As we continue to work through an economic recovery, one of the greatest responsibilities of those of us who serve the public is to ensure that we are spending public funds in a responsible way. We have made difficult cuts and spent many hours finding ways to stretch every dollar in the budget.

I find it distressing that Gov. LePage does not seem to share this concern. Last week we learned that a million-dollar, no-bid contract has been given to The Alexander Group to study the benefits of expanding access to healthcare and to “overhaul” public safety net programs. This contract was given in September without any bid process or public notice. Lawmakers, including members of the state’s budget writing committee, didn’t learn about the contract until they read about it in the newspaper.

Gary Alexander, the head of conservative consulting firm The Alexander Group, was formerly the head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Public Welfare. In February, Alexander resigned his post after serving two years amid controversy surrounding the irresponsible use of tax dollars.

Maine can’t afford to ignore these warning signs and make the same mistakes.

The stories from his tenure in Pennsylvania paint a picture of an ideologue who forged ahead with plans to gut safety net programs and ended up costing the state millions of dollars for inferior services. In one case, one of his “reforms” actually cost Penn-sylvania $7 million, and caused significant delays in payments to workers.

He spent $20,000 of taxpayer money on a new flagpole outside his office.

One of the major “accomplishments” he touts was eliminating health care for nearly 90,000 children.

Is that really how Maine wants to spend $1 million? Instead of paying a king’s ransom to a shady, out-of-state hired gun, we could put that money to use right here at home.

We could spend $1 million providing property tax relief to Maine people and making it easier for seniors to stay in their homes.

We could provide more job training programs to help unemployed workers find new jobs, and ensure they have the skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

We could restore more funding to Head Start and help the thousands of Maine kids who are eligible for Head Start but aren’t enrolled.

But instead of working to address any of these issues, the governor’s priority is to hire his friend.

Even as the Department of Health and Human Services lost $20 million in federal funding because of staffing issues and mismanagement at the Riverview Psychiatric Center, the governor was more interested in buying information to support his fringe agenda than in trying to solve problems.

Policy decisions should be based on independent and unbiased data, not information telling you only what you want to hear. The governor should focus on helping the people of Maine instead of handing out million dollar checks to his cronies.

— Sen. David E. Dutremble is a Democrat who represents the communities of Arundel, Biddeford, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. He lives in Biddeford with his wife and children. His column appears on the first Monday of each month.