AUGUSTA – A state representative from Alfred could learn the fate of his seat by the end of this month, House Speaker Robert Nutting said Thursday.

Democrats say Rep. David Burns, R-Alfred, should already have been asked to resign.

Burns is the subject of an investigation that the Attorney General’s Office began last month, after the state ethics commission found he violated multiple campaign finance laws while running for state representative.

This week, those findings cost Burns his seat on the Alfred Board of Selectmen. Burns resigned from the three-member board on Tuesday, after the ethics case generated questions and criticism from residents of the town.

Burns was back at work in the State House on Thursday morning. He declined comment for this story, citing his attorney’s advice.

Assistant House Majority Leader Andre Cushing, R-Hampden, said the GOP leadership is waiting for a report from the Attorney General’s Office about potential criminal violations before deciding what to do.

Cushing said, “We’re not in a posture where we will take any action until we know what the courts would say.”

Nutting, a Republican from Oakland, has said that Burns remains a member in good standing at least until the attorney general reports back. Nutting said he expects a legal opinion by the end of this month.

House Minority Leader Emily Cain, D-Orono, said Republicans should have asked Burns to step down weeks ago.

“If he was (a Democrat), I would have asked him to resign” immediately after the ethics commission report, Cain said.

And if he didn’t resign, Cain said, she would refer the matter to the Legislature’s ethics committee for action.

Cain said lawmakers should be held to a higher standard than whether they have been charged with a crime.

The state Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, which does not have authority in criminal matters, found in November that Burns committed seven violations of the state law that governs use of Clean Election Act money. Among them: transferring public campaign money into his personal bank account, using the money for personal expenses and giving false documents to investigators.

Commission Chairman Walter McKee said he found it “mind-boggling” that Burns had turned in false documents.

The Attorney General’s Office said Thursday that the criminal investigation continues.

MaineToday Media State House Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 620-7016 or at:

jrichardson@mainetoday.com