HP0285, LD 394, item 1, An Act Regarding Terminology in Campaign Finance Law

An Act Regarding Terminology in Campaign Finance Law

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 1 MRSA §1008, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2001, c. 430, §4, is further amended to read:

2. Election practices. To administer and investigate any violations of the requirements for campaign reports and campaign financing, including the provisions of the Maine Clean Election Act and the Maine Clean Election Fund Title 21-A, chapter 14;

Sec. 2. 1 MRSA §1008, sub-§5, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §6, is amended to read:

5. Maine Campaign Public Financing Act and Maine Campaign Public Financing Fund. To administer and ensure the effective implementation of the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act and the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Fund according to Title 21-A, chapter 14; and

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §153-A, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2005, c. 568, §6, is further amended to read:

3. Signing petitions. Once an alternative registration signature statement is on file with the registrar, the voter may authorize any other Maine-registered voter to sign candidate petitions and any Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act forms under chapter 14 requiring a voter's signature in the presence and at the direction of the voter, except that the individual assisting the voter may not be a candidate, the circulator of the petition or form, the voter's employer or an agent of that employer or an officer or agent of the voter's union. In addition to using the voter's signature stamp or signing for the voter, the individual assisting the voter must print and sign the individual's own name and residence address on the petition or form and attest that the individual is signing on the voter's behalf. This method of signing satisfies the requirements in this Title that voters personally sign candidate petitions.

Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1004-B, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 302, §3, is amended to read:

§ 1004-B. Enforcement of penalties assessed by the commission

The commission staff shall collect the full amount of any penalty and the return of Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act funds under chapter 14 required by the commission to be returned for a violation of the statutes or rules administered by the commission and has all necessary powers to carry out these duties. Failure to pay the full amount of any penalty assessed by the commission or return of Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act funds is a civil violation by the candidate, treasurer, party committee, political action committee or other person. Thirty days after issuing the notice of penalty or order for the return of funds, the commission shall report to the Attorney General the name of any person who has failed to pay the full amount of any penalty or to return Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act funds unless the commission has provided an extended deadline for payment. The Attorney General shall enforce the violation in a civil action to collect the full outstanding amount of the penalty or order for the return of Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act funds. This action must be brought in the Superior Court for Kennebec County or the District Court, 7th District, Division of Southern Kennebec.

Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1013-A, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 2015, c. 350, §4, is further amended to read:

C. No later than 10 days after becoming a candidate, as defined in section 1, subsection 5, a candidate for the office of State House of Representatives or Senate may file in writing a statement declaring that the candidate agrees to accept voluntary limits on political expenditures or that the candidate does not agree to accept voluntary limits on political expenditures, as specified in section 1015, subsections 7 to 9. A candidate who has filed a declaration of intent to become certified as a candidate under the Maine Clean Election Act chapter 14 is not required to file the written statement described in this paragraph.

The statement filed by a candidate who voluntarily agrees to limit spending must state that the candidate knows the voluntary expenditure limitations as set out in section 1015, subsection 8 and that the candidate is voluntarily agreeing to limit the candidate's political expenditures and those made on behalf of the candidate by the candidate's political committee or committees, the candidate's party and the candidate's immediate family to the amount set by law. The statement must further state that the candidate does not condone and will not solicit any independent expenditures made on behalf of the candidate.

The statement filed by a candidate who does not agree to voluntarily limit political expenditures must state that the candidate does not accept the voluntary expenditure limits as set out in section 1015, subsection 8.

Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §1121, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended to read:

§ 1121. Short title

This chapter may be known and cited as the "Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act."

Sec. 7. 21-A MRSA §1122, sub-§§1, 4, 5 and 6, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, are amended to read:

1. Certified candidate. "Certified candidate" means a candidate running for Governor, State Senator or State Representative who chooses to participate in the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act and who is certified as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate under section 1125, subsection 5.

