“Y?all come back now.” That?s the message Gov. Robert Ehrlich is expected to sign, seal and deliver to members of the General Assembly today.
When they do come back to the State House to deal with the sharp electricity rate hikes by BGE, legislative leaders are hoping they can keep rate increases to under 20 percent ? perhaps as low as 15 percent this summer, said House Speaker Michael Busch.
Ehrlich?s staff is preparing an executive order recalling the lawmakers to Annapolis, and the leaders of the House and Senate are planning to be back June 14. They expect to hold hearings on the proposed legislation the day before.
What that legislation will actually look like is still very much up in the air. All parties continue to say they want to do what?s in the best interest of ratepayers, who were initially faced with a 72 percent rate increase on July 1. Now consumers are expecting a 21 percent increase, plus interest on the deferred costs.
Busch is hoping to come up with legislation that has both “long-term and short-term benefits,” he said. “We have an opportunity to come back and put things in order.”
The governor is hoping legislators will come back and pass a negotiated compromise that the Senate failed to act on in the final hour of the legislature?s 90-day session.
One key sticking point is the makeup of the Public Service Commission. Both Busch and Senate President Thomas Mike Miller want it replaced with members more to the liking of lawmakers. The four Ehrlich appointees have approved all the rate increases and payment plans that infuriated constituents.
But at a ceremony at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Tuesday, Ehrlich again defended his appointees and said Democrats will have trouble shifting blame on the rate mess.
“We?re in this situation because of political antics and negligence,” the governor said. “To pretend these commissioners are the problem, nobody?s going to buy it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
