AUGUSTA — A legislative committee voted narrowly Thursday to continue monitoring a Maine agency’s compliance with directives from its federal counterpart in the wake of a federal investigation that found Gov. Paul LePage and state officials had pressured appeals hearing officers at the Maine Department of Labor’s unemployment compensation bureau.

The Government Oversight Committee voted 6-4 to continue tracking the state agency’s ongoing efforts to reform its policies and procedures as outlined in the U.S. Department of Labor’s February report. An earlier effort to take no further action on the matter died in a tie vote strictly along party lines.

Rep. H. David Cotta, R-China, later reversed his vote to side with Democrats, preserving the committee’s interest in the issue, at least until the next legislative session.

“I was sorry to see a partisan vote on the issue,” Chairman Chuck Kruger, D-Thomaston, said after the committee adjourned. “It doesn’t happen very often.”

An April 11, 2013, a Sun Journal investigative report cited sources who said Gov. Paul LePage had summoned Labor Department employees to a mandatory luncheon at the Blaine House on March 21 and scolded them for finding too many unemployment-benefit appeals cases in favor of workers. They were told they were doing their jobs poorly, sources said. Afterward, they told the Sun Journal they felt abused, harassed and bullied by the governor.

The U.S. Department of Labor launched an investigation into the matter, concluding in February that LePage and state agency officials had “intervened” in a way that could have influenced the outcomes of unemployment appeals hearings.

The federal agency concluded that the LePage administration acted with “what could be perceived as a bias toward employers” and hearing officers could have interpreted expectations that they had to be more sympathetic toward employers.

Committee Co-chairman Sen. Christopher Johnson, D-Lincoln, told committee members on Thursday that he wasn’t ready to let the state agency carry out on its own the many needed reforms referenced in the federal agency’s report.

“This is something worth checking in later on the progress on those recommendations being implemented,” Johnson said. “I think we’d be neglecting our duty if we simply said, ‘OK, they have an action plan; let’s let it go.’”

Both the U.S. Department of Labor and an Unemployment Reform Blue Ribbon Commission appointed by LePage found no evidence of bias by appeals hearing officers against employers as suggested by LePage.

“We can’t forget that an allegation was made and found to be untrue by two legitimate entities,” Kruger said Thursday. “That’s an important lesson, if nothing else.”

Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson, D-Aroostook, read from the federal agency’s report stressing a need to ensure that appeals hearing officers are insulated from politics and free from pressure and intimidation.

“I’m very concerned about this,” he said. “I still think that I’d like to make sure that this is handled appropriately and that there are some real actions taking place here.”

Jackson had called for LePage’s impeachment after the federal agency’s investigation concluded that appeals hearing officers had felt pressured by him at the March 2013 luncheon.

“I think there were some legitimate concerns” about fairness in the unemployment compensation appeals process, said Sen. Roger Katz, R-Kennebec. He recommended dropping the matter from the committee’s further oversight.

“I’m satisfied that, if there were problems, they’ve been addressed and the system is working properly now,” he said. “I’m also confident that if there are problems in the future, someone will bring them to our attention.”

Committee members said Thursday they were satisfied with the progress report drafted last week by Maine Department of Labor Commissioner Jeanne Paquette at the committee’s request.

In her report, Paquette outlined steps her agency has taken to come into compliance with recommendations by the U.S. Department of Labor and the state commission.

A special federal audit carried out in March and April by the U.S. DOL found no evidence of bias or undue political influence in the outcomes of unemployment compensation appeals hearings after reviewing a random sample of cases.

Continued audits are expected in light of the federal agency’s findings that hearing officers may have felt influenced by LePage and officials at the state agency to skew their decisions.

Other actions taken by the state agency in an effort to meet the recommendations of the two committees include addressing understaffing. The agency expects to hire three additional appeals hearing officers to lessen the workload of the current officers. Ten so-called adjudicators are expected to be hired to screen applicants for unemployment compensation benefits.

Efforts also have been made to establish legal precedent for adjudicators, appeals hearing officers and the board of commissioners to achieve greater consistency in their rulings on cases.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com