March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Democrat shuns partisan bent in role as chairman> Head of the Appropriations Committee says it can’t be politics as usual when the `state as

AUGUSTA — Still loyal to the Democratic concept of being a voice for the voiceless, Rep. George Kerr, D-Old Orchard Beach, chooses to maintain a nonpartisan manner in his role as House chairman of the Legislature’s powerful Appropriations Committee.

In fact, Kerr is so nonpartisan that his remarks and observations sometimes make his Democratic seatmates on the committee a little uneasy.

“I sometimes have trouble with some of the things that George says,” said Rep. Hugh Morrison, D-Bangor. “We finally got George to the point where he says `this is George Kerr speaking’. George sometimes has a tendency to start down a road a little faster than reflection would lead one to do. But I think he’s doing a good job.”

Another Democratic member of the committee, Eliza Townsend of Portland became a little concerned when she heard a radio news report in which Kerr was discussing his views on methods of reducing budget financing gimmicks and proposed program cuts.

“It’s important to me that we don’t misrepresent a situation as having my full endorsement,” she said.

Morrison said Kerr’s readiness to side with the committee’s Republican Senate co-chairman Dana Hanley of South Paris on budget-cutting procedures was sometimes a topic of discussion among Democrats.

“They do agree on a lot of areas,” observed Morrison. “More so than the rest of us combined.”

From Kerr’s perspective, however, he’s a man on a mission for House Speaker Dan A. Gwadosky, D-Fairfield, who selected him for the powerful post.

“I can’t put myself in a position to distinguish the Democratic agenda from the Republican agenda,” he said. “As chairman, I have to look at the state as a whole and do a lot of consensus building among Democrats and Republicans. I haven’t changed, I’ve always been a moderate, I’m still the same George Kerr that was elected four years ago.”

The owner of a restaurant and night club in Old Orchard Beach, Kerr has learned to appreciate efficiency in the workplace. When considering state finances, he says he relies on the same acumen.

Kerr acknowledged he has encountered some “difficult times” as a committee chairman as he tries to point out to members of the committee that he cannot be “all things to all people.”

“If the revenues aren’t there, you can’t spend the money,” he said. “Whenever I see waste in a budget, I want to go right after it. Some programs need to be cut back. I stay away from partisanship and it can be a problem within the caucus. But I think they respect where I’m coming from. I have to do it this way.”


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