Some Maine legislators are preparing to introduce a bill that would ban Clean Elections candidates from paying family members for campaign-related work with public funds. The Maine Ethics Commission voted against such a proposal, favoring a full disclosure provision instead. This bill is in reaction to gubernatorial candidate Barbara Merrill's decision in the 2006 election to pay her husband $109,000 for work he did on her campaign.

Merrill's husband has a background as a campaign strategist and has worked for other candidates, but particularly given the high level of scrutiny over paying family members for campaign work at the federal level, his arrangement with his wife's campaign has come under the microscope.