After nearly a month of partisan battling, a Senate committee approved a bill that would expand the board of Carroll County commissioners from three to five members.
The House already has passed a version that the Senate committee had not yet voted on as of Sunday.
The bill would then go to the full Senate for a vote today, the last day of the session. An identical bill passed by the Senate is waiting in a House committee, said Sen. Alan Kittleman, R-District 9.
Carroll lawmakers remain optimistic, saying a lot can get done quickly in the final days of the General Assembly session.
“We?re still working hard, trying to get it through,” said Del. Tanya Shewell, R-District 5A. “Things can happen fast.”
That attitude contrasts with the frustration many expressed by the Republican delegation, which blamed Democrats for stalling the Senate bill in committee.
“If it?s being held up, it?s being held up by members outside of the delegation,” Kittleman said.
Kittleman and co-sponsor Sen. David Brinkley, R-District 4, have been lobbying for the bill to be brought to a vote, while Martin Radinsky, the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee chairman, has tried to prevent one.
Radinsky has said he favors expanding the board but disagrees with the way districts would be drawn under the bill.
“You have two senators who don?t live in our county who are pushing this bill through,” Radinsky said.
Brinkley lives in and also represents Frederick County, and Kittleman lives in and also represents Howard.
Radinsky favors a district map known as option 2, which would put nearby towns such as Manchester and Hampstead in the same district.
An effort to expand the board stirred controversy in Annapolis two years ago, when Republicans said Democrats blocked a Senate vote.
Examiner Staff Writer Matthew Santoni contributed to this report.
