Summary
The Legislature's Appropriations Committee has the near- impossible job of making the state budget balance while meeting the many obligations Maine has imposed on itself. The committee is wondering whether the state's publicly funded gubernatorial campaign, approved by voters through referendum, really needs the money allocated to it. That is a policy question that deserves public hearings and plenty of comment from those who lead the public- financing effort before any decision is made.
Lawmakers have borrowed from the Maine Clean Election Fund repeatedly since voters approved it in 1996, often leaving the fund short of money and in need of either advance payments or transfers from the state General Fund. State statute demands a $2 million annual payment to the fund, in addition to a tax checkoff, qualifying contributions and interest that produce about $4.8 million in the fund each biennium. The money is then used to support legislative and gubernatorial candidates who forgo private funding.See the full content of this document
Extract
The Public in Public Fund
In 2006, the Maine gubernatorial race needed $3.5 million in public fun...
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