Ethics commission investigates fundraising groups
Two groups raising money for separate initiatives on the November ballot have caught the attention of the Maine ethics commission.
Groups that oppose Maine's gay marriage law will be investigated after the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices overruled a staff recommendation, finding sufficient evidence to look into fundraising by the National Organization for Marriage, the Associated Press reported. The organization is a major contributor to Stand for Marriage Maine, and has been accused of skirting state law by not reporting many donor names. NOM said it solicits donations nationally without assigning the money to specific campaigns, and so doesn't need to report contributors' names, according to the AP.
The ethics commission also ruled that Maine Leads, which successfully lobbied to put an initiative to cut the municipal excise tax on the fall ballot, must file campaign finance reports dating back to late 2007, according to the Sun Journal. But the commission voted against categorizing the group as a political action committee, instead requiring it to file the reports as a ballot question committee.
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