AUGUSTA – The legislative panel charged with reviewing Gov. John Baldacci’s bill to reduce impasses on the Maine Workers’ Compensation Board has come out in unanimous support of the proposal.

The legislation would cut the size of the board from eight members to seven and name the board’s executive director, a member of the board, as a potential tiebreaker. Establishing an odd number of board members could in theory promote action by majority vote.

The governor would nominate an executive director, who is now chosen by the board, with the nomination subject to legislative committee review and Senate confirmation.

The overhaul, designed to untangle a system that has been prone to deadlock, has drawn backing from both the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Maine AFL-CIO. And with a 13-0 Labor Committee vote, prospects for passage in the full Legislature are promising.

Sticking points in board deliberations, according to Baldacci administration officials, have included the appointment of hearing officers and the duration of benefits for workers injured on the job.

Officials said policy disagreements have spilled over to affect operations and administration.

With four labor and four management representatives, the 12-year-old board has often found itself unable to act.

Former Gov. Angus King, citing the same problem, suggested a realigned nine-member panel but that proposal failed to become law.

Under the pending bill, six of the seven board members would continue to be divided equally between representatives of labor and management.

The executive director would serve as board chairman and chief executive officer of the agency that the board oversees.