Maine lawmakers were supposed to remove the funding for the nuclear safety adviser position yet again but the funding was snuck back in last minute.
The crazy thing however is that there is no such post. In 2005 the Legislature cut the position however they did not cut the funding for it so the nuclear safety adviser is being paid a $71,000 salary plus benefits and office expenses totaling $118,000.
In 2004 an agreement was reached where by the budget for monitoring the decade old nuclear power facility was supposed to go down to $170,000 in 2009, from the current $360,000 which would have cut out the spending on the nuclear safety adviser.
Another bill was rejected that would have kept the budget at $360,000 because it was a disguised attempt for the originator of the bill, Sen. John Martin, to keep his friend (the nuclear safety adviser) in the position.
However, Martin slipped it in the supplemental budget the night bipartisan negotiations fell apart, and it was ultimately approved by the Democratic majority in the full Legislature.
http://knox.villagesoup.com/rewrite/116058.htm
