Watchdogs meet after 2-year delay Government oversight panel finally gets down to business

AUGUSTA – Two years after it was authorized by the Legislature, a watchdog committee charged with scrutinizing the efficiency of state programs finally met Thursday and prepared to search for an executive director.

Eleven of the 12 members of the joint standing legislative committee responsible for overseeing the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability showed up for the organizational meeting at the State House.

Some of the panelists commented on the delay between the time when OPEGA was first advanced and its debut Thursday.

The office was initially authorized by the 120th Legislature in 2002, but its funding was eliminated that fall in a special session called to address a budget shortfall.

The office frequently became embroiled in partisan politics, pitting not only Republicans and Democrats, but also Senate Democrats against House Democrats. Although the office was funded by the 121st Legislature in 2003, Senate President Beverly Daggett, D-Augusta, did not designate her Senate members until earlier this year.

Five of the legislators on the panel are either barred from serving on the committee beyond December because of legislative term limits or because of personal decisions not to seek re-election.

David Boulter, executive director of the Legislative Council, said the current panelists still have plenty of time to establish parameters for hiring an executive director to manage the OPEGA office in Maine, the 45th state to establish an independent, nonpartisan office to monitor the effectiveness of state programs.

Boulter said the director’s five-year contract would have to be approved by a minimum of eight members of the Legislative Council, which would also establish a job description for the position and salary range.

“We hope to have that information for the council for its review at its September meeting,” Boulter told the legislative panel.

The legislative committee was beginning its work even as word began to circulate on a new round of audits at the state Department of Health and Human Services that are expected to cost the state millions of dollars.

State Rep. David Trahan, R-Waldoboro, said the committee will have its work cut out for it as it attempts to identify the effectiveness of a myriad state programs to determine whether taxpayers are really getting their money’s worth.

“This is just a time for us to act like the professionals that we’re supposed to be and do what’s right for the state,” he said. “Hiring the director will be the most important thing that we do. I’ve already been approached by people from around the country who are interested in applying for the position. We will have very credible people with vast amounts of experience applying for this job.”

The 12-member legislative oversight committee is composed of six members ofthe House and Senate, divided evenly between the two major parties. Serving along with Trahan are House Chairman Matt Dunlap, D-Old Town; Reps. Bonita Breault, D-Buxton; John Piotti, D-Unity; Harold Clough, R-Scarborough; and Deborah McNeil, R-Rockland.

The committee’s Senate co-chair is Sen. Kenneth Gagnon, D-Waterville. Other state senators assigned to the panel are Sens. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland; Dennis Damon, D-Trenton; Kenneth Lemont, R-Kittery; Betty Lou Mitchell, R-Etna; and David Carpenter, R-Sanford.