AUGUSTA ( AP) — Lawmakers have sent to Gov. Paul LePage a bill that carves out a major chunk of Maine’s Clean Election Act.
Legislators on Tuesday gave final passage to the change in the public campaign financing law.
The bill removes the socalled “matching funds” provision from the law, in line with a U. S. Supreme Court decision declaring matching funds unconstitutional.
Under the current law, candidates received matching funds to remain competitive in races when opponents or outside groups spent large amounts of money to influence the outcome.
Republicans say that even with the change, the intent of the Clean Election Act remains intact.
Democrats say the law is left weakened by not enacting a replacement for matching funds.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less