AUGUSTA — With little debate and a hammer decision in both chambers, the Legislature on Friday ratified a committee consolidation that will merge the 123-year-old Labor Committee with a panel that traditionally handles business matters.

The new committee will be called the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee, reducing the Legislature’s number of panels from 17 to 16.

The panel will transfer Labor’s oversight of benefits and pensions for state and municipal employees to the Appropriations Committee. Worker safety, compensation and union issues will remain in the new panel.

The potential dispersal of those duties had riled Democrats and labor advocates, who worried that the new Republican majority was targeting organized labor for traditionally supporting Democratic candidates. Republicans, meanwhile, said they were seeking government efficiencies by putting labor and business issues under one roof. 

The standoff provoked heated rhetoric from both sides earlier this week. Despite the indignant talk in the State House hallways, leaders from both parties forged a compromise after several lengthy and intense closed-door negotiations.

That the new panel was able to retain nearly all of the Labor Committee’s existing jurisdictions prompted some Democrats to claim victory over the new Republican majority.

“Republicans backed off the proposal in the face of strong public opposition,” Assistant Minority Leader Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said in a statement.

In the Republican response to Gov. John Baldacci’s anticipated weekend radio address, Rep. Richard Cebra, R-Naples, is expected to defend against accusations that the GOP was trying to take down organized labor.

In a radio address distributed Friday, Cebra said, “There was no nefarious scheme to diminish the importance of workers or to run unions off to the sidelines. Republicans understand that workers and business have a shared stake in Maine’s future.”

On Friday, Republicans and Democrats stayed on message about the bipartisan deal, at least publicly. During the Senate vote, Sen. Jonathan Courtney, R-York, said the compromise was a “better solution than either side thought possible.”

“I think this was a great way to start this 125th Legislature,” said House Speaker Robert Nutting, R-Oakland. “Though there were concerns on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans focused on our shared goal of improving the Maine economy, and came to this compromise. The fact that we received unanimous support from the Legislature shows that, when we work together, we can produce real results for the people of Maine.”

In a separate statement, Don Berry, president of the Maine AFL-CIO union organization, said he supported the new committee.

“It maintains the core jurisdiction of labor issues in one place and ensures working people a voice in the State House,” Berry said. “This is a victory for working people.”

Sen. Elizabeth Schneider, D-Penobscot, raised some concerns about the merger. Schneider, who at one time chaired the Business, Research, Economic and Development Committee that will be consolidated with Labor, worried that business development matters won’t receive adequate airing because of the additional workload.

According to figures released earlier this week, the BRED Committee worked more than 300 hours last session. Labor worked more than 300 hours, as well. The Education Committee, the Legislature’s busiest panel, worked more than 500 hours last session.

The merger will transfer several duties formerly taken up by the BRED Committee to other panels, including public services (State and Local Government), real estate (Insurance and Financial Services) and insulation (Energy, Utilities and Technology).

smistler@sunjournal.com

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