Ehrlich Opts For Public Hearing on Energy Bill

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., shown speaking in Linthicum, said he will hold a hearing on a proposed increase in energy rates for some Maryland customers. (By Steve Ruark -- Associated Press)

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) called it "political theater."

"All it does is give him the bully pulpit," Miller said. "What he's trying to do is orchestrate this hearing to make his decision seem halfway responsible."

But there is nothing Ehrlich has done to suggest this will be a contrived event.

Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said anyone who signs up will be permitted to speak, and the governor plans to ensure that there is equal time for both supporters and opponents of the bill.

The hearing is set to be similar to the 1991 veto hearing, which was the third and final hearing of Schaefer's eight-year tenure. Schaefer said he had heard conflicting information about a bill proposing speed limit increases on some rural Maryland highways to 65 mph. "I want another chance to hear from both sides," he said at the time.

Two days after hearing a cascade of statistics and anecdotes, much of it contradictory, Schaefer went ahead with his veto.

There have been other hearings, too. Then-Gov. Harry R. Hughes held one in 1983 before rejecting a bill designed to protect Maryland corporations from hostile takeovers. And then-Gov. Marvin Mandel convened several over hot-button issues such as abortion and the death penalty. Before one 1977 veto hearing, Mandel suffered a small stroke, so three television cameras were set up at the front of a room, and witnesses testified on film.

As it was reported in a news account, witnesses filed in over five hours to gesture, wave signs and urge the unseen governor to veto or spare various bills, including one that would force physicians to notify the parents of unmarried minors prior to performing an abortion.

Glen Middleton, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 67, said he does not expect the hearing over electricity rates to be a circus. Last week, members of Middleton's union -- including one who came dressed as a chicken -- waved signs and protested the governor's opposition to the electricity legislation.

"We will be at this hearing and want our views to be heard," Middleton said. "But we won't be bringing the chicken."