The Franchot Provision: House vs. Senate
As they broke for the weekend, budget negotiators from the House and the Senate remained at odds over several weighty issues, including stem cell research grants and a new fund to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
And then there's the Peter Franchot provision.
The Senate, which is not exactly a fan club for the state's independent-minded comptroller, has inserted language in the budget restricting Franchot (D) from spending money on anything but his constitutional duties.
It is not clear which activities senators are seeking to curtail, but Franchot, the state's tax collector, has ruffled the feathers of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and others with his outspoken opposition to slot machine gambling and to a computer services tax that originated in the Senate during a special session in the fall.
Miller said last week that Franchot has seemed at times more interested in promoting himself than doing his job.
But House budget writers defended Franchot, a former delegate from Montgomery County, during negotiations Friday.
"You don't do that for anyone else," Del. Charles E. Barkley (D-Montgomery) protested to his Senate counterparts.
As with several issues, both sides postponed a resolution until this week.
By Anne Bartlett |
March 31, 2008; 10:57 AM ET
| Category:
John Wagner
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Posted by: Liz | March 31, 2008 12:41 PM
Hey Liz - seeya!
Posted by: Anonymous | March 31, 2008 2:03 PM
Miller keeps living in the past. Time for him to be gone.
These folks have no idea what a "professional" legislature looks or acts like. What a bunch of rubes !
Posted by: jmsbh | March 31, 2008 3:02 PM
Maryland doesn't have a professional legislature, and thank goodness. Professional legislatures are year-round sessions, and professional legislators make this their full time job/career. If you don't like the part-time 90-day variety we have now, at least be grateful that we don't have a full-time group of professional idiots in the legislature like they do in California.
Posted by: Grass is greener | March 31, 2008 3:24 PM
Having lived and worked in a state with a professional legislature that met, not year round , but for significantly more than 90 days, it was far superior to the helter skelter nonsense taht passes for legislating in Maryland. More time for consideration and the public's input on issues is far better than what these amateurs concoct.
Posted by: jmsbh | March 31, 2008 5:16 PM
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God, I can't wait to move out of this god-forsaken state.