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A senior official in the state’s budget office is under fire for deliberately withholding an annual report to lawmakers about the state’s medical and adult use cannabis program in violation of state law.
The report was due last February and is about a year overdue. But the fact that it was never submitted came to light last week during an orientation for lawmakers serving on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, which oversees the state’s cannabis program.
After the disclosure by the budget office official, a Republican state representative formally requested an investigation by the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee, which meets on Friday. And Democratic chairs of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee issued a separate letter requesting that the administration release the report by close of business on Friday.
Veterans committee co-chairs Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, and Rep. Laura Supica, D-Bangor, said in their Jan. 22 letter that the annual reports are an important tool in their roles as policymakers and overseers of the program.
“The failure of your office to provide this report to the committee in a timely manner has limited the oversight capacity of this committee as provided in statute,” they wrote.
Rep. David Boyer, R-Poland, requested an investigation by the Government Oversight Committee, a powerful group also led by Hickman that has subpoena power. Boyer said he’s requesting the investigation for the sake of accountability and to determine whether this is a systemic issue with the state official.
“It’s deeply troublesome to have this person, who interfaces with scores of lawmakers over seven committees, withhold critical policymaking information during legislative negotiations,” Boyer said. “We would like to know if the commissioner knew about the report being withheld and how this will be addressed with the employee. If this isn’t a fireable offense, then what is?”
Peter Schleck, director of the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, which conducts investigations on behalf of the oversight committee, said he will seek guidance from the committee Friday. A majority vote of the 12-member committee is needed to launch an investigation.
Boyer is referring to Anya Trundy, the chief of legislative and strategic operations at the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, which houses the Office of Cannabis Policy. Financial services is led by Commissioner Kirsten Figueroa.
Financial services spokesperson Sharon Huntley said in a written statement Thursday that Trundy would provide the report to the veterans affairs committee.
“She understands the concerns expressed in the letter from the committee chairs, and she intends to respond to the letter and to provide the 2023 report in draft form, as requested,” Huntley said. “It is important to her that she maintains a positive and constructive working relationship with the committee, and she looks forward to engaging with the committee to ensure that happens well into the future.”
Last Wednesday, Trundy admitted to lawmakers that she withheld the report, saying, “I take responsibility for that.”
Trundy said she worried that report would “add to the flames” of a contentious debate already taking place on cannabis policy, though she did not provide details about what specific information may have justified that concern. She said the annual reports are “very factual data-based.”
That debate at the time was over LD 40, a bill that made sweeping changes to the state’s cannabis industry and was the product of extensive negotiations among stakeholders. The 85-page bill aimed to reduce stigma surrounding the industry and align regulations more closely with those governing the alcohol industry.
“We had a really difficult legislative session last year in this committee,” Trundy said last week. “It was filled with a lot of acrimony, and that report is due in the middle of it. And when the draft came to me from the OCP, I put it on my desk, and I realized it needed some editing and that likely releasing that report would throw another log on the fire, and I didn’t want to throw another log on the fire. What I really wanted to do is have a tone change. And at the end of the session we ended on a great note.”
Trundy could not be reached through a spokesperson on Thursday to further explain her concerns. And Huntley did not explain those concerns in her written statement.
Supica said in an interview that Trundy’s comments about the debate “rang true” to her last week and that she doesn’t think this is part of any pattern.
“I respected her for telling the truth in that moment, rather than coming up with excuses,” Supica said. “I don’t think she had bad intentions in doing it, but in the end we need the report.”
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Maine cities, nonprofits ask lawmakers to reject proposed limit on housing assistance“}]] An annual report on the state’s cannabis program was due a year ago and never submitted to lawmakers, one of whom has asked for an investigation. Read More
