Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
                    FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2021
Legislative Document                                                                            No. 1442
H.P. 1058                                                        House of Representatives, April 12, 2021
            An Act Regarding Publicly Financed Legislative Candidates in
            Competitive Primaries
   Received by the Clerk of the House on April 8, 2021. Referred to the Committee on
Veterans and Legal Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint
Rule 401.
                                                                                     ROBERT B. HUNT
                                                                                                Clerk
Presented by Representative GROHOSKI of Ellsworth.
Cosponsored by Representative: WHITE of Waterville.
                                         Printed on recycled paper
 1   Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
 2       Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§7-B, ¶B, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §23, is
 3   amended to read:
 4       B. For legislative candidates, any supplemental primary or general election
 5       distributions made pursuant to subsections 8-C and 8-D must be made within 3
 6       business days of certification by the commission of the required number of additional
 7       qualifying contributions.
 8       Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-C, ¶B, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §25, is
 9   amended to read:
10       B. For a contested primary election, the total distribution of revenues is $10,000 per
11       candidate. the amount of revenues distributed is as follows:
12           (1) The initial distribution of revenues is $10,000 per candidate;
13           (2) For each increment of 30 additional qualifying contributions a candidate
14           collects and submits pursuant to subsection 8-E, not to exceed a total of 240
15           additional qualifying contributions, the supplemental distribution of revenues to
16           that candidate is $4,285; and
17           (3) The total amount of revenues distributed for a contested primary election may
18           not exceed $27,140 per candidate.
19       Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-C, ¶E is enacted to read:
20       E. A candidate may receive no more than 8 supplemental distributions under this
21       subsection.
22       Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-D, ¶B, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 1, §25, is
23   amended to read:
24       B. For a contested primary election, the total distribution of revenues is $2,500 per
25       candidate. the amount of revenues distributed is as follows:
26           (1) The initial distribution of revenues is $2,500 per candidate;
27           (2) For each increment of 10 additional qualifying contributions a candidate
28           collects and submits pursuant to subsection 8-E, not to exceed a total of 80
29           additional qualifying contributions, the supplemental distribution of revenues to
30           that candidate is $1,070; and
31           (3) The total amount of revenues distributed for a contested primary election may
32           not exceed $6,780 per candidate.
33       Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-D, ¶E is enacted to read:
34       E. A candidate may receive no more than 8 supplemental distributions under this
35       subsection.
36       Sec. 6. 21-A MRSA §1125, sub-§8-E, as amended by PL 2019, c. 323, §33, is
37   further amended by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
38   Additional qualifying contributions may be submitted to the commission at any time in any
39   amounts in accordance with the schedules in this subsection. The commission shall make
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40
 1   supplemental distributions to candidates in the amounts and in accordance with the
41
 2   increments specified in subsections 8-B to 8-D. If a candidate submits additional
42
 3   qualifying contributions prior to a primary election in excess of the number of qualifying
43
 4   contributions for which a candidate may receive a distribution, the excess qualifying
44
 5   contributions may, at the candidate's choosing, be counted as primary election additional
45
 6   qualifying contributions or general election additional qualifying contributions if the
46
 7   candidate has a contested general election. If a candidate submits additional qualifying
47
 8   contributions prior to a primary election in excess of the number of additional qualifying
48
 9   contributions for which a candidate may receive a supplemental distribution, the excess
49
10   qualifying contributions must be counted as general election additional qualifying
50
11   contributions if the candidate has a contested general election, but supplemental
51
12   distributions. Distributions based on these excess primary election additional qualifying
52
13   contributions may not be distributed until after the primary election.
14                                         SUMMARY
15       This bill permits participating candidates for the State Senate and State House of
16   Representatives in contested primary elections to receive up to 4 supplemental distributions
17   of revenue from the Maine Clean Election Fund. The bill allows a participating candidate
18   in a contested primary election to choose to receive supplemental distributions during the
19   primary election or during a contested general election. The bill limits the total number of
20   supplemental distributions a participating candidate may receive in an election cycle to 8.
                                        Page 2 - 130LR1484(01)
Statutes affected: 
Bill Text LD 1442, HP 1058: 21-A.1125