So much for the most transparent administration in Maine's history...

LePage acts like nothing more than a street thug.

AUGUSTA — State officials are continuing to deny access to a publicly funded study examining Maine's welfare system, including the possible impacts of a Medicaid expansion here.

The study, commissioned on a no-bid contract for $925,200 by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, is being completed by a Rhode Island-based consulting company, the Alexander Group.

Maine's Freedom of Access Act, which requires public access to public documents, does not allow the state to withhold the document.

Information in the report is likely to form some of the basis for the governor's position on a proposal before the Legislature to expand the state's Medicaid program, MaineCare.

The Sun Journal first asked for a copy of the document on Nov. 29. Others in the Maine media have also made repeated requests for access to the documents.

Democratic leaders in the Legislature have also been requesting access to the documents to no avail.

SJ Link