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The "Clean
Elections Initiative" would increase public funding for
qualifying candidates for office to as much as $3 million to
make them more competitive against privately funded candidates,
according to supporters.
The existing law, passed by voters in a 1996 ballot initiative,
made up to $2 million available to candidates for statewide
office.
"If we strengthen our voluntary system of campaign financing,
more candidates will use it," said Andrew Bossie of Maine
Citizens for Clean Elections. "That means they will work for
regular voters, and not just for wealthy special interests."
The initiative proposes to beef up disclosure rules, requiring
political advertisements to list their top three donors. It
would also strengthen penalties for violating campaign finance
law.
The controversial Maine ballot question underscores the
increasingly tense national debate over how best to regulate
campaign finance in the wake of Citizens United, the landmark
2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that allowed unlimited independent
spending by corporations and labor unions in election campaigns.
Opponents of the Maine initiative, including Republican Governor
Paul LePage, point out that the proposed law does nothing to
limit spending by outside groups, chiding the measure as a
subsidy for undeserving politicians.
"The real question is: how much of your hard-earned tax dollars
do you want to buy lawn signs, make robocalls to your house and
send junk mail?" wrote LePage in an opinion piece co-authored
with two Republican lawmakers.
Maine's statewide system of full public financing was the first
such program in the United States, but participation rates have
dropped by more than 30 percent since 2006 as outside money has
flooded state elections.
In 2014, independent groups including political action
committees spent at least $14 million to sway Maine voters, more
than the candidates themselves, according to Maine Ethics
Commission filings.
The pattern is the same nationally, according to Katy Owens
Hubler, of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Only Connecticut and Arizona now have programs similar to
Maine's, Hubler said.
"Public financing has fallen out of favor in the states because
of this huge influx of money from outside groups," Hubler said.
"The question is what to do about it."
(Editing by Scott Malone)
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