Former Montgomery County Council Member Tom Perez, who had strong union backing in his aborted run for attorney general last year, said he would work collaboratively with the business community as Gov. Martin O?Malley?s new secretary of labor, licensing and regulation.
Perez said that as council president, he also had business backing and “effective regulation and a strong business climate cannot just survive, but thrive.”
Kathleen Snyder, president of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, agreed that “a strong business climate and competitive regulatory climate” can go hand in hand. She hopes business will continue to have “a good working relationship” with the department, especially on work force development, which is “a key priority for the business community.”
Perez said it was one of his priorities, as well.
The department Perez will head oversees a wide range of issues relating to employers and employees. They include occupational safety and health, unemployment and oversight of dozens of state boards that regulate professions and trades from accounting and architects to real estate agents and horse racing.
The department has “a very strong consumer protection” component, Perez said, and it has some of “widest powers of any agency in state government.”
He promised to be “fair,” “open-minded” and “a good listener” to all the stakeholders in the agency. Agency officials also inspect all elevators and issue safety certificates.
“It?s a dream come true to have your name on every elevator in Maryland,”Perez joked.
Perez, a graduate of Harvard Law School, was a civil rights enforcer for the federal government and has been on the faculty of the University of Maryland Law School.
His candidacy for attorney general was cut short when the state Court of Appeals said he hadn?t practiced law in Maryland the required 10 years.
Born in the Dominican Republic, Perez is also the first Hispanic named to O?Malley?s Cabinet and delivered a portion of his remarks at a State House news conference in Spanish.
“The value of inclusion is a very important value for the O?Malley administration, and you?ll see it for the next eight years,” Perez said.
O?Malley also announced he was naming James Lyons, who once served as president of Bowie State University, as secretary of higher education.
