Heritage Policy Center sues municipal assoc.
The Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative think tank in Portland, has filed a lawsuit against the Maine Municipal Association, claiming the organization improperly contributed to four political action committees.
MHPC filed the suit yesterday in Kennebec County Superior Court on behalf of four plaintiffs: the three lead signers of the 2006 Taxpayer Bill of Rights initiative, Mary Adams, John Wibby Jr. and Pembroke Schaeffer, as well as Cyr Plantation in Aroostook County, according to the Capital Weekly. The lawsuit alleges MMA between 2002 and 2009 contributed nearly $2 million in direct and in-kind contributions to PACs that supported LD 1 in 2004, opposed the Palesky initiative in 2004, opposed TABOR I in 2006 and opposed TABOR II in 2009 and opposed the car excise tax initiative in 2009. MHPC argued that MMA is a government entity and its contributions violate the Maine and U.S. constitutions, as well as overstep the organization's corporate charter. "The Maine Municipal Association has directly and publicly engaged in electioneering by taking sides and contributing public dollars to influence the outcome of initiative campaigns," David Crocker of MHPC said at a press conference yesterday, the paper reported.
MMA spokesman Eric Conrad disagreed, saying the organization is not a government entity but a nonprofit association, and as such has "the right to lobby at the State House," he told the paper. The lawsuit seeks to bar MMA from contributing to PACs or interfering with initiative campaigns, as well as repayment of the money it spent on previous campaigns to the state treasurer, who would distribute it to Maine municipalities. The association's income comes from dues paid by member municipalities and premiums on insurance paid by towns and quasi-governmental agencies.
Go to the article from the Capital Weekly >>
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