Legislative Council accepts Sen. Chenette ethics bill to improve campaign finance law

​AUGUSTA — The Legislative Council approved a bill from Sen. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, to improve existing campaign finance laws by clearly defining in statute what a caucus political action committee is (PAC) in statute.
 
Sen. Chenette worked with the staff at the Maine Ethics Commission to introduce LR 2667, “An Act To Define the Term ‘Caucus Political Action Committee’” after several years of the commission pushing for the change.  
 
“You can’t regulate something that doesn’t exist in law,” said Sen. Chenette. “This builds on the success we had this past session around PAC reform to fix a discrepancy, prevent future ambiguity, and ensure transparency and ethical standards are met.”

Bills submitted for consideration during the Second Regular Session, which begins Jan. 8, must be approved by a majority of the 10-member Legislative Council. The Council consists of the 10 elected members of legislative leadership.
 
The bill was approved by the Legislative Council on Oct. 23 to be considered as an emergency measure, and will be introduced in the 2020 session of the legislature.