Corporate Contribution Ban
Our top priority this year was to break the connection between corporate money and state candidates. Too often, Maine’s democracy has been tarnished by significant corporate money – whether from pharmaceutical companies, utilities, insurance conglomerates – flowing into the coffers of candidates who will soon decide legislation vital to those sectors.
In 2020, we wrote legislation addressing this problem and brought it to Senator Louis Luchini – the Senate Chair of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.He agreed to sponsor the bill, and we began mobilizing our legislative efforts. Our goal was to make the case for this reform to all 186 legislators and see the bill through to the governor’s signature. We helped Mainers make more than 250 contacts with their legislators in support of the bill.
The bill also bans contributions from corporations to leadership PACs, and for the first time places contribution limits on other gifts to those PACs.
Over the course of many weeks, the legislature made some changes to the bill but finally advanced it to the governor’s desk. We were gratified when LD 1417 was signed into law on June 17, 2021. Maine now joins 22 other states and the federal government in banning corporate contributions.
130th Legislature (2021-2022)
Find more information about our efforts to fight big money in politics at our Legislative Priorities page. You can also check out the testimony that we have submitted during the current legislative session.
Fair Elections Portland
We support the Fair Elections Portland effort to bring public funding of elections to the mayor, city council, and school board races in Maine’s largest city!
Everyone should be represented in our democracy — not just the wealthy. Ordinary people can’t write massive campaign checks or hire high-priced lobbyists that tilt the playing field in their favor at everyone else’s expense.
We need to keep the power of our government where it belongs - in the hands of the people. When politicians depend on contributions from large corporations, lobbyists, and special interest groups, they’re the ones holding all the power. We need a strong clean elections policy if we want our city government to work on solutions for us, instead of helping out rich corporations and their lobbyists.
H.R. 1/S. 1 — For the People Act
At the federal level, we join the League of Women Voters of the United States in supporting H.R. 1/S. 1, the For the People Act. It's a once-in-a-generation democracy reform package to clean up our political system, get big money out of politics, hold elected officials accountable for corruption, expand and protect voting rights, and create a democracy that values the voices of all Americans.
