of disclosures. A covered committee shall maintain records of the
5 infomiatiQn reciuu"ed_nnder_subsection_3 for _atleast_5 years_ and Brovide the records to the
commission upon request.
5. Restrictions. A contribution from a covered contributor may be used or transferred
by the covered committee immediately upon the covered committee's _jeceipL of
information from the covered contributor that states that those funds are solely the covered
confrjbutor's orieinal funds or, if the funds include pass-through funds, the infonnation
required under subsection 3. A covered committee may not use or transfer funds received
from a covered contributor for the purpose of influencing a campaign in this State if the
coveredcQntributQrhas opted out or is presumed to have opted out pursuant to subsection
2. Funds of a covered contributor that has opted out or is presumed to have opted out
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
>'"" •••'' COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " ^ " to S.P. 621, L.D. 1590 ^-^
pursuant to subsection 2 must be segregated from funds in the covered committee's
camBaign account described insectiQn 1054. This subsection may not be construed to
prohibit the use or transfer of such funds for other purposes.
6. Sources of orieinal funds; report to commission. A cQvered committee shall
include the following information received from a covered contributor pursuant to
subsection 3 in an am?ropriate reporLregujred under section 1017-Aorl059:
A^Thejiame andLmailmgaddress ofeach original source identified by the covered
contributor pursuant to subsection 3 and, if that original source is an individual and
provided directly or indirectly an amount greater than $1 0.000. that individual's
occupation and place of business;
B. The date and amount of original funds received from each original source identified
m accordance with paragraph A; and
C. The identity of all 3rd parties that transferred oriemal funds from the orieinal source
until the funds were received by the covered committee.
A covered committee is not responsible for reporting the information required by this
subsection for the funds of a covered contributor that has opted out or is presumed to have
opted out pursuant to subsection 2. In reportine the required mfonnation under this
subsection, a covered committee may rely upon the information it received pursuant to
subsection 3. unless the covered committee knows or has reason to know that the
information is false or mcomplete.
7. Top 3 funders; orieinal sources. For a communication made by a covered
committee that is an independent exaenditure. as defined in section 1019-B. subsection 1,
or a communication subject to section 1055-A. the communication must include the
statement described in section 1014. subsection 2-B. The too 3 funders included in the
statement must be the funders that are the original sources, since the day followine the most
recent general election, of the highest dollar amounts of original funds directly or indirectlY
contributed to the covered committee making the communication. Section 1014,
subsection 2-B^ paragraph E does not apply to the statement reouired by this subsection.
8.Prior funds. _ For the purposes of disclosing^rigmaLsoyrcesjunder^his section, a
covered contributor that received funds that are not its own original funds prior to January
L 2025 or that has held an amount of funds at least equal to $10.000 without interruption
for a period of 5 years, may consider those funds its own original funds.
9. Penalties. Notwithstandmg section 1004-A,_subsections 4 and 5 and section 1014.
subsection 4. the commission may assess a penalty for a violation of this section of not
more than $20,000, in addition to any pGna\ty_assessGAsndGr sections W 1062-A.
When determining the amount of any penalty, the commission shall consider the amount
of the original funds not disclosed, the harm suffered by the public from the lack of
disclosure and the covered committee's compliance record. If the commission determines
that adjustingL the statutory maximum penalty amount w^ pumoses of this
section, it may recommend adjustments m a report to the joint standine committee of the
Legislature having iurisdiction over campaignfinance leportms matters.
10. Rules. The commission shall adopt rules to implement this section, includine the
content and _tuning _gf the jiptice described in subsection_ 2 and_report_described in
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT " /| " to S.P. 621, L.D. 1590 CS>"!.
subsection 6. Rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in
Title 5. chapter 375. subchapter 2-A.'
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 3 and inserting the following:
'See. 3. Effective date. That portion of that section of this Act that enacts the Maine
Revised Statutes, Title 21-A, section 1064, subsection 9 takes effect January 1, 2026.'
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section
number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee, makes the following
changes.
1. It adds a definition for "covered contribution" to mean the total amount contributed
by a covered contributor to a covered committee in an election cycle m excess of $10,000.
2. It adds a definition for "original source" to mean the person who directly receives
original funds.
3. It clarifies that original funds are funds over which a person, rather than a covered
contributor as in the bill, has legal control and to which the person holds title and that the
person received in the form of salary, wages or other earned income from employment;
investment income, sale of assets or bequests; distributions from a partnership, limited
liability company or tmst in which the person holds a legal interest; commercial
transactions; or membership dues, union dues or other similar periodic payments to an
organization, association or group as long as the payments do not exceed $10,000 per year
per person.
4. It clarifies the definition of "pass-through funds" to mean funds over which a person,
rather than a covered contributor as in the bill, has legal control and to which the person
holds title that are not that person's original funds.
5. It clarifies that, if a covered contributor states that the funds contributed by that
covered contributor to a covered committee include pass-through funds, the covered
contributor must provide the covered committee with the sources of all funds, includmg
original funds and pass-through funds, included in the contribution, the amounts from each
source totaling at least as much as the contribution and the identity of all 3rd parties that
transferred original funds from the original source until the funds were received by the
covered contributor.
6. It clarifies that a covered committee must include in an appropriate report, either a
report of contributions and expenditures by party committees or a report by political action
committees and ballot question committees, the name and mailing address of each original
source identified by the covered contributor in response to the notice to disclose or opt out
and, if that original source is an individual and provided directly or indirectly an amount
greater than $10,000, that individual's occupation and place of business; the date and
amount of original funds received from each original source; and the identity of all 3rd
parties that transferred original funds from the original source until the funds were received
by the covered committee.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
^
>
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "/+ " to S.P. 621, L.D. 1590 { ^
^op>
7. It changes the effective date of the penalty provisions enacted in the Maine Revised
Statutes, Title 21-A, section 1064, subsection 9 m this legislation from January 1, 2025 to
January 1,2026.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Approved: 01/30/24 -^S'Ct
LD 1590 LR 2230(03)
An Act to Require Disclosure of Campaign Funding Sources
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "^'i<r5^
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
Current biennium cost increase - General Fund
Fiscal Detail and Notes
The Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices has indicated that the reporting requirements in this
bill would require changes to the software system used to monitor campaign finance reporting. An exact estimate of
the programming costs is not available at this time, but the Commission estimates these costs would range between
$100,000 to $150,000.
LR2230(03) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1