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AUGUSTA — Free lunches at the
Statehouse, served up two or three times a week
on average by organizations hoping to curry
favor with the Legislature, have become so
popular that leaders from both parties say it’s
time to limit their use as a lobbying tactic.
“It’s increased four-fold” in
recent years, said Rep. Robert Duplessie
(D-Westbrook), a four-term legislator who serves
as majority whip in the House. “It’s happening
way too often.”
House Minority Leader
David Bowles (R-Sanford) agreed.
“I’m troubled by the
extent of the lunches,” he said. “We’re looking
at limiting it to coffee and doughnuts, a few
pastries, and not what literally has become full
meals.”
The issues, now being
discussed by the Legislative Council made up of
leadership from both parties, range from what
some describe as the “chaos” created by the
lunches to appropriateness of feeding
legislators free food when they get $32 a day
for meals when the Legislature is in session.
Last Thursday, legislators
from both parties and a fair number of
Statehouse staff stood in a long line snaking
through the second-floor Hall of Flags, where
all the lunches are served, to partake in a
twofer: breakfast and lunch served that day by
the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME).
The day before, Equality
Maine served lunch; the day before that
breakfast was served by the Primary Care
Association; and, the week started off with
breakfast and lunch on Monday, sponsored by the
Elder Issues Partnership.
FAME, some said, falls
into the more acceptable range because it is a
quasi-state agency and the food they serve is a
cut above — sandwiches in wraps instead of bulky
rolls, and pasta and green salads.
Cindy Trepanier, the
communications coordinator for FAME, said it was
the third or fourth lunch the organization had
hosted over the years for legislators, reaching
out to them in the first year of their two-year
terms.
“It’s just good to have a
one-on-one” with legislators, she said,
admitting that it’s probably “50-50” in terms of
the legislators who actually visit information
tables and talk to FAME staff compared to those
who just grab their food and run.
FAME estimated the cost to
put on a combined breakfast and lunch for 400
people — enough for 186 legislators, some state
staff and any visitors that wander through — at
$10 to $12 per head, or $4,000 to $4,800.
Drawing the line
While nobody thinks a free
tuna sandwich can buy a legislator’s vote,
there’s a question of “appropriateness” when it
comes to the meals, said Sen. Ken Gagnon
(D-Kennebec County), who chairs the Legislative
Council’s facilities committee that ultimately
will recommended a free lunch policy.
Aside from the per diem
issue, lobbyists have literally taken over the
Hall of Flags, which is supposed to be available
to legislators and the Governor for news
conferences and award ceremonies.
“That is legislative
space,” he said, but it’s tough to call an
impromptu news conference when there are rows of
lunch tables set up. Organizations request the
space as much as six months or more in advance,
and some already have reserved for next year.
Security is another issue.
“Ryder trucks with big-box coolers” are pulling
up next to the Statehouse and boxes and coolers
are being carried in without being scrutinized,
he said.
“We certainly don’t do an
FBI check on these people,” Gagnon said, because
the sense is nothing bad will happen. But if it
did, he said, “it would be almost negligent” in
hindsight, to give so many groups access without
a stronger security system in place.
A third issue is
competition with the cafeteria and café the
state contracts with to operate in the
Statehouse and connecting office building.
“Every time a meal is
served on the second floor, they take a major
hit that day,” in terms of sales, Gagnon said.
Bowles also expressed
concern about competing with the Statehouse food
services. “These people rely on us for their
livelihood,” he said, and the free lunches not
only attract legislators, but state employees.
And the legislators are given the per diem to
pay for their lunches.
“There’s something wrong
with receiving free lunches and getting a per
diem,” he said.
Legislators react
“There is no such thing as
a free lunch,” quipped Rep. Charles Crosby
(D-Topsham), a freshman legislator, who said,
“unless you come eat and take off,” you get a
good dose of lobbying as part of the deal.
Rep. David Trahan
(R-Waldoboro) said, “I try to stay away from
these things. I don’t want to be harassed. I’m
already being harassed enough by lobbyists.”
Rep. Hannah Pingree
(D-North Haven) said lobbyists have found “that
food attracts us,” but the lunch fare and the
legislative pay, including the per diem, is
hardly lavish.
Legislators get paid
$20,000 for a two-year term, running from
December to mid-June in the first year and
January to mid-April in the second. They also
receive a food and travel per diem of $70 a day,
including $32 for meals and $38 a day for either
miles or lodging, when they are in session. The
expense budget is about $1.2 million annually.
Rep. Harold Clough
(R-Scarborough) said he takes part in the
lunches served by lobbyists because it’s a
change. “I carry my lunch most days.”
“Is there a politician
around that doesn’t like a free lunch?” asked
freshman Rep. George Bishop (R-Boothbay) poking
fun at himself. As a newcomer, Bishop said the
lunches do provide “an opportunity for
education.”
Rep. Chris Barstow
(D-Gorham) said the free food “has no influence
on my vote or the decisions I make. If it’s an
organization I’m vehemently against, I won’t
partake in the meal.”
Rep. James Schatz (D-Blue
Hill) skipped the FAME lunch last week, saying
he wanted some quiet time. “I don’t enjoy
standing up and eating in a crowd,” he said.
The freshman legislator
said he was surprised by all the free food, and
a little alarmed because he had managed to lose
weight before the session started. Most of
what’s served, he said, “is not on my diet.” |
