PPH | Senator Bartlett fights back against LePage veto

AUGUSTA – Gov. Paul LePage vetoed three bills last week — adding to the dozen he rejected last year.

But at least one isn’t going away without a fight.

Sen. Phil Bartlett, D-Gorham, is challenging LePage’s reasons for vetoing a bill that would require public agencies to consider energy efficiency in designing new buildings.

On Friday, Bartlett took the unusual step of filing a Freedom of Access Act request for any “memoranda, correspondence, emails or any other documents” that LePage reviewed while considering the bill. Bartlett argues that LePage’s veto letter criticizes language that’s not in the final version of the bill.

“When you vetoed (the bill) you expressed concern that the bill gives the Efficiency Maine Trust the power to craft rules without any oversight,” Bartlett wrote in his public records request. In fact, he said, the final bill would give the trust only the ability to give non-binding advice to the Bureau of General Services, which is under LePage’s control.

LePage’s spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said the governor’s veto letter is not based on outdated information. LePage actually cited two reasons for the veto.

The first was that he believes it the bill would “cause the state, counties, schools, towns, and others to consider a number of expensive management policies without clear definitions of short-term cost impacts.”

The second — the reason Bartlett is questioning — is that it would delegate authority to an agency that’s not controlled by elected officials, the Efficiency Maine Trust.

“When rules are made, an elected official — a governor, representative or senator — should be directly responsible and electorally accountable for that decision,” LePage wrote.

The veto — and two others — will be considered by the Senate in the coming days. LePage has never had a veto overturned in the Legislature.

Source: Maine Today Media, Susan Cover, January 9, 2012