Two Republican senators are pushing rule changes in the Senate that would give GOP members more say, make it harder to cut off debate and require that every bill gets a recorded vote in committee.
Sen. Andrew Harris, R-Baltimore and Harford counties, wants to the restore the rule to require a two-thirds vote to limit debate ? 32 votes ? rather than three-fifths ? 29 votes ? as it reads now after a change several years ago.
The change would make it easier for a minority of the Senate, such as the 13 Republicans, to conduct a filibuster and hold up legislation.
That and the other changes were referred to the rules committee for a hearing and a vote in two weeks, which Harris sees as an attempt to kill the changes.
While Harris? proposal is being considered, no rule in the Senate limits debate.
“I said to my staff, ?We?re going to risk it,? ” Senate President Thomas Mike Miller said. After the election, “we?re all going to be on our good behavior.”
“If we get to a filibuster, we?ll have to move the date up” for a hearing and vote, Miller said.
Harris also wants to give the minority leader a stronger role in naming people to committees. The Senate president, the top Democrat, names all committee members, and Harris complained that Republicans this year lost one of their seats on the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, meaning the largest committee has fewer Republicans than smaller panels.
Minority Whip and Sen. Allan Kittleman, R-Howard and Carroll counties, wants to add a rule requiring a committee vote on every bill. In some cases, committee chairs put a bill “in the drawer” and never call for a vote on it, even if it had a hearing.
“Every bill deserves a vote,” Kittleman said. “People should know where we stand.”
