PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine State Chamber teamed up with a coalition of business leaders Thursday to announce their opposition to Question 1 on the November ballot, a statewide citizens' initiative designed to strengthen Maine's Clean Election Act.
They're not opposed to the intent of the proposal, but they do object to the way it would be funded.
On Nov. 3, Mainers going to the polls will be asked to approve a measure to strengthen the state's existing clean elections law.
Question 1 would allow publicly financed candidates, under certain conditions, to access additional funds.
"Let me be clear at the very outset, we're not here in opposition to publicly-financed candidates," says Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. "Nor are we here to speak in opposition to their intended purpose, the spirit of their efforts."
He addressed a news conference at the Portland Regional Chamber Thursday morning, backed by a coalition of 15 other business leaders.
Their opposition to Question 1, he says, is focused on the way the clean elections law would be funded: with the permanent elimination of $6 million in business tax incentives every two years to help fund the campaigns of publicly financed candidates.
"Six million dollars that is intended to be used to grow our economy instead will go to candidates for their signs, of for their efforts within their campaign," Connors says.
"Incentives have existed since biblical times," says Peter Del Greco, president and CEO of Maine and Co., a nonprofit that encourages business development in the state. "From the beginning of time people have used the tax code to encourage specific behavior."
The removal of corporate tax breaks, he says, sends the wrong message to businesses who may be thinking of investing in Maine.
"Question 1 does make new job creation in Maine, it makes it harder," he says. "And if it is implemented poorly it could also lead to eventual job losses."
Opponents also say the language in Question 1 is misleading.
"Question 1 is not all that it implies," says Jim Nimon, who runs the Sanford Economic Growth Council. "When I first looked at it, I was taken in by the title, it sounds like a good thing, mom and apple pie."
But he says he grew concerned when he read the small print — particularly what is said about funding sources.
"Let's pay for this measure by permanently eliminating $6 million in business tax incentives, but it fails to define what that means," he says.
Not all of Maine's business owners oppose Question 1.
The state's Small Business Coalition, representing more than 4,000 business owners, supports the measure.
One of those business owners is Wells Lyons, co-owner of Portland-based wallet manufacturer Rogue Industries. He's also running as a Democrat for the Portland City Council next month.
"Question 1 is going to put elections back in the hands of everyday Maine people," he says.
It's not a surprise, he says, that the Maine State Chamber has come out against the proposal.
"When it's the very corporations they represent who write the big campaign checks and earn political favors by doing so," Lyons says.
Supporters also point out that the law is only intended to scrap incentives that are underperforming.
"In this legislation, we direct the Legislature to find one or more tax expenditures that have little or no proven economic benefit to the people of Maine," says Andrew Bossie, president of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections.
And then use that money to fund the Clean Election Law.
"And that way we can have fair debates about policy about what everyday Maine people need, not what lobbyists and wealthy campaign contributors want from our Legislature," he says.
The chamber-led coalition argues that all business tax breaks serve a useful purpose, but if any are found to be underperforming, it would be better for the Maine economy if they were redirected toward more successful incentive programs rather than used to fund political campaigns.