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On vetoes, parties float like butterflies

Dems debating when to sting

Friday, Dec. 9, 2005

Are you ready to rumble?

In this corner, wearing blue trunks, are the Democrats. Strong in number but out of power, they’re lusting to regain the top spot of Maryland government.

Across the ring are the Republicans, in the red trunks. Outnumbered, the agile GOP scored a split decision in 2002, snatching the Governor’s Mansion in the title bout but unable to take the Senate or the House of Delegates.

For the rematch, the main event is the November 2006 races, but the undercard comes in the opening days of the General Assembly when the Republicans set out to defend their cham-peen, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), and his vetoes of controversial legislation.

This battle royal is not about politics, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said.

‘‘It’s about divided government that the people created at the polling place. And the intransigence on the part of people new to Maryland, new conservatives coming from Capitol Hill who say, ‘Don’t compromise. Don’t engage in dialogue. ... Veto the bill, and help our corporate donor base,’” said Miller (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach.

To Senate Minority Leader J. Lowell Stoltzfus, it’s about philosophy.

‘‘The big philosophy on the Republican side is the governor has the right to govern,” said Stoltzfus (R-Dist. 38) of Westover. ‘‘I share the frustration of people who want a bill, but at the same time our governor must be allowed to govern.”

This year Ehrlich vetoed 26 measures, and almost all passed the chambers of the General Assembly with veto-proof majorities: by 29 senators and by 85 delegates.

Theoretically, the Democrats have the votes to override most of the vetoes. Miller said his party would be selective.

‘‘We’ll pick ones where there’s a clear difference in policy with a Democratic message and progressive approach,” he said.

Miller’s counterpart in the House, Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Dist. 30) of Annapolis, said decisions on which bills to bring up for override votes would wait until lawmakers return to Annapolis next month.

On Monday, Miller spoke at a legislative breakfast in Baltimore and predicted lawmakers will override three vetoes: a requirement for large corporations to provide health care benefits for its employees, a $1 increase in the minimum wage and a bill that allows for voting on the Saturday before Election Day.

Ehrlich vetoed the health care measure, dubbed the Wal-Mart bill because it targets the retail giant, saying it set a bad precedent and threatened the opening of a Wal-Mart distribution center on the Eastern Shore. Opponents fear the bill’s benchmarks — companies with 10,000 employees that spend less than 8 percent of payroll on health benefits — will be changed in future years to envelop more and more companies.

Republicans oppose the minimum wage increase because it will increase costs to business. And Stoltzfus said the early voting bill would legalize voter fraud.

The override votes, Miller said, would set the tone for the 421st session of the General Assembly as the parties jockey for position leading up to the election season.

Two days after ticking off those three bills, Miller was thinking that other vetoes might come up for override as well, including one to change the way the Department of Juvenile Services handles cases and another to shift the responsibilities of a juvenile justice monitor to the Attorney General’s Office.

In his veto letter, Ehrlich said the juvenile cases bill adds an unneeded burden for the department.

Legislators wanted the monitor bill because they questioned the independence of the monitor, which had been reporting to the governor. Ehrlich questioned the independence of a monitor reporting to the Attorney General, which would defend the Juvenile Services Department if the monitor uncovered anything actionable.

The vetoes perplexed Del. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Dist. 11) of Owings Mills.

‘‘In my mind, they were no-brainers. The vetoes have left us with no meaningful oversight. ... This is not personal. It’s not politics,” he said. ‘‘It’s just the right thing to do.”

Thirty-three senators supported both juvenile justice bills as did 98 delegates for one and 90 for the other. Thirty senators supported the Wal-Mart bill and the minimum wage increase, and 34 supported the early voting bill. The delegates passed those bills with 84 yea votes, one shy of a veto override, but House Majority Whip Anthony G. Brown (D-Dist. 25) of Mitchellville missed the votes because he was in Iraq with the Army Reserve.

Stoltzfus pledged Republicans would bring political pressure onto senators who support the overrides, particularly lawmakers who represent districts reluctant to embrace what he called ‘‘anti-business, anti-consumer” legislation.

‘‘There are certain people we know that are in the middle,” Stoltzfus said.

Three Democratic senators who supported the Wal-Mart bill have been named as potential targets: Sens. Roy P. Dyson (D-Dist. 29) of Great Mills, James Brochin (D-Dist. 42) of Towson and Katherine A. Klausmeier (D-Dist. 8) of Baltimore.

Dyson said he would brush off any threats, particularly over the Wal-Mart bill.

‘‘I voted for that bill and I just think it’s grossly unfair I have to pay for the health care for the employees of one of the wealthiest and one of the richest companies in America. It’s un-American I have to do that,” Dyson said. ‘‘If I could vote 10 times, I would do it. It’s just the American thing to do.”

Staff Writer Thomas Dennison contributed to this report.