By Annapolis Notebook
Thursday, March 8, 2007
The politicians have decided not to restrain themselves. A Senate committee has killed a bill that would prohibit the automated campaign phone calls that many voters find so irritating.
The Senate Finance Committee voted 9 to 2 last week against a bill that would have banned almost all noncommercial "robo calls" to people who have signed up for the federal do-not-call telemarketing list.
Politicians or candidates would have been fined $1,000 for a first offense of the law and $5,000 for subsequent violations.
"I'm incredibly disappointed," said James Brochin (D-Baltimore County), the bill sponsor. "I think the people were behind us."
Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Montgomery) said he voted against the bill because politicians sometimes need to use the automated calls during campaigning. He said he used them last year when his opponent sent out a false mailing just before Election Day.
"How do you respond to that?" Garagiola said. "I couldn't afford to go on television or do a radio ad."
Sens. George W. Della Jr. (D-Baltimore) and Allan H. Kittleman (R-Howard) voted in favor of the bill.
-- Ovetta Wiggins
GOP Delegates Back Death Penalty
The House Republican Caucus announced its opposition yesterday to the effort to repeal the death penalty.
"The death penalty needs to be available when prosecuting the most heinous crimes," said Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert), the House minority leader. "It is the supreme punishment and should not be entirely removed from the justice system."
The General Assembly is weighing whether to repeal the state's death penalty law, which was enacted in 1978, and replace it with a sentence of life without parole.
-- Ovetta Wiggins
Development Runoff Fees Debated
Lawmakers debated a bill yesterday that would impose fees on most new development to pay for the runoff that is polluting the Chesapeake Bay.
Under the measure, developers who build in "smart growth" areas -- established communities and urban areas -- would be assessed 25 cents per square foot of concrete. New construction in rural areas would be assessed at $2 per square foot, but the fee could be reduced by as much as 25 percent to offset the cost of limiting storm-water runoff with porous parking lots and driveways, green roofs, rain gardens and other systems that filter storm water into the ground.
Environmental Matters Committee Chairman Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore), the bill sponsor, said several changes will be made to the bill before it moves out of committee.
"I've always said if we never collected a dime I'd still be happy because we affected behavior," McIntosh said.
Though the bill has the support of House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), it is unclear whether it will pass this session.
Before yesterday's House committee hearing, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said he doesn't like the measure.
"I agree that developers need to pay their fair share, but for somebody in Montgomery County to have to pay for having a basketball court in their back yard might be a stretch," Miller said.
-- Ovetta Wiggins
Flier Fraud Proposal Considered
The House Ways and Means Committee received testimony on a bill that would make it illegal for campaign material to contain fraudulent information. Campaign literature could not misrepresent a candidate's party affiliation or falsely imply that a candidate has been nominated by a party. It also would prohibit a candidate from falsely claiming to be an incumbent.
The measure is a response to the distribution of literature by the campaign of former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) in the final days before last year's general election. Critics said that the fliers, which were handed out in Prince George's County by poor workers from outside the state, misleadingly suggested that GOP candidates were Democrats and had the support of key black Democrats.
Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D-Baltimore) said the bill also addresses the training of election judges, the extension of polling hours if polling places do not open on time and provisional voting.
Terry Lierman, chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party, said he promised to pursue the issue even if the Democrats won the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races. "It's high time that Maryland be among those states that repudiate fraud in voting and insist upon accurate information at the polls and throughout the election process," he said.
-- Ovetta Wiggins
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