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Committee's use of e-mails draws scrutiny
11.01.2009
The Maine Legislature's Education Committee has a big job to undertake while the House and Senate are out of session: trimming more than $38 million from the state's K-12 education budget.
And as the panel's 13 members consider what action to take, they're exchanging ideas by e-mail, outside public view.
Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, the committee's Senate chairman, acknowledged last week that committee members have exchanged more than 20 e-mail messages since mid-September concerning potential budget cuts.
The Kennebec Journal recently requested the e-mails under the Maine Freedom of Access Act. Alfond said they're forthcoming.
Maine's open government laws don't prohibit e-mail communication among elected officials. But, "the question is whether this meets the definition of a public proceeding," said Sigmund Schutz, a Portland lawyer who has written guides to Maine's Freedom of Access Act.
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