AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine Heritage Policy Center has released its so-called "Piglet Book" - a compilation of what the group says is questionable spending by state government.
The items range from more than $50,000 spent on bottled water in 2014 to increased costs in the Attorney General's Office and in the Office of the Governor.
Center CEO Matt Gagnon says wasteful spending is not a partisan issue. "Every party does it, every ideology does it, unfortunately," he says. "So the idea that this is just a Democratic problem or a liberal problem is, I think, a mistake. You have a lot of things happen that shouldn't."
Gagnon says the budgeting process itself in state government is broken. He criticized last year's final budget talks that were held by four legislative leaders who met privately and were then voted on by lawmakers before the public had time to find out what was in the budget package.
