Though an effort to take back Bath Iron Works’ $60 million tax gift failed recently, legislators frustrated with the way the tax break was presented last session have a chance to unload the gun many felt was placed to the heads when they were told to either support the bill or be responsible for lost jobs.

LD 2243, sponsored by Sen. Chellie Pingree of Knox, establishes a process to regard corporate tax giveaways of more than $250,000 a year much like any other government support program. Under the bill, for instance, applicants would have to show that they really needed the money, that a public good would be served and that jobs would either be created or preserved. Corporations receiving the breaks would be expected to offer health and pension benefits. A public commission would be set up to review the tax break process, with a means of getting the money back if a company does not live up to its promises.

While public oversight is almost always a good idea, the oversight process could be served and made more efficient by streamlining the role of the proposed commission and having the Department of Economic and Community Development do the fact-gathering on the performances of companies receiving major tax breaks. It is very much to that department’s benefit to see that only well-qualified firms are given these subsidies: Public sentiment is such that if even one or two undeserving are found to have misused state tax money, everybody could be cut off.

That would be unfortunate. The current fashion is to refer to these breaks as corporate welfare, and, in a strict sense, they are (although people these days can get welfare for only a few years; corporations still can get it for decades). But just as it is in the public’s interest to maintain a safety net to catch the poor, keeping businesses going with government support can be of immense help to a town or an entire region — as long as the business being supported acts responsibly toward its workers.

That’s one reason the standards in the bill are so important. By requiring that a prevailing wage be paid, benefits provided and adequate notification of layoffs be given, the bill improves the working climate in Maine and ensures that the state subsidy is passed on to the employees of the corporation. A second reason is that they give lawmakers a measure to hold against a firm pressuring them for a tax break.

Given the frustration expressed by many lawmakers over the BIW deal, they need the standards set out in LD 2243. With some modifications, the bill offers an effective guide to legislators trying to balance tax dollars against the threat of lost jobs.