This morning, Speaker Mark Eves sent the following email to members of the Maine House of Representatives:
“Dear House Members,
Given the recent actions of the Governor, I have decided to take the important step of polling all House of Representative members to determine whether or not a majority of members from each political party consent to come in for a special session of the Legislature to address this grave situation.
Pursuant to the Provision of Article IV, Part Third, Section 1 of the Constitution of Maine, the Speaker and the Senate President have the authority to convene the Legislature for a special session with the consent of a majority of the members of the Legislature of each political party.
The Constitution requires that members are first polled to determine whether or not they consent to returning for special session. I ask that you respond to the following poll questions with a yes or no answer: Do you consent to coming in for a special session of the Legislature to take action regarding the Governor’s conduct?
Please respond to this email by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, September 6, 2016 with your answer of yes or no. If I do not receive a response from you, your answer will be recorded as a no.
Thank you, Speaker of the House Mark Eves.”
This is nothing more than an expensive, irresponsible stunt to prolong this ridiculous media frenzy to benefit their agenda and to peruse Eve’s personal vendetta on Governor LePage.
According to the Democrat State Chairman, Phil Bartlett, who also is a practicing attorney, “Once Legislature convenes, it can conduct any business it chooses, regardless of how the question to convene was framed.”
Regardless of what the polled question asks, this is about embarrassing, and potentially impeaching Governor LePage, for making a mistake. While no one is condoning what happened, this incredibly wasteful, orchestrated charade executed by democrats in Augusta, with the help of a handful of republicans, is far worse.
And it will be taxpayers like you and I that foot the bill to pay for a Special Session, costing roughly $50,000 plus per day for Legislators to travel back to Augusta, and it will do nothing to benefit the taxpayers of Maine.
Oh, and another thing, the House chamber is currently under construction, so the Legislature would have to rent another space, such as the Civic Center, to conduct its business.
