Politics of Maine’s financial crisis squeezes head of budget panel

AUGUSTA — When Gov. John R. McKernan suggested recently that the Appropriations Committee might serve as the court of last resort in weighing controversial pieces of his budget package, the Senate chairman of the committee objected, saying the panel’s role is more limited than the governor implied.

But, despite his demurral, Democrat Michael D. Pearson of Enfield left the door open for the budget panel to perform some review, if not second-guessing, of the way McKernan’s plans are treated by other committees and by the House and Senate.

It is usually so, given the Appropriations Committee’s vast responsibilities to oversee fiscal matters. But, in this election year, and with the extraordinary financial pressures facing state government, the budget panel may itself be squeezed in extraordinary fashion. And that will heighten the scrutiny of Pearson, as he is urged by his Democratic colleagues to adopt a more partisan approach and by McKernan to see things the Republican administration’s way.

Pearson, an alternately voluble and then taciturn man, is accustomed to the conflicting calls for party loyalty and bipartisan conciliation, but remains uncomfortable with the conflict. He plainly displays his emotions within the committee and freely acknowledges the strains of the job.

“I feel like I get jerked around a little bit,” he said one day last week.

And professing to be unaware of his reputation as one of the few good listeners McKernan can find among the hostile Democratic legislative majority, Pearson recoils from the perception when asked.

“That makes my job harder,” he said slowly. “Because then it highlights me.”

McKernan says he understands Pearson’s sensitivity and vulnerability on the point. But he says the Democratic chairman’s openness to administration points of view does not guarantee anything but improved communication.

“I know the Democrats are suspect of Mike because he comes down and talks to us,” McKernan said. “But I think they also realize that they get more information that way than they would get. And communication is the most important thing around here.”

McKernan describes Pearson as a longtime friend from the Bangor area and lauds him as “someone I respect for being here in Augusta for the right reasons.”

Similar praise comes from Pearson’s patron in the Democratic leadership, Senate President Charles P. Pray, who says his appointee as committee chairman knows the difference between “a political purpose” and “a public purpose.”

“I have no lack of confidence in Michael’s commitment to the Democratic Party and to the Legislature as an institution,” said Pray.

Critics, added the Senate president, “don’t understand the uniqueness of the responsibility of that committee and particularly the chair of that committee.”

Echoed Pearson’s co-chairman, Rep. Donald V. Carter, D-Winslow: “You’ve touched on it when you talk about the uniqueness of the committee. We strive for unanimity. That’s the way the committee’s been operating as long as I can remember … especially on the budget.”

Another vote of confidence comes from another Bangor-area Democrat, Rep. John A. Cashman of Old Town, the assertive and occasionally combative co-chairman of the Taxation Committee.

Conceding the Appropriations Committee’s central involvement in state finances, Cashman said, “in the final analysis, and sometimes Michael is the final analysis, we have to work together.”

“The fact is, when all the dust settles and we go home, we’ve got to leave a balanced budget in place.”

Of Pearson’s intermediary function between the Democrats and the administration, Cashman said, “maybe it’s the nature of the job. And maybe it’s a good thing he does.”