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May 8, 2009 Jay Finegan, 287-1445
House GOP Leaders Hail Defeat of Government Secrecy Bill

AUGUSTA – In the wake of the Judiciary Committee’s unanimous rejection of LD 1353, House Republican leader Josh Tardy hailed the panel’s action as a victory for openness and honesty in government. The committee voted 13-0 on Wednesday to kill legislation that would have kept the names and salaries of government employees from public disclosure.

“I thank the Judiciary Committee for standing up for transparency in government,” said Rep. Tardy (R-Newport). “This is a victory for the taxpayers of Maine, who have every right to know the names and salaries of people who are paid with tax dollars. This bill was a misguided attempt to make government more secretive, and I’m glad it was shot down at the committee level.”

Last year, a website called MaineOpenGov.org began posting the names and salaries of everyone on the public payroll, some 90,000 people, including state employees, school employees and other public employees. While the salary information was already in the public domain, the website made it easily accessible.

In response to complaints by some public employees, a Democratic legislator introduced LD 1353 – “An Act Regarding Salary Information for Public Employees.” Under the terms of the legislation, “Salary information as it relates to an individual state, county, municipal, school, University of Maine System, Maine Community College System or Maine Maritime Academy employee is confidential.”

“Transparency in public spending is a Maine tradition that dates back to the earliest town meetings,” said Rep. Phil Curtis (R-Madison), the assistant House GOP leader. “It’s unfortunate that a bill like this was even brought forward. It’s clear to most of us that open government is good government and closed government breeds suspicion and distrust.”

“Obviously, the bill’s sponsor was on the receiving end of some complaints from people who didn’t like their salaries being made so public,” said Rep. Tardy. “You can understand their feelings, but the term public employee says it all. If you work for the public, the public has an expectation of full disclosure.”

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