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An Act To Increase Voter Knowledge by Placing the Amount of the Total Current Bond Debt on Each Ballot That Contains a Bond Issue
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §152, as amended by PL 2013, c. 131, §1, is further amended to read:
§ 152.Ratification of bond issue; signed statement
In accordance with the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, section 14, the Treasurer of State shall prepare a signed statement, called the Treasurer's Statement, to accompany any question submitted to the electors for ratification of a bond issue setting forth the total amount of bonds of the State outstanding and unpaid, the total amount of bonds of the State authorized and unissued and the total amount of bonds of the State contemplated to be issued if the enactment submitted to the electors should be ratified. The Treasurer of State shall also set forth in that statement an estimate of costs involved, including explanation of, based on such factors as interest rates that may vary, the interest cost contemplated to be paid on the amount to be issued, the total cost of principal and interest that will be paid at maturity and any other substantive explanatory information relating to the debt of the State as the Treasurer of State considers appropriate. To meet the requirement that the signed statement of the Treasurer of State accompany any ballot question for ratification of a bond issue, the statement maymust be printed on the ballot or it mayand must be printed as a separate document that is made available to voters as provided in Title 21-A, sections 605-A and 651.
 
SUMMARY
Current law provides that the statement of the Treasurer of State setting forth the total amount of bonds of the State outstanding and unpaid, the total amount of bonds of the State authorized and unissued and the total amount of bonds of the State contemplated to be issued if the enactment submitted to the electors is ratified be printed on the ballot containing the proposed bond issue or printed as a separate document and posted outside the guardrail enclosure at each voting place. This bill amends that law to require that that information be printed on the ballot and printed as a separate document and posted outside the guardrail enclosure at each voting place.