Gov. Paul LePage has nominated 51 individuals to serve on several state boards, from the University of Maine board of trustees to the Gambling Control Board.
That means nine legislative committees will be holding hearings before the state Senate meets to consider the nominations on Sept. 30.
Senate President Justin Alfond, a Portland Democrat, says most of the nominations should have been made a long time ago.
“The governor is making an eleventh-hour move,” Alfond says. “He has had two years to fill some of these vacancies, and he is doing it right now, which is unfortunate.”
Alfond says, despite the tight time frame, lawmakers will get the job done and review all of the nominations.
Gov. LePage says most of the nominations are re-appointments. “Let’s put it this way: I have signed my name a lot of times this past week," he says. "So yeah, there’s going be a lot of nominees. There are a whole lot of people being renewed.”
Twenty-seven of the 51 nominations are re-appointments.
The confirmation process is in two steps: The legislative committee having jurisdiction over the board holds a public hearing and then votes on the nomination. The recommendation is then considered by the state Senate, and it takes a two-thirds vote to overturn the recommendation of a committee.
