The Mystery of the Locked Door
The fate of the General Assembly's efforts to curb air pollution from coal-fired power plants remains in limbo today, tied up in a dispute about timing and locked doors.
Robert A. Zarnoch, assistant attorney general for the legislature, has advised the Senate that its last-minute attempts to deliver bills to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Jr. last week were not too late - even though the legislation was slipped under a locked door.
On Friday, the General Assembly rushed to pass a long list of controversial bills before the end of the day so that, even if the bills are vetoed, lawmakers have time to try to override the governor's action before they adjourn next Monday.
When two Senate legislative aides reached the office of the governor's chief legislative officer Kenneth Masters at 4:50 p.m., the door was locked, according to Zarnoch's letter to Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller,Jr. (D-Calvert).
According to the account, Mary Monahan, the chief clerk for the House, also overheard Masters tell a staff person leaving the office at 4:30 p.m. to close and lock the door.
While the General Assembly can not dictate the office hours of the governor's staff, Zarnoch says that it is not unreasonable to assume that during the last 11 days of the legislative session Ehrlich's legislative office would be open on a weekday afternoon or on a Saturday.
"Unreasonable office hours may not be set to frustrate presentment," he writes.
Citing an Alabama Supreme Court from 1982, Zarnoch concludes that Ehrlich must act on the bills by Friday.
But Kenneth Masters, the governor's aide responsible for taking receipt of the bills from the legislature, said sliding the bills under the door doesn't cut it and he disputed the timing.
"If they didn't come up before 5 p.m., and they weren't presented to me, then we don't consider them to have been presented," Masters said.
He also took issue with the notion that he instructed a staffer to lock the door at 4:30.
"I was the last person out," Masters said. "And I left at 5, or thereabouts."
The sponsor of one of the late arrivals, Sen. Paul Pinsky (D-Prince George's), sent his own letter to the governor today, calling the locked door "simply silly."
"The image of your staff members cowering behind a locked door and refusing to accept documents from the legislature simply doesn't square with how you personally do business," Pinsky writes.
He urges the governor to sign his bill to cut power plant emissions and if not, to veto it by Friday--so that the General Assembly can consider an override.
- Ann E. Marimow and Matthew Mosk
By Ann Marimow |
April 3, 2006; 7:06 PM ET
| Category:
General Assembly
Previous: O'Malley Announces Baltimore County Support |
Next: Bombing Through the People's Business
Posted by: Anonymous | April 4, 2006 9:38 AM
Healthy Air is not a partisan issue -- 90% of Marylanders want the Healthy Air Act, and both Republicans and Senators have agreed with them.
The Governor seems to be pulling some kind of sophmoric April Fool's Day stunt here --once again siding with polluters instead of people.
This locked-door stunt really shows disrespect for all Marylanders, for our health and for our environment. I'm wondering how we can take this kind of "leadership" seriously.
Visit our blog:
http://www.mdlcv.org/index.php?option=com_jd-wp&Itemid=64
Posted by: Dawn Stoltzfus, Maryland League of Conservation Voters | April 4, 2006 9:58 AM
At a time of record high energy prices, the last thing we need is another onerous bill on energy producers. Hopefully Ehrlich will do his best to frustrate the special interest groups that are pushing for it.
Posted by: MK | April 4, 2006 12:27 PM
MK, your comment is nothing short of ignorant. The DC metropolitan area has the 4th worst air pollution in the nation and your concern is for keeping pressure off businesses? Where are your priorities? Is it more important to decrease instances of asthma, COPD, emphysema, and lung cancer (all related to air pollution which also cost companies millions in lost productivity and healthcare)or just ignore the problem all together in the hopes that magically business and the free market will take care of the problem. I am truly shocked.
Posted by: Mr. K | April 4, 2006 1:23 PM
I sent the following e-mail to the governor:
Dear Governor,
I am astonished to hear about your using the "door locking" maneuver after the Health Air Act passed both houses with veto proof majorities.
I urge you to sign the Healthy Air Act. I first worked for reduction of Maryland air pollution in 1970, when we were told to accept the exemptions for the existing coal fired power plants in MD, because they would soon enough be replaced by new plants to which the higher standards would apply. As you know this was a deception.
The cost of the pollution controls is trivial part of the new higher cost for electricity that you ask us to accept. Also, relative to incomes now (vs. 1970), clean air has never been more affordable for Marylanders! So, there is no good reason for more delay.
Also, if you want to attract the leaders of business to stay in Maryland or move to Maryland, you must offer them clean air. They expect a better environment for their families than they did 35 years ago. So, pollution controls on coal fired power plants should be part of your being a PRO business governor.
Thank you.
Posted by: SBH | April 5, 2006 11:48 PM
http://www.insurance-top.com/company/ car site insurance. The autos insurance company, compare car insurance, auto insurance. from website .
Posted by: insurance auto | June 29, 2006 12:59 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
So to be fair, I'd have to say that whichever party is in power wants to stay in power and have their way and those out of power or with limited power want more. I just note that the political games that are played to get and keep power sometimes have consequences. Last night, Tom Delay announced that he will be resigning from Congress. Apparently his grab for everlasting Republican power in Texas has had some "consequences." I can't help but singing the song from the Wizard of Oz --Ding dong - the witch is dead, the wicked witch is dead.