Can Someone Help Severin Out?

Maine’s power lobbyist, Severin Beliveau is an item on the ethics commission agenda for Monday. His crime---he was an hour late filing his monthly report.  The agenda item reads as follows:

7. Request for Waiver of Late-Filing Penalty/Lobbyist Severin Beliveau Severin Beliveau is a lobbyist for the Maine Health Care Association. His January monthly report that was due on February 15 by 5:00 p.m. was filed about one hour late at 6:02 p.m. Mr. Paul Padillo, who files reports for Mr. Beliveau, requests a waiver of the $100 penalty because he had no internet access at his office computer and had to file the report from home. Staff recommendation: the staff recommends assessing the penalty of $100.

You can imagine the economic impact that the S100 bucks would have on Mr. Beliveau, who has a client list that would make even the most successful lobbyist envious.  Of course, the beauty of the waiver request is that it is being done on behalf of a staffer for Mr. Beliveau.  My guess is that Beliveau, who has a very low tolerance for errors, suggested to the staff member that he “fix it”.   I think “fix it” meant pay the $100 bucks, not file for a waiver with a lame excuse.

My hunch is that  item #7 will not be on the agenda Monday.