Republican lawmakers are questioning the legality of Gov. Martin O?Malley?s recent executive orders authorizing collective bargaining for home health and child care providers ? a move repeatedly rejected in the General Assembly.
Baltimore County Republican Del. Rick Impallaria this week asked Attorney General Doug Gansler to issue a legal opinion on the constitutionality of O?Malley?s orders, which he signed quietly Aug. 6.
The issues were fiercely debated during the past legislative session, Impallaria said, and were found to be “deeply flawed.”
“If he can do this, there?s no sense in us being down there as elected officials,” Impallaria said. “We?ve heard this issue for a couple of years now and we?ve shot it down every single time.”
In his orders, O?Malley said many home health care providers make less than a living wage, producing turnover and reducing consistent service. Child care providers, he wrote, are scattered throughout the state and may not be able to voice common concerns with the state?s subsidy programs.
The orders do not require workers to unionize, but provide the option to do so, O?Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said.
“We?ll look forward to the order, but we certainly don?t think these executive orders, in our view, impede legislative authority,” Abbruzzese said.
State Sen. Allan Kittleman, R-Carroll, Howard, said the orders were O?Malley?s way of paying back unions for their political patronage. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and Service Employees International Union heavily lobbied for the measures and supported O?Malley?s election campaign.
AFSCME spokesman Joe Lawrence said home health care providers save the state “tens of millions” of dollars by keeping many elderly out of nursing homes. He said many providers make less than $50 a day and turnover needs to be curbed now before the baby boomer demand skyrockets.
Denise Disney, who runs a childcare facility in Frederick, Md., does not expect rates to increase if providers unionize. She called the orders “long overdue.”
“I think [O?Malley] did it because it was the right thing to do,” Disney said. “Parents and children and providers need a voice.”
Former Gov. Parris Glendening signed an executive order giving state employees collective bargaining rights after the measures failed in the General Assembly in 1996. The order was upheld in court but could vary from O?Malley?s orders because it specifically applied to state employees, Gansler
spokeswoman Raquel Guillory said.
