(The Center Square) — With threats against elected officials on the rise, the Maine Legislature is considering a proposal that would provide taxpayer funding to lawmakers to install security systems at their homes.
The proposal, An Act to Improve Safety in Public Service, would create a new $450,000 fund that legislators could use to install home security systems authorized by the state while serving in elected office. The bill is currently pending before the Legislature’s Committee on State and Local Government, which held a public hearing on the bill on Wednesday.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Pierce, D-Cumberland, cited data from the Maine Capitol Police showing the number of threats against state lawmakers -— Republicans, Democrats and Independents —- has nearly tripled in recent years. She said “the world has changed where some sort of level of safety is a necessary element.”
“This increase has left lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, their families and loved ones feeling uneasy and making some reconsider their decision to serve,” Pierce said in testimony.
A supporter of the bill, state Sen. Donna Bailey, D-Saco, said she has personally received bomb threats at her office at home during her years in public service, and ended up installing a security system at her home. But she worries other elected officials might not be able to cover the costs.
“While I was able to install them, I fear for the lawmakers – no matter who they are or what party they belong to – who have not installed cameras because of the cost,” she told the panel. “There are different opinions about how much (or how little) Maine lawmakers earn. Regardless of your view, the cameras are costly, and they are rapidly becoming a necessity for public officials.”
Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Cumberland, who said she has also been a target of threats, said the rising acts of intimidation targeting elected officials is deterring people from wanting to get into politics.
“We’ve had members of this Legislature swatted and their family members evacuated due to a bomb threat,” she said during Wednesday’s hearing. “We’ve had consistent death threats. We’ve had consistent rape threats against bipartisan female members of this legislature.”
Some members of the committee questioned whether taxpayers should be footing the bill for lawmakers’ home security systems when they are already compensated.
To be sure, Maine state lawmakers are paid about $45,000 during a two-year legislative session for “part-time” work, which includes $25,000 for the first session and $20,000 for the second, according to the Legislature’s website. In addition to their base pay, legislators receive a $150-per-day allowance for meals and lodging, plus mileage reimbursement.
Maine isn’t the only state looking at steering taxpayer funding to lawmakers to provide security amid rising national concerns about political violence.
Minnesota lawmakers can get up to $4,500 in funding for home security under a new law, while Colorado four years ago authorized state police to provide additional protection and security services to members of the General Assembly when requested, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
State ethics commissions in New Mexico, Ohio, and Oklahoma recently issued opinions approving the use of campaign funds for personal legislator security. Other states, such as Kentucky, are considering legislation to include security measures as a permissible campaign expense, the NCSL said.
