Michaud Blasts Taxpayer Give-Away to LePage Appointees PORTLAND – U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, the frontrunner in the race to be Maine’s next governor, reacted today to information about a change in policy in state government that rewards political appointees with lavish, additional vacation time. “Its outrageous. Gov. LePage has attacked Maine workers time and time again, but he has the audacity to radically increase paid vacation time for his political appointees while the state’s economy continues to lag behind,” Michaud said. “It’s just one more example of his mismanagement wasting taxpayer dollars.” In early February, political appointees received a memo asking them to document their work experience before taking their current jobs. The information was used to give credit to the appointees for work done prior to appointment or outside state government to increase the rate at which vacation time accrues. “Gov. LePage has vetoed an increase in the minimum wage for hard working people. He’s denied health care to 70,000 Mainers, including 3,000 veterans. Five times. He’s raided the pensions of state workers. He called Social Security and Medicare ‘welfare.’ He’s tried to rollback child labor laws and worker protections,” Michaud said. “But when it comes to his political appointees, he’s a lot more generous. When State Troopers are on food stamps, but political appointees get a huge increase in paid vacation, something is very wrong.” The changes could be viewed as a golden parachute for political appointees in the event of a transition in the Blaine House next year. State employees are able to cash out unused vacation time when they leave government. The increase in vacation could also allow political appointees to take paid time off from work to “volunteer” on the governor’s re-election campaign. The LePage administration claims that the increased vacation has no cost to the state, defying logic. “The idea that paid vacation doesn’t have a cost to the state strains credibility,” Michaud said. “This is just another example of patronage and the governor taking care of political appointees while turning his back on everyone else.” For more information about Michaud, visit: michaud2014. Follow the campaign on Facebook at: https://facebook/MikeMichaudForGovernor; and on Twitter @michaud2014.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:12:59 +0000
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