Sec. 12. 21-A MRSA §1060, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1991, c. 839, §30, 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 to the political committee after the committee has registered under section 1053, the amount contributed by each donor and the date of the contribution. The information already reported as required by section 1053, subsection 7 should not be duplicated; and

SUMMARY

This bill amends the campaign finance laws by:

1. Requiring a political advertisement broadcast on television or radio to contain an image, if on television, and statement regarding the sponsorship of the ad spoken by the candidate, treasurer of the candidate's authorized political committee, candidate's party committee or their agents or, if sponsored by a political action committee, the chief decision maker or treasurer of that political action committee or, if sponsored by an individual without any connection to the candidate or political action committee, that individual;

2. Defining a payment made to a 3rd party, not an employee of the candidate, candidate's political committee or party committee or political action committee, as an expenditure for the purposes of reporting and requiring expenditures made to that person to be itemized by the amount, reason and date of the expenditure; and

3. Requiring reports made by candidates, political action committees and independent expenditures regarding contributions to contain, in addition to the name of the contributor, the occupation and place of business of the contributor. This requirement already exists for party committees.