As Maryland lawmakers steam into the final days of the General Assembly’s annual legislative session this coming week, much work remains to be done — hashing out deals, lining up votes and killing bad ideas.
Of the hundreds upon hundreds of bills lawmakers filed before the session kicked off in January, the ink from Gov. Larry Hogan’s pen signing them into law has only dried on a handful of them.
The governor and legislators quickly agreed, for instance, on a 30-day temporary suspension of the gasoline and diesel fuels taxes. And on Friday, Hogan joined House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson to put their signatures on a collection of tax cuts for older Marylanders and on sales of child care and medical products.
Another stack of bills landed on Hogan’s desk later Friday afternoon, these far less likely to get the governor’s approval. Democratic lawmakers rushed this past week to pass many of their more controversial proposals and drop them on the Republican governor’s desk before Saturday, the deadline to guarantee themselves a chance to override any potential vetoes before the session ends on April 11.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bryn Stole over at The Baltimore Sun
