Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1017, sub-§3-B, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 470, §6, is amended to read:

A. In addition to other reports required by law, any candidate for Governor, State Senate or State House of Representatives who is not certified as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate under chapter 14 and who receives, spends or obligates more than 1% in excess of the primary or general election distribution amounts for a Maine Clean Election Act candidate in the same race shall file by any means acceptable to the commission, including by telephone, within 48 hours of that event, a report with the commission detailing the candidate's total campaign contributions, obligations and expenditures to date.

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1017, sub-§3-B, ¶C, as amended by PL 2003, c. 628, Pt. B, §3, is further amended to read:

C. A candidate who is required to file a report under paragraph A must file with the commission an updated report that reports single expenditures in the following amounts that are made after the 14th day before an election and more than 24 hours before 5:00 p.m. on the date of that election:

(1) For a candidate for Governor, a single expenditure of $1,000;

(2) For a candidate for the state Senate, a single expenditure of $750; and

(3) For a candidate for the state House of Representatives, a single expenditure of $500.

A report filed pursuant to this paragraph must be filed within 24 hours of the expenditure and may be filed by telephone.

SUMMARY

Current law requires a nonparticipating Maine Clean Election Act candidate who receives, spends or obligates more than 1% in excess of the primary or general election distribution amounts for a Maine Clean Election Act candidate to file a report with the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices within 48 hours of exceeding the distribution amount. If that nonparticipating Maine Clean Election Act candidate for Governor, state Senate or state House of Representatives makes a single