The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee may soon subpoena more members of the governor’s administration — this time to compel them to answer questions about the Riverview Psychiatric Center.
The committee voted Thursday to invite Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew and Riverview Superintendent Jay Harper to appear to talk about staffing concerns at the state hospital in Augusta.
Mayhew and Harper will be asked to attend one of the committee’s next two meetings: Jan. 8 or Jan. 22, whichever date is most convenient for them. The committee will ask for a response within 10 days, and if the response is not favorable, it will subpoena Mayhew and Harper to compel them to appear.
The commissioner and the superintendent had been asked to appear previously. Those requests were sent to the governor’s office. The governor’s office declined on Harper’s behalf, saying it would be more appropriate to request Mayhew’s attendance. It declined on Mayhew’s behalf, saying it had been informed that her schedule did not allow her to attend.
Thursday’s request will also be sent to the governor’s office.
Mayhew blasted Thursday’s subpoena vote, calling it “ludicrous” to expect any commissioner to be at the beck and call of the Government Oversight Committee.
The committee is the only legislative committee with subpoena power. It recently subpoenaed Gov. Paul LePage’s chief legal counsel and a top adviser after they refused to appear to answer questions about LePage’s role in pressuring the Good Will-Hinckley school to rescind an employment contract it made with Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves.
The Government Oversight Committee voted 11-1 Thursday to invite, and potentially subpoena, Mayhew and Harper. Rep. Deborah Sanderson, R-Chelsea, was the dissenting vote. She said she was concerned a subpoena was “a little premature.”
However, other committee members said they were frustrated by a pattern of LePage administration no-shows, not only to the Government Oversight Committee but also to other legislative committees and commissions.
“Frankly, I’m getting sick of this,” Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, said.
He said it’s become “almost routine” for the governor’s office to forbid administration officials to meet with legislative committees.
“We can’t let it go on,” he said. “We’ll decide who to talk to, not somebody else.”
Key State House leaders in both parties agreed.
Senate President Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, said he hoped the committee would not have to resort to using its subpoena powers to compel the administration to provide information. But if it came to that, he said, he supported the committee’s vote.
“Legislators are the policymakers for the state of Maine and we need to make sure we have the free flow of information that comes from commissioners and the departments so that we can make good public policy,” Thibodeau said.
He said administration officials should want to appear before the committees to bolster legislative support for their policies.
“If you’re right and the policies that you are espousing are the right ones, then you should want to be before these committees,” Thibodeau said.
Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, the co-chairwoman of the Legislature’s powerful budget-writing Appropriations Committee, said the administration’s efforts to stymie the work of lawmakers by withholding critical information isn’t new, but it remains a major frustration for policymakers and overall is damaging the state’s image and reputation.
“It doesn’t help our state when our government doesn’t look like it’s functioning very well,” Rotundo said. “And when the governor doesn’t allow his commissioners to come before legislative committees to share information so we can make good decisions as legislators, it doesn’t reflect well on the state and the way in which we are functioning at this point.”
Email and phone calls seeking comment from the govenor’s spokeswoman, Adrienne Bennett, were not returned Thursday.
Mayhew released a statement saying it was “unfathomable” that lawmakers would seek to subpoena her “over a scheduling conflict.”
“The expectation that the (c)ommissioner of any government agency drops what they’re doing to answer the beck and call of the Government Oversight Committee is ludicrous, especially when that call comes just five days before the meeting is scheduled to be held,” she said.
She said department staff have discussed Riverview with the Health and Human Services Committee and the Appropriations Committee multiple times and the committees have received “volumes of information from countless documents and discussions with staff.”
“The assertion that the department has refused to address questions or clarify answers is patently false,” she said.
Mayhew added that she is proud of the progress made at Riverview and recognizes there is more work to do.
“We must focus all of our energy on the steps necessary to improve the system of care and better serve Maine people with serious and persistent mental illness,” she said.
Riverview is a 92-bed state-run psychiatric hospital with a 44-bed unit to serve forensic patients — those involved with the criminal justice system — and a 48-bed unit to serve civil patients. The hospital has struggled in recent years, including losing its federal certification and facing court scrutiny for failing to admit mentally ill jail inmates.
In a Nov. 22 story in the Sun Journal, advocates, families, jail officials, lawyers and lawmakers said Maine jails are being inundated with mentally ill inmates they can’t care for, creating a crisis for jails and hurting people with mental health issues. Although inmates can be sent to Riverview, many people said the hospital doesn’t take enough inmates to help the problem.
Government Oversight Committee members want to ask Mayhew and Harper about long-standing staffing concerns at the hospital.
State Politics Editor Scott Thistle contributed to this story.
DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew’s statement on Thursday’s Government Oversight Committee meeting:
The expectation that the Commissioner of any government agency drops what they’re doing to answer the beck and call of the Government Oversight Committee is ludicrous, especially when that call comes just five days before the meeting is scheduled to be held.
What’s even more unfathomable is lawmakers threatening a subpoena over a scheduling conflict.
Instead of focusing on casting aspersions and making headlines, perhaps the Committee could have picked up the phone, contacted my office and worked with my schedule to arrange a meeting.
The reality is that our discussions with the Government Oversight Committee have been ongoing for the better part of 14 months.
At the same time, staff has met on multiple occasions to discuss Riverview with the Health and Human Services Committee and the Appropriations Committee. These various committees have all asked for and received volumes of information from countless documents and discussions with staff. The assertion that the Department has refused to address questions or clarify answers is patently false.
This process has been frustrating, duplicative and wasteful. It is disrespectful to our hardworking staff and the people they serve, taking them away from their core responsibilities, consuming hundreds of hours of time and thus far, the committees have produced nothing of value in terms of results. I wonder how many more hours have to be spent spinning our wheels and answering the same questions.
I am proud of the significant progress that we have made at Riverview, and recognize there’s more work to be done. We must focus all of our energy on the steps necessary to improve the system of care and better serve Maine people with serious and persistent mental illness.
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