The legislature's Government Oversight Committee has ordered a conflict of interest investigation involving John Hudak, the state's Director of the Office of Cannabis Policy. Critics say Hudak should recuse himself from negotiations with a software contractor led by a former business partner.
Republican Representative David Boyer has urged the committee to investigate why Hudak did not disclose his past working relationship with former colleague Lewis Koski who now works at Metrc.
"A lot of folks feel right then and there, he should have pumped the brakes, made some disclosure 'I cofounded Freedman and Koski. Koski's now at Metrc. It doesn't feel appropriate for me to lead the contract renegotiations,'" Boyer said.
Boyer said Hudak negotiated a Metrc contract amendment that increased the contract to 890 thousand dollars. The contract is up for renegotiation, and Boyer said Hudak wants Maine's medical cannabis caregivers to also use the track and trace software.
"Dir. Hudak has made it his mission to push for medical track and trace. He's trying to push Metrc onto medical, where there are 1,600 caregivers versus 100 cultivators. And that represents a lot of money to be made," Boyer said.
The state said Hudak will not be involved in next year's contract renegotiations with Metrc.
A spokesperson for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services says Director Hudak has been clear and transparent about his past working relationships prior to joining OCP, and has repeatedly stated that he has neither direct, nor indirect, pecuniary interest in Metrc, in accordance with Maine law .
In February 2020, OCP entered a six-year contract with Metrc for cannabis inventory tracking software. In 2022, OCP entered negotiations to amend its contract to comply with the statutory requirement to change from individual plant tagging to batch tracking.
On January 31, OCP released its RFP for the next cannabis inventory tracking system contract. Director Hudak did not participate in the development of the Cannabis Inventory Tracking System RFP, and he is not a member of the planned evaluation team.
The Office of Program Evaluation and Gov't Accountability will conduct the investigation.
