Chenette: A Legacy of Progress

​As I reflect back on my 8 years of service in the Maine legislature, I think about the legacy I leave behind not just for the communities I serve, but for the next group of leaders that come after me.
 
The core of my service centered around the concept of having a government not beholden to special interests, corporations, or lobbyists. And probably most important of all, their money. I was able to pass into law a ban on lobbyist contributions, an end to profiting off political contributions through the use PACs as personal slush funds, a true 1 year ban on former lawmakers becoming lobbyists, clear definitions around caucus PACs to ensure the Ethics Commission can enforce the rules, and a ban on Clean Election candidates running PACs. At least half of those initiatives received bipartisan support, even unanimous support. Something that increasingly is becoming harder to accomplish given how polarizing our politics have become. These wins represent significant campaign finance reform that would have never happened if I wasn’t in Augusta fighting the good fight.  

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