AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s constitutional officers would have to complete harassment training annually under a Republican lawmaker’s proposal targeted at Attorney General Aaron Frey that cleared the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The bill from Rep. John Andrews, R-Paris, would require the three constitutional officers — Frey, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and State Treasurer Henry Beck — to complete an annual course on harassment. The training would cover but not be limited to sexual harassment and racial harassment,” per the proposal.
The three current officers, along with State Auditor Matt Dunlap, are all Democrats who are elected by lawmakers, and the Democratic-controlled Legislature initially looked poised to defeat the bill after it received an unfavorable recommendation in early February from the State and Local Government Committee.
But when the measure came up Tuesday in the House, a motion to defeat it failed 76-64, with 11 Democrats joining Republicans in supporting the bill. Members then approved the measure without an additional roll call and sent it to the Senate.
Andrews submitted the lone testimony on the bill for a January public hearing before the State and Local Government Committee, with his one page of remarks only saying he “could sum up the need for this bill in four words: Attorney General Aaron Frey.”
Frey disclosed last April he had started a romantic relationship in August 2022 with an employee he supervised, apologizing for an “error in judgment” in not reassigning the woman to a different supervisor sooner. Internal and independent reports found no fault with how Frey and his office handled the situation and fallout.
Consensual relationships were not mentioned in the attorney general office’s harassment policy, but the policy governing the Mills administration emphasizes supervisors who begin relationships with subordinates in most state jobs should disclose them so other supervisory arrangements can be considered.
Andrews had referred to Frey’s situation as a “scandal” and noted a lack of required harassment training for Maine’s constitutional officers in introducing the bill. But Rep. Holly Stover, D-Boothbay, called the measure unnecessary Tuesday by citing Maine’s existing requirements for most workplaces and licensed attorneys to complete annual sexual harassment training.
That led Rep. Amanda Collamore, R-Pittsfield, to question why constitutional officers should not complete harassment training that lawmakers, legislative staff and lobbyists must complete. House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, added he was “blown back” by Stover’s explanation.
“How in the world are we not holding our constitutional officers to the same standards as all of us here that elect them?” Faulkingham asked.
