-
Apr 8, 2008 2:18 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Hundreds Of Bills Fail In General Assembly
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ―
Drivers won't have to hang up cell phones, nooses won't be added to hate crimes laws and malt liquor drinks can be sold alongside beer for at least another year.
As legislators packed up their offices Tuesday to leave Annapolis, they took stock of the bills that failed this session and speculated what their chances might be next year.
Tops on the casualty list was an aggressive measure to tackle global warming by cutting carbon dioxide emissions. Environmental activists and a yearlong study panel put together by Gov. Martin O'Malley suggested immediate action to limit Maryland's production of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. But the bill was rejected Monday night amid concerns it would cost jobs if factories were required to make expensive upgrades.
Supporters of that global warming bill voiced an approach common to supporters of the hundreds of bills that die every term -- there's always next year.
"It's incumbent upon us to do a better job getting that word out" on the importance of passing the global warming bill, said Environment Secretary Shari Wilson, who unsuccessfully lobbied lawmakers Monday night to work out a compromise with unions and industry groups that opposed the bill.
The global warming loss was the most dramatic of the legislature's final day; even as late as lunchtime top lawmakers were confident they'd get it done.
But as on any final day of a term, the legislative victims piled up as the day wore on. A proposal to place speed monitoring cameras at highway work zones statewide, and possibly on local roads, failed because the House and Senate couldn't agree to identical versions of the bill. They also couldn't agree whether to require counseling for borrowers seeking some types of risky mortgages. Lawmakers decided against making it a hate crime to place a noose or swastika on someone's property as an expression of racial hate. They rejected a ban on handheld cell phone use while driving and two bills to ban text messaging while driving.
Legislators also passed a couple bills aimed at preserving the status quo, such as a bill to override an opinion from state attorneys that fruity malt liquor drinks such as Mike's Hard Lemonade should be considered liquor, not beer, for purposes of state regulation.
Lawmakers said Tuesday the global warming and speed camera bills were the biggest losers. But several downplayed the defeats, saying bills that aren't worked out until the closing hours of a term are usually too flawed to make good laws, anyway.
A supporter of the global warming measure, Delegate Doyle Niemann, said he didn't blame lawmakers for not trying to shoehorn a proposal that would've made all parties happy.
"Global warming had been watered down so much it was pretty much symbolic," said Niemann, D-Prince George's.
Others said they would try to achieve the goals of failed bills without the legislation. Tom Perez, secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, said he wasn't sweating the failure of the mortgage counseling bill.
"We have ample tools in our arsenal to address the underlying issue" of educating potential homebuyers, Perez said. O'Malley shrugged off attempts by reporters to assess the significance of failed legislation. Asked why the speed cameras failed despite his backing, O'Malley said it's impossible to know at times why certain bills succeed and others fail.
"Sometimes this place is like the Yellow Submarine, you know, the land of holes," O'Malley said. "Sometimes things fall into holes and there's no fingerprints or knowing exactly why."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
WJZ.COM's Most Popular Pages