Ethics panel to consider curbs on Clean Election spending

AUGUSTA – The state ethics commission is being asked to place restrictions on the way political candidates who run under Maine’s Clean Election law can spend public funds.

Under the recommendations spelled out in a memo from the commission’s executive director, candidates no longer would be allowed to bill taxpayers for out-of-state travel, car repairs, charitable contributions or their own meals in restaurants.

The Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, which oversees the Clean Election law, can implement some of the proposed changes on its own, but others require approval of the Legislature.

The proposals follow reports that a small number of candidates misused public money in last year’s legislative campaigns. The commission’s rules on how tax dollars may be used in political campaigns specify that the money be used for “campaign-related purposes.”

But Jonathan Wayne, the panel’s executive director, said commission members should strengthen and clarify those rules to eliminate any ambiguity about what qualifies as a legitimate campaign expense.

Publicly funded legislative candidates spent $2.7 million last year, and Wayne said the vast majority of the money went for “genuine campaign goods and services.”

Along with the restrictions in Wayne’s memo, other proposals would force a publicly financed candidate to document the work of paid campaign staffers and prohibit the use of tax dollars for out-of-state travel.