Except for a lobbyist filing a monthly report under section 317, subsection 1, paragraph E?1, a person who makes or incurs expenditures in excess of $2,000 during a calendar month for purposes of grassroots lobbying shall file with the commission a report no later than 11:59 p.m. on the 15th day of the calendar month following the date on which that amount was exceeded. For purposes of this section, expenditures include payments of money made to independent contractors and other vendors to purchase goods and services such as advertising, graphic or website design, video or audio production services, telecommunications services, printing and postage. Salaries paid to the person’s employees are not expenditures for the purposes of this section and are exempt from disclosure under this section. [PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]
1. Report. A grassroots lobbying report filed pursuant to this section must include:
A. The name of the person required to file the report; [PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]
B. The name of an individual serving as the contact for the person; [PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]
C. The business address and other contact information for the person; [PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]
D. A description of the business activity or mission of the person; [PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]
E. The specific amount of expenditures for grassroots lobbying made or incurred during the month that is the subject of the report, with separate totals for expenditure categories as determined by the commission; [PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]
F. The legislative actions that are the subject of the grassroots lobbying; and [PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]
G. A list of all of the person’s original sources and a statement of the amount paid by each original source. If an original source is a corporation formed under Title 13 or former Title 13?A, a nonprofit corporation formed under Title 13?B or a limited partnership under Title 31, the corporation, nonprofit organization or limited partnership, not the individual members, must be listed as the original source. [PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]

[PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 2019, c. 599, §4 (NEW). PL 2019, c. 599, §5 (AFF).

Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 3 Sec. 317-A

  • Commission: means the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices as defined in Title 1, chapter 25. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 3 Sec. 312-A
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Expenditure: means anything of value or any contract, promise or agreement to transfer anything of value, whether or not legally enforceable. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 3 Sec. 312-A
  • Grassroots lobbying: means to communicate with members of the general public to solicit them to communicate directly with any covered official for the purpose of influencing legislative action, other than legislation that is before the Legislature as a result of a direct initiative in accordance with the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part Third, Section 18, when that solicitation is made by:
A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 3 Sec. 312-A
  • Lobbying: includes the time spent to prepare and submit to the Governor, an official in the legislative branch, an official in the executive branch, a constitutional officer or a legislative committee oral and written proposals for, or testimony or analyses concerning, a legislative action. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 3 Sec. 312-A
  • Lobbyist: means any person who is specifically employed by another person for the purpose of and who engages in lobbying in excess of 8 hours in any calendar month, or any individual who, as a regular employee of another person, expends an amount of time in excess of 8 hours in any calendar month in lobbying. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 3 Sec. 312-A
  • Month: means a calendar month. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
  • Original source: means any person who pays $1,000 or more in any lobbying year directly or indirectly to any employer of a lobbyist for purposes of lobbying or grassroots lobbying or to any other person for purposes of grassroots lobbying, except that payments of membership dues to nonprofit corporations formed under Title 13?B, under any equivalent state law or by legislative enactment are not considered payments by an original source. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 3 Sec. 312-A
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, proprietorship, joint stock company, business trust, syndicate, association, professional association, labor union, firm, partnership, club or other organization, whether profit or nonprofit, or any municipality or quasi-municipality or group of persons acting in concert, but does not include this State or any other agency of this State. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 3 Sec. 312-A
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