Members were particularly drawn to Boyer’s potential conflict of interest with John Hudak, director of Maine Office of Cannabis Policy.” AnnMarie Hilton of Maine Morning Star reported:
Maine’s legislative watchdog decided Friday which areas of policy and government it will investigate in the coming year.
Legislators submitting proposals to the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee included cannabis policy, election integrity issues, home energy assistance programs and state-owned landfills as areas requiring oversight.
Senate Chair Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec) took time during the meeting to read from Maine law which details the purview and investigation capabilities of both his committee and its affiliate, Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA).
As stated by the document, these entities are charged with conducting program evaluations on agencies and state government, when determined necessary by committee, as well as local/municipal governments or quasi/smaller government-like agencies such as quasi/smaller governments/agency. They can also review spending/contract agreements.
Since last May, the oversight committee has spent significant time and energy scrutinizing Ohio’s troubled child welfare system and proposing reforms for it – yielding over two dozen recommendations to Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS).
After hours of discussion, the committee reached consensus to explore some of the questions about cannabis policy and state-owned landfill. Unfortunately due to some members being absent it remains to be decided what steps will be taken with regard to election integrity as the committee currently contains equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans.
The committee heard reports on staffing and safety concerns at two Maine psychiatric facilities – Dorothea Dix in Bangor and Riverview in Augusta – from OPEGA staff. After considering all this preliminary data gathered by OPEGA staff, Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) proposed holding public hearings so hospital staff members may address their committee members directly. Cannabis policy reform also garnered much discussion at this hearing.
Rep. David Boyer of Poland presented three measures that would enable his committee to investigate different facets of cannabis policy.
His initial request related to Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services’ failure to produce the statutorily required report to Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee earlier this year. While members of oversight agreed this was an issue, many said this matter could be handled by policy committee.
However, watchdog members were particularly focused on an apparent conflict of interest Boyer raised with John Hudak, director of Maine Office of Cannabis Policy.
Boyer also requested the committee investigate illegal cannabis operations within the state; however, many members felt these issues would better be left to law enforcement than to them.
The oversight committee decided to ask OPEGA to investigate any possible conflicts of interest presented by Boyer while continuing work on other aspects.
This story first appeared in Maine Morning Star.
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