Ehrlich's Session Record Is Murky

"Governor, I have one question for you: Have you no shame?" wrote Del. Peter Franchot (D-Montgomery), who chairs the committee that oversees transportation spending. "Your eagerness to take credit when you were the sole opposition is disingenuous and does nothing but erode public confidence in the veracity of our state elected officials."

At the same time, the governor's office has seen his campaign to enhance restrictions on sex offenders overtaken by a Democratic version of the bill, which remains unresolved on the final day of the session. The governor's office has argued that the Democratic leadership has hijacked virtually his entire agenda.

A list Ehrlich's staff maintains to track his agenda follows the governor's initiatives and what they call "look-alike bills."

In many cases, though, it's hard to say exactly who is the rightful owner. Passage this year of a bill authorizing state funding for stem cell research offers a case in point.

This is the second year the issue has confronted state lawmakers -- a similar proposal died on the final day of last year's session after a debate that Ehrlich essentially sat out. This year, the governor decided to make the issue a priority, inserting $20 million in his budget for the science, which researchers say holds great promise for treatment of Parkinson's disease, juvenile diabetes and other debilitating conditions.

Only Ehrlich's proposal came with a twist.

Last year's legislation would have earmarked all state funding for embryonic stem cell research, which is controversial because it involves the destruction of a human embryo. President Bush limited federal support for work on embryos in 2001, pushing the debate down to state houses.

The plan Ehrlich proposed in January would allow state grants to be awarded for embryonic research, but scientists could also apply for help with research on the less objectionable adult stem cells.

Democratic sponsors of the legislation initially balked at Ehrlich's plan, arguing that federal funding was already plentiful for research with adult cells. But the bill that finally passed this year wound up adopting Ehrlich's approach. Lawmakers agreed to compromise once they realized the bill would not survive in the more socially conservative Senate unless it was changed.

"This bill is done the right way," Ehrlich said at a signing ceremony Thursday, where he complimented lawmakers for passing "a bill that is very close to the approach I've advocated for many months."

The ceremony was attended by several people with conditions that could benefit from the research who smiled their way through the event in the ornate reception room adjacent to the governor's office. But several vented frustration as they headed downstairs, saying a bill could have been passed a year ago had Ehrlich been committed to it then.

O'Donnell said he believes that the stem cell initiative, or the measure capping emissions from power plants, or a host of other bills due to pass this year might indeed have been pushed hard by Democrats in the past. But that only got the Democrats partway to the finish line.

"Without the governor on board, these are issues that just would not have been resolved," he said.