Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec) has sponsored a bipartisan bill that would grant the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee (GOC) the right to receive otherwise confidential records in order to carry out their responsibilities.
This legislation has been cosponsored by a number of both Democrats and Republicans, including: Rep. Amy Bradstreet Arata (R-New Gloucester), Sen. Donna Bailey (D-York), Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford), Sen. Jill Duson (D-Cumberland), Sen. Jeff Timberlake (R-Androscoggin), Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot), Rep. Mark John Blier (R-Buxton), Rep. Adam R. Lee (D-Auburn), and Rep. Holly B. Stover (D-Boothbay).
In late December, the Maine Supreme Court blocked the GOC from obtaining confidential records concerning the deaths of four children in 2021.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) initially refused to turn over these records to the Committee citing their confidential nature, prompting the GOC to ask the Superior Court to enforce compliance with a subpoena. After this request was denied, the GOC appealed to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.
The Justices’ ruling in December affirmed the lower court’s decision to reject the GOC’s request to compel DHHS to turn over the documents.
In their ruling, the Justices cited the statutes governing both the GOC and the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA).
While OPEGA was granted the statutory authority to access confidential records as part of its responsibility to conduct “evaluation[s] of agencies and programs of State Government,” the Court argues that the GOC does not, as it is tasked with “direct[ing] and oversee[ing] OPEGA’s work.”
The Justices concluded in their opinion that the “Legislature controls the authority and functioning of its own committees” and, based on their interpretation, they have “determined the role of the Committee in the scheme of governmental oversight and review as well as the information available to it in that process.”
“It is free to clarify or change the Committee’s role, the scope of its authority, and the nature of the information believed necessary for the Committee to carry out its work,” the Justices concluded.
LD 127 appears to have been introduced directly in response to this ruling.
The emergency preamble included in LD 127 specifically references this situation, noting that the GOC “requires immediate access to the records of children who died in the State in order to complete its investigation of the [DHHS] Office of Child and Family Services.”
Current state law permits the GOC only to receive “certain” information that is either publicly available or is otherwise made available to them under Chapter 21, which governs legislative investigating committees.
Should LD 127 be approved, however, the GOC would also be permitted to access “records, including information and records that are otherwise privileged or confidential.”
These records would, in turn, be exempt from public disclosure to maintain their confidentiality.
“A legislative check on executive power is fundamental at all levels of government,” Rep. Lee said in a statement to the Maine Wire.
“The ability to conduct meaningful and thorough investigations is essential to that check,” said Lee. “This bill attempts to enhance the quality of legislative oversight, regardless of the Chief Executive’s party.”
“LD 127 corrects the absurd ruling of the Maine Courts that the Executive Branch under subpoena from the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee can meet that subpoena by delivering information to the committee staff but keeping it from the legislative members of that committee, ” Sen. Bennett said in a statement to the Maine Wire.
“The Court’s ruling undermines the work of the committee not only to hold the executive branch accountable and to provide proper oversight, but also the committee’s ability to properly work with and oversee its own staff,” Bennett added.
LD 127 will now go before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee for a public hearing and further consideration by lawmakers.
You mean there are real people in the Legislature that actually form and enforce sound protocol. When did they arrive?
I would not trust anyone on the oversight committee to not leak any details.
Not a big deal, if it doesn’t pass just get the same info from china.
I wouldn’t trust Augusta to give me the correct time .
This would be a mistake even though it sounds good. I can almost guarantee it will backfire. However, If there were an independent branch of government that oversaw all things accountable with no cross to bear, I might trust them to treat such privileged information respectfully.