AUGUSTA — In an ethics complaint filed Tuesday, the Maine Democratic Party accused its Republican rivals of working hand-in-hand to spread bogus claims through a secretive website masquerading as a news organization. Democrats asked the Maine Ethics Commission to investigate possible campaign finance violations by the Maine Examiner and Maine’s Republican Party in their publication […]
ethics
Posted inLetters, sj-web
Greed-driven villains
As a young boy growing on the backside of the Great Depression and the deprivation of World War II and its aftermath, I often questioned the driving force behind a social phenomenon called “supply and demand.” Recently, Hurricanes Harvey and Irma shattered and set long-standing hurricane records throughout the southeast. The devastation and human misery […]
advertisement
Posted inMaine
Legislature passes bill to limit PAC expenditures
AUGUSTA — The Maine Legislature has approved a bill that bars lawmakers from paying themselves or businesses they own from political action committees under their control, sending the measure to Gov. Paul LePage for his approval. The bill, An Act Regarding Political Action Committee Expenditures, was passed unanimously last week by the Maine House and […]
Posted inMaine
Maine ethics official wants to close ‘revolving door’
AUGUSTA (AP) — The executive director of Maine’s ethics commission wants to prohibit all compensated lobbying by former lawmakers in their first year after public service. The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices are set to discuss on Tuesday possible legislation to close the “revolving door” from legislative work to lobbying. Executive Director […]
Posted inNews, sj-web, Uncategorized
Head of Maine ethics commission says Ryan Tipping likely violated law
AUGUSTA (AP) — The director of the Maine Ethics Commission says a state lawmaker likely violated the state’s ethics law when he failed to swiftly disclose income earned from work he did on behalf of a political action committee. Ethics commission Director Jonathan Wayne issued a clarification about Rep. Ryan Tipping, an Orono Democrat, on […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine ethics commission continues investigating democratic lawmaker
AUGUSTA (AP) — The state ethics commission says it will keep investigating a Democratic lawmaker who didn’t return roughly $2,600 in unspent public campaign funds for two months. The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/2mf3hxH ) reported that Rep. Dillon Bates ended up returning the funds after the commission contacted him 11 times between December and February. […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Bates graduate masterminded plan to gut House ethics panel
LEWISTON — The congressman who sought unsuccessfully to upend the Office of Congressional Ethics this week is a Bates College graduate who cut his teeth in politics as president of the Bates Republicans. U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, graduated from Bates in 1974 with a degree in government. Now he’s smack-dab in the middle of […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
U.S. House Republicans drop plan to weaken its ethics office
WASHINGTON — House Republicans reversed themselves Tuesday under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump, and dropped plans to swiftly gut an independent congressional ethics board. The dizzying about-face came as lawmakers convened for the first day of the 115th Congress, an occasion normally reserved for pomp and ceremony under the Capitol Dome. Instead, House Republicans found […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
House GOP votes to gut independent ethics office
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Monday voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison. The ethics change, which prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine ethics commission targets big, out-of-state donors
AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine ethics commission wants more disclosure from groups that contribute $100,000 or more to Maine politics. The Portland Press Herald reported (http://bit.ly/2ghg2qn ) that the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices on Thursday unanimously backed the proposal. The commission wants big donors to identify their top five donors, among other […]