Democratic Majority Ends News Release Posts on Maine.gov
Content on Public Government Website No Longer Controlled by Senate President’s Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 7, 2007

AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, February 6, a meeting was held to determine a policy regarding news releases posted on the Maine.gov website by legislative offices.  The meeting, called by Senate Republican Leader Carol Weston, of Montville, included Democratic Senate President Beth Edmonds, Democratic Speaker of the House Glenn Cummings, Senate Democrat Leader Libby Mitchell, Assistant Senate Democrat Leader John Martin, House Republican Leader Josh Tardy, and Sen. Weston.

The Democrat’s offices in the Legislature have been posting both educational and partisan news releases on the Maine.gov website for years, but the Senate Republican office began posting their news releases just three weeks ago.  Sen. Weston called for the meeting after the Senate President’s office removed a series of news releases posted by the Senate Republican office without ever obtaining their consent.  A staff member with the Senate President’s office explained that the Senate Republican releases were removed because content on the site should not be partisan. 

“I felt it was necessary for the Democratic majority to create a policy that would be abided by both parties from both chambers pertaining to news releases posted on the pubic website,” Sen. Weston said.  “Ultimately, it is up to the Democrats, as the majority party, to create a policy for the website, and the absence of one resulted in an issue of free speech.”

At the meeting, Sen. Weston and Rep. Tardy expressed their opinion that each caucus should be free to post news releases as they see fit.  However, the members of the majority party ultimately decided that no releases, from any of the four caucuses, should be posted on the website.

“When you are in the minority, it is important to have the ability to question the majority party’s positions in the interests of democracy,” Sen. Weston said.  “As members of the minority, we would have rather each caucus be free to post their news on the website in the spirit of transparency and debate.  However, even though we will no longer be able to post, we are satisfied that there is at least a uniform policy in place for all parties to abide by, and that content on the website will no longer be controlled by the President’s office.”

News from the Senate Republican caucus will still be accessible on the Senate Republican website at http://www.maine.gov/legis/senate_gop/, but delays may be involved in reformatting the site to accommodate new content requirements.

CONTACT:

William Thompson                    287-1505 (o)
Communications Director, Senate Republican Office

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