Now that the pesky legislators have finally left town, Gov. Robert Ehrlich hit the road himself Thursday, hooking up with guys he seems to like best: radio talk show hosts.
In the morning he stopped in at 98Rock to chat up his buds Kirk, Mark & Spiegel. He visited in the studio with Chip Franklin at WBAL, whom the governor described as his “friend.” Then, for a little highbrow balance, he trotted down to D.C., and WAMU, the public radio station at American University, for the Kojo Nnamdi Show.
The governor reportedly stayed on message with themes he?s sounded this week, touting his accomplishments and promising to keep Constellation Energy?s feet to the fire to reduce BGE electric rates.
“The instruction I get from the people is ?Get it done,? ” Ehrlich said.
On Monday night, the state Senate failed to pass a bill that would have provided $600 million in rate relief over 10 years, allowing 15 percent rate increases in the first year.
The governor and his staff are looking for ways to solve the rate crisis without putting Constellation out of business and without calling a special session of the General Assembly to implement a deal. “There?s no guarantee that [lawmakers] will try to resolve it again” if called back to Annapolis, said Chip DiPaula, Ehrlich?s chief of staff.
Senate President Thomas Mike Miller “had seven years and 90 days to come up with a solution,” and he still didn?t, DiPaula said.
The key is how much money the company can pony up to cut the rates. But “they?re wounded,” DiPaula said. The company?s bond ratings already have been downgraded due to the legislature?s action, increasing its borrowing costs.
“I want to get this done,” but “there is no time frame,” Ehrlich said, and he told Constellation executives that the pressure was still on for them to make a deal.
The pressure is on Ehrlich as well. Asked if he needed to fix this problem as he faced re-election, Ehrlich said voters can “hire me or fire me” based on his performance on this and other issues.
