Political Spending by Foreign-Influenced Corporations LD 479, 194, 641
Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs Maine State Legislature RE: Political spending by foreign-influenced corporations LD 479, 194, 641 March 12, 2021 Dear Members of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, I am the Legal Director of Free Speech For People, a national non- partisan non-profit organization, that works to renew our democracy and to limit the influence of money in our elections. In particular, we played a critical role in helping draft, provide legal support, and advocate for the nation’s first two enacted laws (in Seattle, Washington and St. Petersburg, Florida) that limit political spending by partially- foreign-owned (foreign-influenced) corporations. I write now to provide our recommendations on three Maine bills: LD 479 (Bailey/Miramant), LD 194 (Bennett/Grohoski), and LD 641 (Riseman). A brief list of our recommendations is below, followed by a more detailed explanation of some of them. I. Recommendations • We believe that LD 479 provides the most productive starting point. LD 194 and LD 641 should be subsumed or merged into it. • In LD 479, the definition of “foreign national” in §§ 1006(1)(G)(3)(a)-(b) should be revised. At p.2 line 4, change “5%” to “1%” and at line 8, change “20%” to “5%.” As explained in more detail below, the 5%/20% thresholds are drawn from older legislation that no longer reflects the state of the art. • We recommend requiring the CEO of any corporation spending money in Maine elections to certify that the corporation does not meet the definition of a foreign national.
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