4. Fund. "Fund" means the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Fund established in section 1124.

5. Nonparticipating candidate. "Nonparticipating candidate" means a candidate running for Governor, State Senator or State Representative who does not choose to participate in the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act and who is not seeking to be certified as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate under section 1125, subsection 5.

6. Participating candidate. "Participating candidate" means a candidate who is running for Governor, State Senator or State Representative who is seeking to be certified as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate under section 1125, subsection 5.

Sec. 8. 21-A MRSA §1123, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended to read:

§ 1123. Alternative campaign financing option

This chapter establishes an alternative campaign financing option available to candidates running for Governor, State Senator and State Representative. This alternative campaign financing option is available to candidates for elections to be held beginning in the year 2000. The commission shall administer this Act and the fund. Candidates participating in the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act must also comply with all other applicable election and campaign laws and regulations.

Sec. 9. 21-A MRSA §1124, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §14, is further amended to read:

§ 1124. The Maine Campaign Public Financing Fund established; sources of funding

1. Established. The Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Fund is established to finance the election campaigns of certified Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidates running for Governor, State Senator and State Representative and to pay administrative and enforcement costs of the commission related to this Act. The fund is a special, dedicated, nonlapsing fund and any interest generated by the fund is credited to the fund. The commission shall administer the fund.

2. Sources of funding. The following must be deposited in the fund:

A. The qualifying contributions and additional qualifying contributions required under section 1125 when those contributions are submitted to the commission;

B. Three million dollars of the revenues from the taxes imposed under Title 36, Parts 3 and 8 and credited to the General Fund, transferred to the fund by the State Controller on or before January 1st of each year, beginning January 1, 1999. These revenues must be offset in an equitable manner by an equivalent reduction in tax expenditures as defined in Title 36, section 199-A, subsection 2. This section may not affect the funds distributed to the Local Government Fund under Title 30-A, section 5681 . ;

C. Revenue from a tax checkoff program allowing a resident of the State who files a tax return with the State Tax Assessor to designate that $3 be paid into the fund. In the case of a joint return, each spouse may designate that $3 be paid. The State Tax Assessor shall report annually the amounts designated for the fund to the State Controller, who shall transfer that amount to the fund;

D. Seed money contributions remaining unspent after a candidate has been certified as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate;

E. Fund revenues that were distributed to a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate and that remain unspent after the candidate has lost a primary election or after all general elections;

F. Other unspent fund revenues distributed to any Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate who does not remain a candidate throughout a primary or general election cycle;

G. Voluntary donations made directly to the fund; and

H. Fines collected under section 1020-A, subsection 4-A and section 1127.

4. Report on fund amount; operating margin. By January 1st of each year the commission shall provide to the Legislature and the Governor a report of its projection of the revenues and expenditures of the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Fund for the subsequent 4-year period. The commission shall include in the report an operating margin of 20% to ensure sufficient funds in the event of higher-than-expected participation in the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act. If any such report shows that the projected revenue for the subsequent 4-year period exceeds the projected expenses for that 4-year period plus the 20% operating margin, the commission shall notify the Legislature and the Governor and request that the amount of expected funding that exceeds the expected demand on the fund plus the operating margin be transferred to the General Fund. The Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Revenue Services shall assist the commission with revenue projections required by this subsection. If at any time the commission determines that projected revenue is not sufficient to cover the projected demand for funds in the 4-year period plus the operating margin, the commission may submit legislation to request additional funding.

Sec. 10. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §51, is further amended to read:

1. Declaration of intent. A participating candidate must file a declaration of intent to seek certification as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate and to comply with the requirements of this chapter. The declaration of intent must be filed with the commission prior to or during the qualifying period, except as provided in subsection 11, according to forms and procedures developed by the commission. Qualifying contributions collected more than 5 business days before the declaration of intent has been filed will not be counted toward the eligibility requirement in subsection 3.

