Senate passes bill to ensure Clean Elections’ viability this election year
AUGUSTA — The Maine Senate on Tuesday gave bipartisan support to a bill that will ensure Maine’s Clean Elections system will have the funding necessary for the upcoming election.
LD 1579 was approved with a 26-9 vote. The bill advances a payment of $3 million to the Maine Clean Elections Fund that was previously scheduled for January 1. The Maine Ethics Commission, which administers the state’s Clean Elections program, said the transfer is needed earlier in order to prevent a shortfall this election cycle.
“Clean Elections has been around since 2003, when voters first said they wanted candidates for office to be able to run without being beholden to large donors,” Sen. Gratwick said. “They repeated that commitment last year when they increased the cap on funding available to Clean Elections candidates, to help fight the growing influence of big money in politics. Over the years, the Legislature has swept portions of the fund to other budget lines to pay for critical state needs. Now, we know it’s time to make Clean Elections whole again.”
Voters last year approved an increase in the funding available to publicly financed candidates. That increase, as well as years of withdrawals from the Clean Elections Fund to pay for other state needs, have created the potential for a cash flow problem this year, which could result in eligible candidates not receiving funding.
“We foresee a potential cash flow problem that will occur in the middle of this year, due to the increased funding available to candidates under the initiative and past de- appropriations from the Maine Clean Election Fund,” wrote Maine Ethics director Jonathan Wayne. “If that were to occur, we could not make payments to candidates which are required under the new law.”
As amended, LD 1579 will advance the scheduled transfer of $3 million from the General Fund to the Maine Clean Elections Fund. Instead of taking place on January 1, $500,000 will be transferred before July 15, 2016; Another $500,000 will be transferred before August 1, 2016; and the remaining $2 million will be transferred as scheduled on January 1, 2017.
This year, roughly 77 percent of the Democrats running for the Maine Senate are running as Clean Elections candidates; roughly 70 percent of Republicans are doing the same.
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