State Circle, the road around the State House, is being reclaimed from Annapolis tourists and natives Wednesday by the 181 members of the General Assembly, hundreds of staff and lobbyists, and thousands of constituents.
During the next 13 weeks, this column will aim to preview what?s ahead in the week, and give a slice of items that didn?t make the news columns.
As one-party control returns to the capital, Assembly leaders foresee an era of good feelings ? or at least a few weeks.
“There?s an absence of tension in Annapolis,” said House Speaker Michael Busch.
“There?s a feeling that now?s a time to get things done.”
“Everybody does have a feeling of collegiality,” said Senate President Thomas Mike Miller.
“Citizens expect us to work things out.”
The President and the Governor
Twice in the last month, Miller told a story about his first meeting with Gov.-elect William Donald Schaefer 20 years ago, one where he reminded an unhappy Schaefer that the legislature, not the governor, gets to choose the state treasurer.
He?ll be happy to teach another Baltimore mayor a lesson or two about the legislature?s power.
Gov.-elect Martin O?Malley has “been slow getting things going,” Miller complained last week.
“We should have some Cabinet members in place.”
Asked about the criticism, O?Malley took it in stride.
Now is the time, he said, when “people?s interest is at its highest, and our ability to respond is at its lowest. We?d all like to be moving forward more quickly.”
O?Malley told county officials, “My feet are firmly planted in two stirrups. Unfortunately, they are planted on two opposite horses,” the city government he is leaving, and the state government he takes charge of Jan. 17.
“There is a lot of pent up desire to make progress on a lot of issues,” he said.
But with priorities to balance, “I?m the one in position to say no when other people would like me to say yes.”
This week
Wednesday is a day of celebration, as friends and family pack the chambers at noon for the swearing in of all 181 lawmakers.
About a quarter of both the House and Senate ? 34 delegates and 11 senators ? are new to the game, and almost half the print press corps are as well.
The caterers and restaurateurs will do a brisk business, but the General Assembly committees will take it easy in the afternoons, with only organizational meetings scheduled for Thursday and no hearings Friday.
On Thursday, the House Environmental Matters Committee will have a screening of Al Gore?s global warming movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Shots fired
Sen.-elect James Robey, the former Howard County executive and police chief, shared an inside story about the often-aired television campaign commercial he and Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, a former Circuit Court judge, made to bolster Mayor O?Malley?s crime-fighting credentials.
During the September filming at City Hall where the ex-cop and ex-judge were counseled not to smile, suddenly shots were heard outside the window.
Recognizing the sounds, Robey hit the deck.
Thankfully, this was not a sad commentary on street life in Baltimore City. It was just some gunplay from the filming of Bruce Willis? movie, “Live Free or Die Hard.”
Len Lazarick is the State House Bureau Chief for The Baltimore Examiner. He began covering the General Assembly 30 years ago when stories were written on machines called typewriters, years even before the invention of the fax. He can be reached at [email protected].
