Gov. Paul LePage vetoed L.D. 325 today, a bill that seeks to set up a working group to examine the issue of special education due process hearings.
“Despite the best intentions of this resolve’s sponsor, I am concerned that resolves, such as this one, force us to spend limited resources exploring conceptual policy positions that may or may not be acted upon by the Legislature in the future,” he wrote in his veto message. “A flood of resolves will serve to distract the state from the objectives of shrinking government and creating jobs.”
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Peter Kent, D-Woolwich, was sent back to the House for consideration. It’s LePage’s fourth veto to date. In his veto message, LePage said he doubted a working group would be productive because the issue of whether to allow non-attorney advocates into the hearings is contentious.
“Passage of this resolve may give the appearance that action is being taken on this issue when that is not actually the case,” he wrote.
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