Lawmakers eye changes in ethics laws

After a gubernatorial candidate paid her spouse for campaign work with public funds, and a Lewiston lawmaker forged campaign reports and instead used Clean Elections funds for personal use, legislators are targeting campaign finance laws in the upcoming session.

Similar bills look at conflict of interest by a lawmaker, and lobbyist disclosure.

Speaker of the House Glenn Cummings, Senate President Beth Edmonds, Rep. Marilyn Canavan, a former director of the state Ethics Commission and Rep. John Piotti, chairman of the Taxation Committee, all have bills moving forward that were approved by the Legislative Council.

BARRING PAYMENTS TO SPOUSES

Piotti’s bill would bar Clean Elections candidates from paying their spouses to work on campaigns. He is working on it with Rep. John Brautigam, D-Falmouth.

It is in response to independent gubernatorial candidate Barbara Merrill’s campaign, where she paid her husband $109,000 for his services to the campaign. After that was exposed, several constituents brought the matter to his attention, Piotti said.

Piotti, D-Unity, said that family members would still get reimbursed for materials they purchased for the campaign, such as gas or signage.

Merrill placed third in the five-way race for governor, getting 21.5 percent of the vote. Her actions were not illegal, but sparked discussion over the ethics of paying one’s spouse to do campaign work with Clean Elections dollars.

“There’s nothing wrong with doing that in another situation, but when public funds are involved there should be tighter restrictions,” Piotti said.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Cummings, D-Portland, is working on a bill to prevent conflict of interest, undue interest and abuse of power by lawmakers in committees.

“Maine has a very high set of standards for lawmakers, and a history of living up to those standards,” Cummings said.

The bill would prevent situations where a lawmaker working for a major company could use his influence to pass a bill directly affecting that company.

In a Legislature where many members of the Judiciary Committee are lawyers, and members of the Education Committee have worked in education, a conflict of interest is defined as having “unique” impact instead of “broad-based” impact.

That is, a college professor working on a bill affecting all higher education would be kosher. A bill affecting his or her campus specifically would not be.

Edmonds, D-Freeport, has a similar bill. She wants lawmakers to expose their spouses interests to the ethics commission. This is in effort to promote transparency in government, she said.  

Cummings’ bill also bars a Clean Elections Candidate from being his or her own treasurer. This is a response to a recent case where William Walcott, a former representative from Lewiston, was found to have used public funds for private use. His case is currently pending with the Attorney General’s Office. 

LOBBYIST DISCLOSURE

The Ethics Commission’s Web site is already getting a face lift in January, but Rep. Canavan, D-Waterville, is eyeing further improvements.

Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the commission, said previously that the new lobbyist disclosure site will include profiles of each lobbyist and an ability to search by a specific bill.

Canavan said the system proposed in her bill would require disclosure of “grassroots lobbying”, such as an organization purchasing a newspaper advertisement with the words “contact your legislator”.

The site she is proposing is modeled after Wisconsin’s disclosure site.