AUGUSTA, Maine — The legislative watchdog committee that is investigating Maine’s child welfare system authorized new probes on Friday into reported problems with the state’s new online unemployment benefits system and allocation of timber harvested on public land.
The new investigations were requested by Rep. Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, the co-chairman of the Legislature’s labor committee, and the Legislature’s forestry committee after both panels wrestled with Gov. Paul LePage’s administration in trying to get information on both issues.
Problems arose with Maine’s new online unemployment compensation system after its December rollout. Earlier this month, the Morning Sentinel published a memo saying the Maine Department of Labor destroyed complaints about the system and implemented it despite employees’ concerns.
Labor Commissioner John Butera responded with a Thursday letter to the the labor committee denying that documents were destroyed inappropriately, decrying “unsubstantiated allegations generated by legislators and the media” and saying claims processing has “stabilized.”
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