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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1350
S.P. 567 In Senate, April 1, 2025
An Act to Ban Corporate Contributions to Candidates
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on March 28, 2025. Referred to the Committee on
Veterans and Legal Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator TIPPING of Penobscot.
Cosponsored by Representative MACIAS of Topsham and
Senators: DUSON of Cumberland, NANGLE of Cumberland, RENY of Lincoln, TEPLER of
Sagadahoc, Representatives: BECK of South Portland, GEIGER of Rockland, ROEDER of
Bangor, SKOLD of Portland.
Page 1 - 132LR1781(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1015, sub-§2-A, as repealed by PL 2023, c. 244, §6, is
3 reenacted to read:
42-A. Contributions by business entities. A business entity may not make
5 contributions to a candidate.
6Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §1015, sub-§2-D, as enacted by IB 2023, c. 4, §2, is amended
7 to read:
82-D. Contributions by political action committees and business entities to political
9action committees making independent expenditures. A leadership political action
10 committee, a separate segregated fund committee, a caucus political action committee, any
11 other political action committee or any business entity may not make contributions
12 aggregating more than $5,000 in any calendar year to a political action committee for the
13 purpose of making independent expenditures under section 1019‑B, subsection 1.
14 Beginning December 1, 2024, contribution limits in accordance with this subsection are
15 adjusted every 2 years based on the Consumer Price Index as reported by the United States
16 Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and rounded to the nearest amount
17 divisible by $25. The commission shall post the current contribution limit and the amount
18 of the next adjustment and the date that it will become effective on its publicly accessible
19 website and include this information with any publication to be used as a guide for
20 candidates. For purposes of this subsection, "business entity" includes a firm, partnership,
21 corporation, incorporated association, labor organization or other organization, whether
22 organized as a for‑profit or a nonprofit entity.
23Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §1015, sub-§10, as repealed by PL 2023, c. 244, §8, is
24 reenacted to read:
2510. Business entity defined. For purposes of this section, "business entity" includes
26 a firm, partnership, corporation, incorporated association, labor organization or other
27 organization, whether organized as a for-profit or a nonprofit entity.
28SUMMARY
29 This bill amends the campaign finance laws to prohibit a business entity from making
30 contributions to candidates and defines "business entity."
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