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The Maine Policy Heritage Center
We The People of Maine
Last Night, The Maine Heritage Policy Center and Open Government supporters in Maine scored a major victory! LD 1353,"An Act Regarding Salary Information for Public Employees," was defeated with a unanimous "Ought Not To Pass" vote by the Legislature's Judiciary Committee.
Had it passed, LD 1353 would have struck a monumental blow to the public's right to know, censoring the taxpayer-paid salaries of some 90,000 Maine government and school employees.
The motion to kill the bill was initially made by Sen. David Hastings (R-Fryeburg) and Rep. Charles Kruger (D-Thomaston). The unanimous "Ought Not To Pass" vote was achieved after two committee members who co-sponsored the bill, Sen. Larry Bliss (D-South Portland) and Rep. Mark Bryant (D-Windham), reversed their position as a result of the public hearing and vocal criticism of LD 1353.
Committee members expressed concerns with the safety of listing certain public employees who are in confidentiality programs for safety reasons. The Maine Heritage Policy Center has heard these concerns and agree, there must be additional steps taken to protect those who truly need it. Beginning today we will work with the Secretary of State to remove from MaineOpenGov.org any Public Employee who is a part of its Confidentiality Program.
Open Government is very important to us and all Maine people: more than 1,000 Maine citizens and taxpayers signed a petition in opposition to LD 1353, and 15 people, including legislators, citizens, taxpayer groups, and members of the press turned out to testify against this bill at the public hearing.
The combined efforts of Open Government advocates, including members of the MaineOpenGov.org community, have made an impact. Your voice was heard by a bi-partisan committee and the overwhelming result was a strong commitment to keep Maine Government open and accountable to you, the citizens and taxpayers of Maine.
It's a great day for www.MaineOpenGov.org and Open Government in Maine!
Thank you for your support,
Tarren Bragdon
Chief Executive Officer
P.S. You can follow the news about LD 1353 and other Open Government issues in Maine by reading the Maine Open Government Blog.
Had it passed, LD 1353 would have struck a monumental blow to the public's right to know, censoring the taxpayer-paid salaries of some 90,000 Maine government and school employees.
The motion to kill the bill was initially made by Sen. David Hastings (R-Fryeburg) and Rep. Charles Kruger (D-Thomaston). The unanimous "Ought Not To Pass" vote was achieved after two committee members who co-sponsored the bill, Sen. Larry Bliss (D-South Portland) and Rep. Mark Bryant (D-Windham), reversed their position as a result of the public hearing and vocal criticism of LD 1353.
Committee members expressed concerns with the safety of listing certain public employees who are in confidentiality programs for safety reasons. The Maine Heritage Policy Center has heard these concerns and agree, there must be additional steps taken to protect those who truly need it. Beginning today we will work with the Secretary of State to remove from MaineOpenGov.org any Public Employee who is a part of its Confidentiality Program.
Open Government is very important to us and all Maine people: more than 1,000 Maine citizens and taxpayers signed a petition in opposition to LD 1353, and 15 people, including legislators, citizens, taxpayer groups, and members of the press turned out to testify against this bill at the public hearing.
The combined efforts of Open Government advocates, including members of the MaineOpenGov.org community, have made an impact. Your voice was heard by a bi-partisan committee and the overwhelming result was a strong commitment to keep Maine Government open and accountable to you, the citizens and taxpayers of Maine.
It's a great day for www.MaineOpenGov.org and Open Government in Maine!
Thank you for your support,
Tarren Bragdon
Chief Executive Officer
P.S. You can follow the news about LD 1353 and other Open Government issues in Maine by reading the Maine Open Government Blog.
About MHPC: The Maine Heritage Policy Center is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization based in Portland, Maine. The Maine Heritage Policy Center formulates and promotes free market, conservative public policies in the areas of economic growth, fiscal matters, health care, education, constitutional law and government transparency - providing solutions that will benefit all the people of Maine. Contributions to MHPC are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
