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Wednesday, 07 January 2009
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A Sad Day in Maine Politics |
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Written by Bill Randall
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Saturday, 30 April 2005 |
Dumb, dumb, dumb is the best way I know how to describe it. Others
have described it as a shock to their conscience. I'm talking about
what happened last Thursday at the State House in a packed room at the
legislature's IF&W Committee work session on the budget
recommendation to the Appropriations Committee. The reason for this
incredible show of incivility was Sunday hunting.
For the first time ever, the manipulators of process have tried to
slide Sunday hunting through the budget process rather than dealing
with it as a separate issue as has been done since Sunday hunting in
Maine was banned in 1886. At an Appropriations hearing several weeks
ago, a huge gathering of sportsmen, guides and landowners
overwhelmingly expressed their views in opposition. Additionally, the
many, many letters to Editor across the State have replicated the
sentiment of Mainers and those who testified in opposition. They've
been about 50-1 against adding another day of the week to the hunting
world.
The work session on the budget started out simple enough but then it
didn't take long for it to get ugly, uglier in fact than anything I
have seen in my 25 or so years of hanging around the Maine Legislature.
Yes, I know for some that is hard to believe.
But here's how it went. The Senate Chair, Sen. Bruce Bryant advised the
Committee members that a subcommittee had been unable to agree on how
to fund the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for the next
two years. Without advising or consulting with some members of the
Committee, he boldly submitted his proposal to be included in a report
required by the normal Legislative process. Sunday hunting was still
included in Bryant's funding proposal. The House Chair, Rep. Thom
Watson, as expected, submitted a similar proposal but removed the
Sunday hunting part. Here is where it started to get ugly.
Bryant, known for his arrogance, made his pitch first with a caustic
remark insisting that one of the Committee members was grandstanding.
Senator Chandler Woodcock's rebuttal to Bryant spoke passionately
against including Sunday hunting in the budget. He cautioned his
Committee members by asking them to consider whether they were casting
their vote for political reasons or in the best interests of Maine
people. He ended by saying, "This is a landmark vote for this
Committee." Rep, Watson's message to the Committee members was similar
in context and tone. As an avid hunter and sportsmen, he insisted that
keeping Sunday hunting in the budget was tantamount to suicide for the
Maine sportsmen and would ultimately result in an attack on hunting
they would not survive. Watson's wisdom and vision knew he was looking
straight into the eyes of another citizen's referendum if Sunday
hunting did not get an airing as a separate issue. He suggested a
landowners relations study group ought to take place this summer to
include all of the major players that would be impacted by the issue.
By this time, some of the Committee members who supported Sunday
hunting rolled their eyes and their countenances were indicative of
their division and disapproval.
Votes were taken on both proposals, and as expected, there was not a
consensus. And this is when committee member, Rep. David Trahan rose to
the occasion. In another passionate speech, Trahan a longtime opponent
of Sunday hunting and one who comes from a large family of landowners,
spoke not so much about the issue as he did of the corruption of
process. He shot back at Bryant assuring him that he was not a
grandstander and asserted his position by saying, "I don't care if you
did it [Sunday hunting] on a square foot in unorganized territory. It's
the way it was done. This is a budget deal. It wasn't worked out
through this Committee. It wasn't negotiated in good faith. Those
people who care about this issue are all sitting over there, probably
with their stomachs in a knot."
Following a heated parliamentary procedures tiff with Bryant that was
finally settled by the Committee legal analyst, Curtis Bentley, Trahan
proposed a third option for the Appropriations Committee to consider.
His minority report will be a straight 18 percent appropriation to the
Department from the General fund. It will include no Sunday hunting or
nonresident hunting day. It will sunset the fees because the 18 percent
appropriation now covers all the fees. It will also include a
subcommittee of the IF&W Committee along with invited parties to
discuss long term funding for the Department of Inland Fisheries and
Wildlife with a report due back this session.
The work session ended with passions running high among its members.
Friendships and long standing bonds between members on sportsmen's
issues took a back seat last Thursday. I saw no hugs and kisses in this
crowd but instead a lot of anger and frustration. It was a memorable
day for incivility among some of the Committee members that will not
bode well for Maine's sportsmen of the future. Just as Senator Woodcock
said in his speech, "It was a sad day, a very, very sad day."
And now the battle of Sunday hunting will still rage on. Shots of angry
gunfire will likely take place in the Appropriations Committee, and if
they leave it in the budget, on and into the Chambers of both
Legislative bodies.
And all of this over an issue that's really a no-brainer and one of no
particular importance when compared to all of the issues that burden
our legislators and State. Quite unbelievable, really.
Bill Randall, Winthrop, 395-2111
SAM member and founder |
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January 2008