Anti-super PAC initiative headed to Legislature for consideration
A campaign finance reform effort in Maine has secured enough signatures for a citizen initiative, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows confirmed Thursday.
The initiative will now go to the Maine Legislature for consideration, which can either enact the bill as written or send it to a statewide vote in November 2024.
On face value, the petition campaign seeks to limit contributions to independent political action committees, otherwise known as super PACs. The ultimate goal, however, is to get the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that PACs should be regulated.
The legal scholar and political activist behind the initiative, Lawrence Lessig, has been trying to advance the effort for years with his non-profit EqualCitizens.US, which is based out of Boston. After attending a dinner in Maine last summer organized by LeadershipNow, Lessig saw Maine’s citizen-initiated referendum process as a path forward.
That path has proven successful so far.
The Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions confirmed 76,081 valid signatures for the petition, more than the minimum of 67,682 signatures needed. No less than 10% of the total votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election are required for citizen initiatives. The Bureau had received 84,025 total signatures of voters who supported the initiative but found 7,944 invalid.
The initiative is backed by upwards of $1 million from more than 100 donors from across the U.S., including from billionaire Steve Jurvetson, a venture capitalist and a board member of SpaceX, as well as millionaire Vincent “Vin” Ryan, founder and chairman of the firm Schooner Capital.
While EqualCitizens.US took the lead in raising funds to gather the signatures needed for a referendum, Lessig told Maine Morning Star that the group will not be directly involved in the ballot campaign. That will be the task of the Maine-based ballot question committee, Citizens to End super PACs, which is chaired by Cara McCormick, who also co-founded the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting.
The proposed bill would limit annual contributions to super PACs to $5,000 from individuals, PACs and businesses. If enacted, the expectation is that its legality will be challenged almost immediately, presenting an eventual path to the U.S. Supreme Court. As for how the Supreme Court would rule, nothing is guaranteed, but Lessig believes there is a core flaw in the lower court case decision that established super PACs 13 years ago and is confident the justices would agree.