Created in 2003, Maine’s Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, or OPEGA, serves as the Legislature’s independent watchdog agency by conducting both performance audits and special investigations.

OPEGA operates at the direction of the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee, a 12-member panel consisting of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. Committee members provide guidance to OPEGA about where to devote the nonpartisan agency’s resources and also consider investigation requests from lawmakers, such as Sen. Tom Saviello’s request to look into whether Gov. Paul LePage “crossed legal or ethical lines” by intervening in House Speaker Mark Eves’ employment at the nonprofit Good Will-Hinckley.

OPEGA has produced several high-profile reports into the alleged misuse of public funds or improper conduct. Recent examples include:

• A 2011 investigation into misuse of funds at the Maine Turnpike Authority. The turnpike authority’s former head, Paul Violette, was subsequently convicted of stealing as much as $230,000 from the agency, and lawmakers approved changes in state law.

• A 2013 investigation into paper shredding at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in response to information requests through the Freedom of Access Act.

The oversight committee is likely to consider the request from Saviello, R-Wilton. But there is no guarantee a majority of committee members will vote to direct OPEGA to launch an investigation. Committee members would have say over the scope of any investigation, although OPEGA staff would carry out the work.