In a split vote, the commission decided to have its staff review whether the American Legislative Exchange Council is illegally trying to influence elections.
campaign finance
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
State ethics panel launches probe into company that donated to Democrats
The now disbanded Alpine Initiatives LLC donated $150,000 to the Maine Democratic Party in October 2018, just 4 days after the company was registered in Maine.
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Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Sen. Joe Baldacci: Bill will close dangerous loophole, prevent foreign influence on Maine voters
L.D. 194 isn’t about the corridor project, but rather about responsible governance and sound policy.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Commentary: Dark money erodes our trust in democracy – Maine’s senators can restore it
The For the People Act will ensure our state’s candidates don’t see a repeat of the deluge of outside spending that took place in 2020.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Jim Fossel: Maine should limit all PAC contributions
A cap and tax on business, nonprofit and union contributions would do more than a corporate donation ban to reduce the influence of big money in politics.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Maine might ban corporations from making campaign donations
The proposal would stop corporations from donating to candidate campaigns or leadership PACs.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News, Politics
Legislation that would silence foreign companies in Maine ballot campaigns gets first look
Three bills before the Maine Legislature would prevent companies like Hydro-Quebec from spending money to influence statewide ballot questions, including one in November on a controversial power line.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
The Maine Millennial: Gideon should donate her campaign cash
The $14.5 million war chest the former candidate is sitting on could help a lot of struggling Maine people.
Posted inGreg Kesich, Op-Eds, Opinion
The View From Here: 2020 shows damage done by too much money in politics
The funding that’s flooding the state doesn’t make us better informed – it just makes us mad.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Ethics commission to review records of Maine legislative ‘leadership PACs’
While commissioners stress that the reviews will be conducted ‘without any suggestion of impropriety,’ findings of problems could lead to proposals for regular audits of the political action committees.