Worried by free-trade agreements, Maine House OKs impact panel

AUGUSTA – A bill supported by critics of international free-trade agreements won initial approval in the Maine House on Tuesday as a part of a national movement to highlight concerns about job losses.

The House gave initial approval to a bill that would create a commission of lawmakers and representatives of labor, business, environmental and health interests to assess the impact of trade agreements and make recommendations for further legislation.

Supporters of the bill, sponsored by House Speaker Patrick Colwell, D-Gardiner, say dozens of state laws that are considered unnecessary barriers to trade could be eliminated as a result of trade agreements.

Opponents of Colwell’s bill say the state can’t afford to set up another study commission as it faces serious budget shortfalls.

The bill was passed as organized labor leaders, lawmakers and Maine Fair Trade Campaign activists held a news conference in the State House to condemn pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, and the proposed Free Trade of the Americas agreement.

The Maine Fair Trade Campaign says that since 2000, Maine has lost more than 11,000 jobs due to outsourcing and imports.

Sen. Peggy Rotondo, D-Lewiston, said that with NAFTA in force, Maine risks being sued for millions of dollars if it passes legislation to ban the gasoline additive MTBE.

A case involving the Canadian makers of MTBE and California, which banned the additive after it seeped into the state’s water supply, is being heard by NAFTA trade tribunals, Rotondo said.

Action in Maine’s capital coincides with this week’s bus tour through Rust Belt states to talk about job issues.