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David R. Brinkley, Maryland State Delegate.

January 4, 2001 - The Gazette (MD)

General Assembly session begins next week

by Sherry Greenfield
Staff Writer

When the 415th session of the Maryland General Assembly opens next Wednesday, the work of the Frederick County delegation will begin in earnest.

Delegation members come to Annapolis optimistic and ready to begin three months of haggling and wrestling with a host of bills and issues.

"It's a lot of work, but I always look forward to it," said Del. Louise Snodgrass (R-Dist. 3) of Middletown, chairwoman of the eight-member delegation. "There is so much going on."

What Snodgrass and her colleagues hope for is less controversy and tension that plagued last year's session. Then, the lawmakers' work was overshadowed by infighting and tension between the county's two senators -- Sens. Timothy Ferguson (R-Dist. 4) of Taylorsville and Alex X. Mooney (R-Dist. 3) of Frederick -- and their counterparts in the House of Delegates.

"Last year was the first time we ever dealt with senators separating and doing their own thing," Snodgrass said.

The bickering began in earnest when the delegation voted to support a hotel/motel tax. Ferguson and Mooney spoke out publicly against the tax, despite Snodgrass' reiteration of the rule that members not actively work against a bill after it has been passed by the delegation.

Ferguson said he expects this session to go easier, but stresses that it all depends on Snodgrass.

"Hopefully the chairman will take cues from last year and realize that raising taxes among Republicans is a controversial issue," Ferguson said.

But as the delegation sits down for the first time as a group Jan. 12, the order of business will be to determine if Snodgrass remains chairwoman and Del. Paul Stull (R-Dist. 4A) of Walkersville stays on as vice chairman.

Both Snodgrass and Stull have said they will seek re-election.

Once the vote is taken, the delegation will begin going over the 11 bills included in the Frederick Board of County Commissioners' legislative package.

Work on the package is expected to continue throughout the month of January.

But in the wake of the Nov. 19 murder of South Frederick Elementary School fourth-grader Christopher Lee Ausherman and the Oct. 30 fatal shooting of undercover Maryland State Police Cpl. Edward M. Toatley, crime will be the hot issue this legislative session.

Prompted by Christopher's murder, Ferguson, with the support of Frederick County State's Attorney Scott Rolle (R), will re-introduce a bill to abolish mandatory release of violent and repeat offenders, including sexually violent criminals, and to abolish parole.

The county's sole Democrat in the General Assembly, Del. Sue Hecht (Dist. 3) of Frederick also will introduce a four-bill proposal strengthening laws against sexual offenders.

Ferguson is also a member of the Senate's Judicial Proceedings Committee that will be hashing out gay rights legislation.

The conservative senator is a member of a governor-appointed special commission that is studying the degree of discrimination based on sexual orientation in Maryland.

"We'll be slugging it out in Judicial Proceedings," Ferguson said.

Two years ago, Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) put forth a bill outlawing sexual discrimination, but the legislation never made it through the Judicial Proceedings Committee. Ferguson has publicly opposed any new legislation protecting homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals.

Ferguson also expects the heated debate on gun-shipping regulations to be taken up again this session.

Last session, the General Assembly passed legislation that requires gun manufacturers to send one shell casing already shot from the gun along with the gun to gun dealers. The dealer is then required to mail the casing to the Maryland State Police for future matching in criminal cases.

Ferguson opposed this legislation, saying it would be more costly for gun manufacturers.

"It's basically a gun ban," he said. "I said this is going to help end gun sales and that is actually what is happening."

Ferguson also will reintroduce his bills from last session that give Maryland residents the right to carry guns and that limit terms for senators and delegates. "I'll just keep fighting for these bills," he said.

Ferguson is not the only one planning to author legislation.

An advocate for farmers and farm issues, Stull will co-sponsor a bill giving a tax credit to farmers who rent ground from landowners to farm. The only stipulation would be that the land must be farmed.

"I will also co-sponsor a bill that will really make it easier for paid firefighters to volunteer," he said because of liability.

Hecht is ready to join in. Not only will she introduce four bills increasing the penalties and time sexual offenders serve in jail, but she will help to establish a task force to study how the state deals with sexual crimes, "the policies, the laws, and how we deal with it."

Hecht also plans to re-introduce her bill from the last session that would require hidden video cameras in nursing homes. Her "Granny Cam" bill would enable activity in nursing homes to be monitored. The General Assembly last session decided that the bill needed further study during the off session.

An advocate for transportation improvements in Frederick County, Hecht wants to improve the use of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, better known as the HOV carpool lanes.

New high-energy efficient vehicles are allowed in HOV lanes, she said. "We'll be doing research on how to best identify what type of cars are considered high energy" so police can quickly identify cars that qualify, she said. "This would be an added incentive to buy these type of cars."

As a member of the House Environmental Matters Committee, Del. Donald Elliott (R-Dist. 4B) of New Windsor has several issues he will follow.

He is wary that a proposal may be reintroduced that would have required homeowners and businesses to pay thousands of dollars to upgrade their septic systems for nitrogen removal. The governor initiated the idea last year, but never made it to the full Assembly. Elliott hopes it never will.

"This would have impacted Frederick and Carroll and rural counties in a big way," Elliott said. "I hope this doesn't come to pass."

He is also concerned with a proposal to increase the Vehicle Emissions Test from the current $14 to $20. Elliott, who is expecting that bill to come before Environmental Matters, thinks motorists taking their car in for the test should not be the only ones to bear the increased cost.

"I'm not arguing the $20, but I think the $6 difference should come out of the General Fund or the Transportation Trust Fund so all citizens pay," he said.

Finally, Elliott would like to see the state only require the use of one license plate on a car instead of two. "This has come up before in the Maryland legislature, but it never passed," he said.

Elliott's colleague, Del. David Brinkley (R-Dist. 4A) of New Market, has several of his own issues.

The committee on which Brinkley serves, Commerce and Government Matters, will consider election reform proposals and ethics reform for lobbyist groups.

"We'll also have a task force that will look at regulating the lobbying industry," Brinkley said.

Brinkley also has two bills he will be introducing. One would eliminate the amusement tax for charitable events that benefit Hospice, and the other is a request from the retirement community Buckinghams Choice to allow the serving of wine in its dining room.

"Not to mention the bills that deal with education, transportation and public safety," Brinkley said. "We're going to have a full plate."

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