AUGUSTA - A bill to terminate the Maine Information and Analysis Center Program (MIAC), LD 1278, sponsored by Rep. Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, advanced in the Maine House of Representatives Monday. The vote was 88-54.
"We, in the Maine Legislature, must invest in public safety," said Warren. "We all want our communities and our state to be safe. At the same time, it is our job to decide not to spend the hard-earned dollars of our community members on initiatives that are wasteful. We should not be billing Maine taxpayers to pay state police to collect information on Maine people who are not committing crimes and reporting it to corporations."
The measure deallocates funds to MIAC, a "fusion center" established after 9/11 under the Maine Department of Public Safety. Under MIAC, the Maine State Police and federal and state agencies are able to collect and share surveillance information on Maine citizens. Past collected information has been shared with private entities including Avangrid, ExxonMobil, Bath Iron Works, Smith & Wesson, Nestle Waters North America, Sinclair Research, Verizon, Oxford Casino, Sprague Energy, Irving Oil, Maine Medical Center, Portland Pipeline Corporation and Lockheed Martin, among others.
Warren is serving her fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives as House chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety. She serves the towns of Hallowell, Manchester and West Gardiner.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Warren], c. 812-1111