O'Malley Is Pressed to Veto Bill That Would Push Back Phosphate Ban

By Annapolis Notebook
Sunday, April 27, 2008

Asenior Maryland senator is urging Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) to veto a bill that would give companies more time to comply with Maryland's upcoming ban on phosphates in dishwasher detergents.

In a letter to O'Malley, Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery) said that pushing the effective date of the ban from January 2010 to July 2010 would "add up to 15,000 pounds of phosphates to Bay waters."

"Phosphates are particularly pernicious because they end up stored in sediments," wrote Frosh, who sponsored legislation last year authorizing the ban. "Once in the Bay, the phosphates resulting from [the pending bill] will be available for years to fuel the algal blooms that each summer day destroy oxygen in the Bay's deep waters and threaten underwater grasses in the shallows."

The bill allowing the delay, sponsored by Sen. Michael G. Lenett (D-Montgomery), passed the Senate 25 to 22 after heavy lobbying from Proctor & Gamble, one of the affected companies. The margin in the House of Delegates was far more comfortable, 105 to 33.

Lenett agreed to sponsor the bill at the request of the industry, which is seeking to align the date of Maryland's ban with those of other states with similar legislation.

O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the governor is reviewing Lenett's bill. O'Malley has signed dozens of bills during three signing ceremonies since the April 7 conclusion of the legislative session. He has scheduled two more ceremonies, the last of which will be May 22. Any vetoes are likely to be announced about that time.

-- John Wagner

Printing Blunder Scraps Metal Bill

A printing error in the final hours of the General Assembly contributed to the death of a bill that would have helped police crack down on a growing concern, the theft of scrap metal.

The legislation would have required extensive new reporting to police to help them track illegal sales by thieves ripping scrap from construction sites, highways and cars. The role of Sen. Nathaniel Exum (D-Prince George's) in helping craft it stirred controversy.

Exum is the safety officer for Joseph Smith and Sons, one of Maryland's biggest scrap dealers. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Exum and several Smith executives were active in a work group that negotiated the parameters of the bill with local police departments.

Before voting to send the bill to the Senate floor, the committee added an amendment to exempt auto dismantlers and recyclers from reporting. That meant no new reporting for Joseph Smith and a few other large dealers that recycle cars as well as scrap. Several senators said Exum did not mention that at the voting session. They vowed to put the auto companies back in the bill.

A House of Delegates committee did just that during the session's final days. A conference committee appointed to reconcile the House and Senate versions agreed to go with the House version. The Senate approved the committee's report minutes before the legislature adjourned at midnight. But technical issues tied up the report on the House floor.

Del. Michael L. Vaughn (D-Prince George's), head of the House subcommittee that put the auto companies back in the bill, said a delegate on the conference committee was misidentified on the report -- requiring it to be reprinted and delaying it from getting to the House floor. Then came a filibuster on another bill. Midnight came and went.

"We had a printing snafu, and the bill died on the speaker's desk," Vaughn said. "Plain and simple, it just ran out of time." Vaughn is one of three delegates in Exum's district. Exum did not return a call seeking comment.

Sen. James E. DeGrange Sr. (D-Anne Arundel), the bill's Senate sponsor, said he's disappointed that the scrap industry will avoid reporting for another year. "We have a lot of people who are affected by these thefts, including a lot of car owners," he said. DeGrange said he will bring the bill back next year.

-- Lisa Rein

Gansler to Be Honored for Gay Rights Stand

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) was the only statewide official to endorse this year's ill-fated bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Now Maryland's leading gay rights group is taking notice.

Equality Maryland will honor Gansler at its fundraising dinner in Bethesda on June 1. "The history books will favorably record that he was the first statewide official to stand up for marriage equality," said Dan Furmansky, the group's executive director. "He's not afraid to do what he feels is in the best interests of the citizens of Maryland."

-- Lisa Rein

New President of Female Legislative Caucus

The Women Legislators of Maryland has a new leader. Del. Karen S. Montgomery (D-Montgomery) was elected president this month of the General Assembly caucus for 2008-09. Montgomery was elected to the House of Delegates in 2002 and serves on the Health and Government Operations Committee. She succeeds Del. Adelaide C. Eckardt (R-Dorchester). Women make up 31 percent of the legislature, and the Maryland caucus was the first in the nation, founded in 1972.

-- Lisa Rein