Senate Provision Aims at Clipping Franchot's Wings
Comptroller Peter Franchot, left, and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. The two have clashed on slots and other issues.
(2007 Photo By Mark Gail -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
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 next week.
-- John Wagner
Va. Senator Woos Md. Firms
A state senator from Virginia has entered the debate over Maryland's "tech tax."
