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Bill to Disclose the Funding of Ballot Initiatives Considered

Maine Public

Legislative leaders have voted unanimously to allow a new bill this session that would require more disclosure of the financing of ballot initiatives.

Ellsworth democratic representative Louis Luchini is sponsoring the legislation, which would require more thorough and timely disclosure of the spending to get a ballot question approved.

“From start to finish, I think, the campaign finance ballot questions need to be cleaned up,” says Luchini. “So it’s good to know who is paying for the original process just to get it on the ballot, and then who is funding these ballot question committees that pay millions of dollars to promote initiatives.”

Luchini says the effort led by Shawn Scott to build a casino in York County was unsuccessful, but the effort to get the question on the ballot cost millions of dollars and was not disclosed until after the petition process was over. His legislation is aimed at providing greater disclosure of all aspects of spending around ballot initiatives.

“What is really important to me is to I think understand all of the financing issues,” says Luchini. “That’s something we really saw last year during the casino campaign where lots of money was flowing in, we didn’t know where it was coming from.”

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.