Former House Speaker John Richardson was officially sworn in as the new head of Economic and Community Development last week, and one of his first jobs will be trying to merge his department with another to form a new Department of Commerce.
Richardson will have to convince legislators to merge the departments of Economic and Community Development with Professional and Financial Regulation – a proposal Gov. John Baldacci announced in his inaugural address earlier this month. Richardson would then lead the new department.
Economic and Community Development is in charge of tourism, business development, international trade and attracting new businesses to the state. The Department of Professional and Financial Regulation regulates state-chartered financial institutions, the insurance industry, grantors of consumer credit, the securities industry and other licensed professionals.
Sen. Lynn Bromley, D-Cumberland County, chairman of the Businesses, Research and Economic Development Committee that unanimously endorsed Richardson as the new commissioner, isn’t so sure it’s a good idea.
“There’s a philosophical difference between business regulation and business development. It’s important to hold those two things in tension,” Bromley said. “It’s an open question whether they can happen under the same roof.”
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