The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee decided Wednesday to stay involved in two government transparency issues — document shredding at the Maine Center for Disease Control and intervention by Gov. Paul LePage and Maine Labor Department officials into unemployment insurance hearings.
Committee members agreed Wednesday morning to send a letter to the Maine Attorney General’s Office formally advising the office that they’ve heard testimony alleging violation of the state’s Freedom of Access Act at the CDC and an intent to frustrate a FOAA request by ordering documents destroyed. That testimony was presented at a previous meeting with six current and former CDC officials at the heart of the committee’s document-shredding probe.
Members also agreed to invite the governor’s administration to an upcoming meeting to talk about what it is doing in response to a Blue Ribbon Commission Report and a letter from the federal Department of Labor regarding allegations that LePage tried to influence the way unemployment hearing officers rule.
Both the commission’s report and the department’s letter offered recommendations for the administration. Government Oversight Committee members said they would like to know how the administration is responding to those recommendations.
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