League of Women Voters

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In the last legislative session, state lawmakers approved measures that made it 30 percent harder for candidates for governor to qualify for public financing. They also required all gubernatorial candidates to be audited by the Ethics Commission.

Lawmakers also asked Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the commission, to study further improvements to public financing in gubernatorial elections.

At a public hearing Friday morning, a handful of proponents – mostly the usual suspects – said that the most recent round of changes should play out in 2010 before any more are made.

Maine House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, is pushing legislation to redefine conflict of interest, undue influence and abuse of office in state government.

At the heart of his bill, which was heard in the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee Monday, is a clause allowing citizens to come to the Ethics Commission with complaints about their legislators.  read more »