Sec. 11. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§2-A, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §16, is further amended to read:

2-A. Seed money restrictions. To be eligible for certification, a participating candidate may collect and spend only seed money contributions subsequent to becoming a candidate and prior to certification. A participating candidate may not solicit, accept or collect seed money contributions after certification as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate.

A. All goods and services received prior to certification must be paid for with seed money contributions, except for goods and services that are excluded from the definition of contribution in section 1012, subsection 2, paragraph B. It is a violation of this chapter for a participating candidate to use fund revenues received after certification to pay for goods and services received prior to certification.

B. Prior to certification, a participating candidate may obligate an amount greater than the seed money collected, but may only receive that portion of goods and services that has been paid for or will be paid for with seed money. A participating candidate who has accepted contributions or made expenditures that do not comply with the seed money restrictions under this chapter may petition the commission to remain eligible for certification as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate in accordance with rules of the commission, if the failure to comply was unintentional and does not constitute a significant infraction of these restrictions.

C. Upon requesting certification, a participating candidate shall file a report of all seed money contributions and expenditures. If the candidate is certified, any unspent seed money will be deducted from the amount distributed to the candidate as provided in subsection 8-F.

Sec. 12. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§3-A, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §19, is amended to read:

3-A. Additional qualifying contributions. Participating candidates may collect and submit to the commission additional qualifying contributions at the times specified in subsection 8-E. The commission shall credit a candidate with either one qualifying contribution or one additional qualifying contribution, but not both, from any one contributor during the same election cycle. If any candidate collects and submits to the commission qualifying contributions or additional qualifying contributions that cannot be credited pursuant to this subsection, those qualifying contributions or additional qualifying contributions may be refunded to the contributor or deposited into the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Fund at the discretion of the candidate.

Sec. 13. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§5, as amended by IB 2015, c. 1, §20, is further amended to read:

5. Certification of Maine Campaign Public Financing Act candidates. Upon receipt of a final submittal of qualifying contributions by a participating candidate, the executive director of the commission shall determine whether the candidate has:

A. Signed and filed a declaration of intent to participate in this Act;

B. Submitted the appropriate number of valid qualifying contributions;

C. Qualified as a candidate by petition or other means no later than 5 business days after the end of the qualifying period;

D. Not accepted contributions, except for seed money contributions, and otherwise complied with seed money restrictions;

D-1. Not run for the same office as a nonparticipating candidate in a primary election in the same election year;

D-2. Not been found to have made a material false statement in a report or other document submitted to the commission;

D-3. Not otherwise substantially violated the provisions of this chapter or chapter 13;

D-4. Not failed to pay any civil penalty assessed by the commission under this Title, except that a candidate has 3 business days from the date of the request for certification to pay the outstanding penalty and remain eligible for certification;

D-5. Not submitted any fraudulent qualifying contributions or any falsified acknowledgement forms for qualifying contributions or seed money contributions; and

E. Otherwise met the requirements for participation in this Act under this chapter.

The executive director shall certify a candidate complying with the requirements of this section as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate as soon as possible after final submittal of qualifying contributions and other supporting documents required under subsection 4 but no later than 3 business days for legislative candidates and 5 business days for gubernatorial candidates. The executive director may take additional time if further investigation is necessary to verify compliance with this Act as long as the commission notifies the candidate regarding the anticipated schedule for conclusion of the investigation. A candidate or other interested person may appeal the decision of the executive director to the members of the commission in accordance with subsection 14.

A certified candidate must comply with all requirements of this Act after certification and throughout the primary and general election periods. Failure to do so is a violation of this chapter.

Sec. 14. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§14, as amended by PL 2011, c. 389, §59, is further amended to read:

14. Appeals. A candidate who has been denied certification as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate by the commission's executive director, the opponent of a candidate who has been granted certification as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate or other interested persons may challenge a certification decision by the executive director as follows.

A. A challenger may appeal to the commission within 7 days of the certification decision. The appeal must be in writing and must set forth the reasons for the appeal.

