Democrats were angered last month when Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer Jr. issued a bulletin allowing HMOs to increase rates by 2 percent by merely announcing their intentions and giving 45 days' notice. The move followed the legislature's adoption of a 2 percent premium tax on HMOs, which Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) argued would be passed along to consumers.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said he is backing the Senate bill. "I think it's a very good idea," said Miller, who last week called for Redmer's resignation. "The public is not hurt by open government and open meetings."
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said teamwork is what secured the new armored vehicles.
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Election Verification
Maryland's election board would be required to provide a way to independently verify election results under two bills that received a hearing in a Senate committee yesterday.
One bill, sponsored by Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Baltimore County), would require the state's electronic voting machines to produce a paper record of voting. Another, sponsored by Sen. Roy P. Dyson (D-St. Mary's), would require a paper record "or other voter verifiable audit technology."
Voting advocates say the state's computerized voting machines, introduced statewide last year, are vulnerable to fraud and likely to produce inaccurate tallies -- fears that did not come true on a large scale in the November elections.
State elections administrator Linda H. Lamone testified yesterday that the technology available to make the state's voting machines produce paper records is expensive and untested. "We would like to see the industry mature a little bit more, and let the cost come down, and get you all some very factual information before we jump into this," she said.
Pamela Smith, national coordinator for verifiedvoting.org, said a paper record is "necessary for elections to be reliable."
Staff writer John Wagner contributed to this report.
