Ehrlich Surprised by Budget Successes
April 8, 2003
The Washington Times
Mr. Ehrlich, a Republican, remained upbeat about his plan to slash government spending and about keeping his campaign promise not to raise taxes, despite most of his legislative agenda having perished at the hands of the Democrat-controlled legislature.
"People are beginning to realize, even in this town, that what we said is what we meant," Mr. Ehrlich said as the 90-day General Assembly session drew to a close at midnight last night. "If we had not won the election, today we would have been deciding how many taxes and how much."
After tough negotiations that cut nearly $1 billion out of a $22.4 billion budget, Mr. Ehrlich said he was "pleasantly surprised" that most of his spending priorities had survived ? including money for the developmentally disabled, juvenile justice reform, mental health and drug treatment.
"Those dollars represent our priorities even in a very difficult budget year," Mr. Ehrlich said.
The governor said he would veto the $137 million corporate-tax bill and make the requisite budget cuts through the Board of Public Works, rather than convene a special General Assembly session for lawmakers to balance the budget.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Prince George's County Democrat, said that he would not try to override the veto in a special session, though the Senate passed the tax bill with one vote less than the three-fifth majority needed to overturn a veto.
The tax bill passed by a veto-proof majority in the House, but both chambers would have to reconvene and record a super-majority vote to undo a veto.
Mr. Ehrlich said his stand against new taxes had defined the state's first legislative session with a Republican governor in more than three decades.
He said that even his bid to help fund public schools with revenue from legalized slot machines at horse tracks was harmed by the Democrats' push for more taxes. House Democratic leaders, who killed the slots bill, proposed a deal to advance the slots legislation if it was tied to higher income and sales taxes. Mr. Ehrlich refused the compromise.
"That's not a compromise," he said. "That's a sellout."
The legislative session was dominated by partisan gridlock and compromises over taxes, slots, charter schools and radar cameras.
Lawmakers clashed over key bills, such as those allowing in-state tuition and driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, legalizing medical marijuana, and increasing filing fees for businesses.
The medical marijuana bill, which reduced penalties to $100 for possession out of medical necessity passed with bipartisan support in both chambers. The governor yesterday signaled his intention to sign the bill into law, despite aggressive lobbying from such sources as President Bush.
"I have this individual streak that people have noticed over the years," Mr. Ehrlich said. "That's me and that's this administration."
He also said the public would be able to discriminate between recreational marijuana use and medical-necessity use by terminal or chronically ill patients. The radar-camera bill to catch speeders in residential and school zones passed 27-19 in the Senate just hours before the midnight deadline following by a lengthy debate led by Sen. Andrew P. Harris, Baltimore County Republican. The bill, however, faces an almost certain veto by the governor even if it passed in both chambers.
Mr. Ehrlich said a veto was "more than likely" because he has a long history of opposing "big-brother" government intrusion into the lives of citizens.
With the session's work behind them yesterday, Republican lawmakers applauded Mr. Ehrlich's ability to come up with a balanced budget. But Democrats said the session was one of the most depressing they had attended.
"I think the people want us to go home and not come back again for a long time," Mr. Miller said. "They certainly cannot be happy with what we did. They are not looking for a repeat" of this session.
House Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve, Montgomery County Democrat, said the session was "depressing, ugly."
"There were a lot of controversial issues and unkind things said by both sides," he said.
But Senate Minority Leader J. Lowell Stoltzfus, Eastern Shore Republican, said the session had been refreshing for his party.
"I think it has been a good year for Republicans, mostly because we have a backstop on the second floor," said Mr. Stoltzfus, referring to the governor's office upstairs in the State House. "If we didn't have a Republican governor, there is no question that we would have been inundated with taxes."
Ehrlich spokesman Paul Schurick said the session had been a mix of good and bad.
"We lost some, we won some," he said. "But the budget is balanced and we are making progress on education."
Lawmakers reached a compromise on a bill to bring charter schools statewide in the final hours of the session last night.
Mr. Ehrlich met briefly just before 10 p.m. with Mr. Miller and House of Delegates Speaker Michael E. Busch in Mr. Miller's office. The governor emerged from the meeting saying he was "very pleased" he had reached a deal to get a vote on the floor before the session ended despite encountering a "last minute hiccup."
About a half hour later, the Senate passed the measure 33-4. The House followed suit about 15 minutes later on a 96-30 vote.
Mr. Ehrlich originally wanted the state Board of Education to be given the authority to establish charter schools ? publicly funded schools that have more freedom to establish their curriculum and set policies.
But Democratic lawmakers amended his bill to give hostile local school boards the authority to establish charters. Last night, Mr. Ehrlich and key lawmakers agreed to allow the state board to mediate agreements with local boards if they reject a charter.
One of the longest debates at the session was on a resolution sponsored by Mr. Stoltzfus that called for "support of the U.S. armed forces and their liberation of the Iraqi people."
Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, Prince George's County Democrat, said he supported U.S. troops and their safe return but did not back the Bush administration's reasons for going to war.
"I want our troops safe and I want them home,' he said. "But this bill goes beyond supporting our troops. It supports the reason we are there."
The resolution passed the Senate in 44-0 vote.
Just 15 minutes before the midnight adjournment deadline, both chambers unanimously passed a $740 million capital budget, narrowly escaping the prospect of an extended session.
The deal brokered by the governor, Mr. Busch and Mr. Miller provides for local bonds projects sponsored by the House, totaling $12.7 million, be deferred a year with the governor reviewing each proposal on a case-by-case basis.
The deal secured $103.9 million for school construction projects pushed by the Senate.
Earlier in the legislative season, an effort by Baltimore City Democrats Sen. Ralph M. Hughes and Delegate Salima Siler Marriott to reinstate a two-year moratorium on the death penalty fell through after the Senate rejected the bill by a single vote earlier in the session.
Legislation sponsored by Delegate Sheila E. Hixson, Montgomery County Democrat, and Sen. Gwendolyn Britt, Prince George's County Democrat, that would allow illegal aliens to attend public universities at in-state tuition rates passed both chambers yesterday.
Mr. Ehrlich also will consider signing a bill from Delegate Joseph F. Vallario Jr., Prince George's Democrat, that would allow illegal aliens to get driver's licenses with birth certificates from their countries even if they did not have Social Security numbers.
The governor has not staked a position on any of the immigrant bills, though he did oppose an earlier version of the driver's license bill that placed fewer requirements on immigrants.
| 