B. Within 5 days after an appeal is properly made and after notice is given to the challenger and any opponent, the commission shall hold a hearing, except that the commission may extend this period upon agreement of the challenger and the candidate whose certification is the subject of the appeal, or in response to the request of either party upon a showing of good cause. The appellant has the burden of proving that the certification decision was in error as a matter of law or was based on factual error. The commission must rule on the appeal within 5 business days after the completion of the hearing.

C. A challenger may appeal the decision of the commission in paragraph B by commencing an action in Superior Court within 5 days of the date of the commission's decision. The action must be conducted in accordance with Rule 80C of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, except that the court shall issue its written decision within 20 days of the date of the commission's decision. Any aggrieved party may appeal the decision of the Superior Court by filing a notice of appeal within 3 days of that decision. The record on appeal must be transmitted to the Law Court within 3 days after the notice of appeal is filed. After filing the notice of appeal, the parties have 4 days to file briefs and appendices with the clerk of the court. The court shall consider the case as soon as possible after the record and briefs have been filed and shall issue its decision within 14 days of the decision of the Superior Court.

D. A candidate whose certification as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate is reversed on appeal must return to the commission any unspent revenues distributed from the fund. If the commission or court finds that an appeal was made frivolously or to cause delay or hardship, the commission or court may require the moving party to pay costs of the commission, court and opposing parties, if any.

Sec. 15. 21-A MRSA §1126, as amended by PL 2001, c. 465, §7, is further amended to read:

§ 1126. Commission to adopt rules

The commission shall adopt rules to ensure effective administration of this chapter. These rules must include but must not be limited to procedures for obtaining qualifying contributions, certification as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate, circumstances involving special elections, vacancies, recounts, withdrawals or replacements, collection of revenues for the fund, distribution of fund revenue to certified candidates, return of unspent fund disbursements, disposition of equipment purchased with clean election Maine Campaign Public Financing Act funds and compliance with the Maine Clean Election Act this chapter. Rules of the commission required by this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A 2-A.

Sec. 16. 21-A MRSA §1127, sub-§2, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §17, is amended to read:

2. Class E crime. A person who willfully or knowingly violates this chapter or rules of the commission or who willfully or knowingly makes a false statement in any report required by this chapter commits a Class E crime and, if certified as a Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Act candidate, must return to the fund all amounts distributed to the candidate.

Sec. 17. 21-A MRSA §1128, as amended by PL 2009, c. 190, Pt. B, §3, is further amended to read:

§ 1128. Study report

By March 15, 2011 and every 4 years after that date, the commission shall prepare for the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over legal affairs a report documenting, evaluating and making recommendations relating to the administration, implementation and enforcement of the Maine Clean Election Act this chapter and the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Fund.

Sec. 18. 36 MRSA §5286, as enacted by IB 1995, c. 1, §18, is amended to read:

§ 5286. Contribution to Maine Campaign Public Financing Fund; voluntary checkoff

1. Designation. Resident taxpayers may designate that $3 of their taxes be deposited in the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Fund in accordance with Title 21-A, section 1124.

2. Forms. The State Tax Assessor shall provide on the first page of the income tax form a space for the filing individual to indicate whether that filer wishes to pay $3, or $6 if filing a joint return, from the General Fund of the State to finance the Maine Clean Election Campaign Public Financing Fund.

3. Transfer of Funds. The State Tax Assessor shall transfer funds from the General Fund in accordance with Title 21-A, section 1124.

Sec. 19. Maine Revised Statutes headnote amended; revision clause. In the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 21-A, chapter 14, in the chapter headnote, the words "the maine clean election act" are amended to read "the maine campaign public financing act" and the Revisor of Statutes shall implement this revision when updating, publishing or republishing the statutes.

summary

This bill changes references to the Maine Clean Election Act and the Maine Clean Election Fund to the Maine Campaign Public Financing Act and the Maine Campaign Public Financing Fund.

HP0285 LD 394	Session - 128th Maine Legislature		LR 928 Item 1
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