Lack of money to support Maine public campaign finance system is putting the program in threat

Thanks to Election Law Blog for the link to this Maine News Online article “Maine’s public campaign finance system could run out of money”:

Maine’s public campaign finance system could run out of money as state lawmakers have repeatedly raided the fund to use the money for some other purposes, the state’s ethics commission’s executive director Jonathan Wayne said. On Tuesday, Wayne told the state Legislature’s budget writing committee that lawmakers have withdrawn around $12 million from the Maine Clean Elections fund since the year of 2002. The figure includes$3.4 million withdrawn through the financial year that ended in June last year.

Wayne added that the Legislature had returned $5.6 million to the voter-approved program, but that was not enough to offset the decline in funds.

It may be noted here that the Maine Clean Elections finance system was supported by state voters in a November referendum to limit big-money influence on elections and candidates.