More ‘Clean’ funds eyed Election panel fears shortfall

AUGUSTA – Seriously concerned over the “potential” of falling short of funds for next year’s gubernatorial elections, a state panel is preparing to request additional money from the Legislature in January to cover what could become a small mob of publicly funded candidates.

To date, eight Mainers have declared their intentions to run for governor, with six of them expressing a desire to operate publicly funded campaigns under the nine-year-old Maine Clean Election Act. Should Pat LaMarche choose to enter the race as a publicly funded candidate for the Green Independent Party as Jonathan Carter did in 2004, the number of taxpayer-financed campaigns could grow to seven. Democratic Gov. John E. Baldacci confirmed Thursday he intends to seek re-election as a traditionally, or privately, funded candidate.

In the unlikely event that all of the potential candidates seeking public funds collected the 2,500 $5 checks needed to qualify under the Maine Clean Election Fund, currently there is no way the state could cover the costs of those campaigns.

With a potential deficit looming, the executive director of the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices said Thursday he has notified the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee of the panel’s intentions to seek additional appropriations for the fund.

“A total of seven gubernatorial candidates are expected to attempt to qualify for public financing,” wrote Jonathan Wayne, the commission’s executive director. “If more than three of the candidates qualify for public funds in the general election, the commission will need to request additional transfers to the fund in the 2006 legislative session. Prior to the session, the commission will introduce legislation to provide for this contingency, and will withdraw the bill if it appears unnecessary.”

Wayne said he was not yet sure how much additional money could be requested. Complicating his ability to identify the amount is the June 2 deadline by which unenrolled, or independent, candidates must submit their qualifying contributions. Official party candidates must deliver their qualifying contributions by April 18, the same month the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn.

The commissioners reminded the legislative panel of the Legislature’s transfers in 2002 and 2003 of $6,725,000 from the Maine Clean Election Fund to the Maine Rainy Day Fund and to the state’s General Fund. Although the Legislature restored $2.4 million of that amount in the most recent budget document, more may be needed.

“The possible shortfall next year is a direct result of those transfers,” Wayne said. “At that time, the understanding was that the funds would be replenished if necessary.”

The commission expects to have accumulated nearly $10 million in the Maine Clean Election Fund by the end of 2006. That leaves about $5 million for gubernatorial candidates after the commission has deducted allocations for legislative candidates, personnel and other administrative costs.

Each of the unenrolled gubernatorial candidates is entitled to $200,000 for the primary and $1.2 million for the general election. Official party candidates, however, can receive additional matching funds during the entire campaign to raise their total allocation to as much as $1.8 million each. The current Clean Election Fund could cover the costs of two official party candidates and one unenrolled candidate.

Wayne said the commission is entitled under current law to request an additional transfer from the state’s General Fund of up to $2 million no later than July 31, 2006. The transfer would reflect an advance of the annual $2 million payment the Maine Clean Election Fund would have otherwise received on Jan. 1, 2008.

“Depending on how many candidates for governor qualify for public financing in 2006, the commission may need to request some portion of this amount,” Wayne wrote.