As Legislature’s progressive caucus hires its own staffer, parties raise ethics concerns

State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are wary of the ethics of a privately funded staffer being hired by the Maine Legislature’s progressive caucus who does not fit neatly into existing regulations.

“That could be replicated left, right, and center of the political spectrum, and I suspect likely will if this precedent is allowed to move forward,” Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) said during a meeting of legislative leaders on Thursday. “I think this is a juncture point for us.” 

The progressive caucus, an informal group of representatives with a core team of seven, began work about a year ago to advance collaboration among the progressive members of the Maine House of Representatives, specifically to address pressing affordability issues. 

Over the summer, the caucus posted a policy and communications director job after raising $100,000 from undisclosed donors, a salary that will be routed through the 501(c)(3) arm of the Maine People’s Alliance, as first reported by the Bangor Daily News. 

“We see this position as focused primarily on communications,” Rep. Gary Friedmann, a Democrat who represents Bar Harbor and serves as the caucus chair, told legislative leaders during a Thursday meeting. “Someone who would be in the position would be supporting the entire membership of the progressive caucus in framing issues and in helping them to advance those issues in the State House.”

Friedmann and another caucus member, Rep. Dan Sayre (D-Kennebunk), said the group does not intend for the hire to be a lobbyist, but the job description sounded like a lobbyist to other lawmakers, opening up questions about disclosure requirements and limits that did not yield clear answers on Thursday. 

Because of that, legislative leaders will be sending a letter to the Maine Ethics Commission to seek clarity on the boundaries as they start to draft a related policy. Currently, the body currently lacks a policy that would govern such an arrangement, said Suzanne Gresser, executive director of the Legislature.

The caucus members said they have not yet hired someone for the role but are in the final stages of a search process. 

“We do not regard this role as a role within state government,” Sayre said. “We regard this role as someone who is an employee of a fiscal agent to this group of legislators. That said, however, if there are requirements of lobbyists around their conduct in the building, we certainly want this person to comply.”