By Alanna Durkin, The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Maine - A proposal to ask voters whether they want to repeal Maine's Clean Election law has received a cool response from a legislative committee.
The Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee began on Friday to examine Republican Sen. Eric Brakey's proposal to place a measure on the November ballot to repeal the public-financing elections law and use the money to boost education funding, instead.
Brakey says he doesn't believe taxpayer dollars should be spent on political yard signs and attack mailers.
But critics said the measure appears to be an attempt to undermine a referendum that has already qualified for the ballot this November.
That measure aims to strengthen the law by providing publicly-financed candidates access to more cash on the campaign trail so they can better compete with their traditionally-financed candidates.