Two Maine progressive groups to close down

LEWISTON – Two progressive advocacy groups that have had a presence in the State House for more than a decade are closing.

The Maine Citizen Leadership Fund, which was founded in 1990, has closed down as a result of debt and philosophical differences among its leaders. The MCLF developed progressive public policy, activist training and grass-roots organizing.

The political action committee Dirigo Alliance, which was formed 19 years ago as a progressive coalition, is dissolving. The decision was made Wednesday to close the PAC.

“We’re going through a difficult transition right now and it seemed better to end it,” said alliance Chairwoman Marjorie Phyfe. “But we remain a coalition of organizations committed to a progressive movement in Maine.”

The MCLF was a leader of the successful initiative to pass the Maine Clean Election Act, the state’s public campaign financing system, a decade ago. It also fought to defeat an initiated tax cap proposal in 2004, saying it would critically harm many public service agencies if enacted.

The group has been struggling since last year to overcome a large debt, said Frank O’Hara, secretary of the group’s board. It was $130,000 in the red and has been able to reduce the debt to about $40,000, O’Hara said.

The group’s directors are considering several legal options including bankruptcy, O’Hara said.

“The organization is gone for the time being,” he said.