Who’s afraid of a public hearing?
Maine legislative Republicans held a press conference on Monday to call out a move by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee to deny a public hearing for a proposed “red flag” gun control law as undemocratic and potentially illegal.
The bill in question, LD 1378, or An Act to Protect Maine Communities by Enacting the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, first came to the Legislature and was referred to the Judiciary Committee in March following a citizen-initiated petition led by the Maine Gun Safety Coalition.
However, no public hearing for the bill has yet been scheduled for the bill.
The bill as proposed would make it easier for law enforcement to confiscate firearms from individuals who allegedly pose a threat to themselves or others, and would allow family members to directly petition a court to get firearms temporarily confiscated from a family member in crisis.
The so-called “red flag” law differs from Maine’s current yellow-flag law in that the existing law requires that police initiate the confiscation order, and that it requires a mental health evaluation prior to the filing of a court petition.
On Friday, the issue of whether the bill would be scheduled for a public hearing came up in the Judiciary Committee, which led to a tense exchange between the Republicans on the committee and the Democrat co-chairs.
Rep. Rachel Henderson, R-Rumford, brought up the issue to Judiciary Chair Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cumberland, asking why she had not yet scheduled the “red flag” bill for a public hearing.
“We had decided, as we are entitled to do, to not do a public hearing on that bill — that’s an initiated bill, so it’s different than some of our other bills,” Sen. Carney said, adding that whether or not they pass it, the law will go to the voters as a referendum.
Carney claimed that the committee had a discussion regarding not holding a public hearing on the bill earlier in May, and that Republicans on the committee did not object at that time.
Henderson argued that to not hold a public hearing on the bill would be in violation of state statute, under election laws that require petitions for legislation “must be afforded a public hearing” before a joint standing committee of the Legislature.
Henderson and other Republicans on the committee suggested to Carney that a public hearing could be scheduled for the following week, which Carney said would not be possible due to how busy the House and Senate would be with winding down the session.
Another citizen-initiated bill regarding voter ID was given a public hearing before the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee earlier in this session.
Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) led Monday morning’s press conference with a call to the Democratic leaders in the Legislature to hold a public hearing on the bill.
“We’re calling on them again to do the same thing, to do the right thing, to do the legal thing and schedule a hearing,” Sen. Stewart said. “It’s not that complicated. It’s not that controversial. The pushback is coming from rogue committee members. The presiding officers need to get a handle on this.”
Stewart also said that contrary to Democratic co-chair Rep. Amy Kuhn’s (D-Falmouth) claims that Republicans on the Judiciary had not brought up the issue of scheduling a public hearing for the bill before Friday, he claimed that he had spoken with Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland) a week prior.
Similar sentiments were echoed by House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), who said there was “no excuse” for Democrats on the committee to deny the “red flag” law a public hearing.
Assistant Senate Minority Leader Matthew Harrington (R-York) said that the law is “a very dangerous piece of legislation” that deserved input from Mainers.
“One would argue that Senator Carney doesn’t want to hold this public hearing because she knows that there are going to be a lot of voices out there that are opposed to this legislation, many from her own side of the aisle,” Sen. Harrington said.
State Rep. Jennifer Poirier, the Republican House lead on the Judiciary Committee, said “it’s very clear that Democrats think they’re above the law.”
“Judiciary chairs have chosen to sidestep Maine law by refusing to hold a public hearing,” Rep. Poirier said.
Like Stewart, Poirier had also brought up the need for a hearing repeatedly with her Democrat counterparts on the committee, she said.
Sen. Carney and Rep. Kuhn, the Democrat chairs of the Judiciary Committee, issued a statement in response to the Republican lawmakers saying that they do not believe it necessary to hold a public hearing on the bill because it will be subject to a fall referendum.
“Given this constitutional process, we do not believe it is necessary or timely to hold a public hearing or further work on LD 1378 during this legislative session, which we still have hundreds of bills left for the full Legislature to vote on over the next few weeks,” they said.
Former Republican lawmaker and longtime Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine Executive Director David Trahan said that never in his decades in Augusta has he ever seen so brazen a move to subvert public scrutiny and legislative process as the current maneuver by Judiciary Committee leadership. Many Democrats, he added, likely do not approve of such tactics.
