Win some and lose some

Two votes in the Maryland Senate have caught my attention. On the “good” side is the failure of a measure to stop the Blackwater development in Dorchester County. Whether you’re for growth or against it, to me it’s a victory for two reasons.

First and foremost, government shouldn’t be allowed to change the rules in the middle of the game or place additional hoops for a developer to jump through. There’s provisions against ex post facto law in both the U.S. and Maryland constitutions. (If you look at the upper right hand corner and the rest of the article, you can guess what I spent a little time reading tonght.) Once the Blackwater subdivision came closer to fruition, a Baltimore County delegate introduced the measure.

The second point is that; to me, private property rights trump environmental concerns in this case. There’s three roadblocks still remaining to Blackwater according to the Sun article: a lawsuit by the environmentalist Chesapeake Bay Foundation, approval by Cambridge City Council, and approval by the Maryland Critical Areas Commission, which “has jurisdiction over areas within 1,000 feet of Chesapeake Bay tributaries.” If this is true, MCAC ought to be hammering the City of Salisbury over their illegal sludge pit rather than worry about that portion of a development that happens to fall close to a small tributary of Chesapeake Bay. But it’s much more satisfying to the environmentalists to ruin someone trying to make a good return on his investment than to nail a fellow governmental agency.

On the bad side of the Senate ledger was an affirmative vote on Senate Bill 1075. (h/t to Delmarva Dealings.) Like I said, tonight I was reading the Maryland Constitution and Article 8 notes:

That the Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers of Government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other; and no person exercising the functions of one of said Departments shall assume or discharge the duties of any other.

While Maryland code does require appointments be with the advice and consent of the Senate, it doesn’t imply that it has to be done each term. Oddly enough, this wasn’t a problem until now, mainly because Governor Ehrlich is a Republican seeking re-election and the last several Maryland governors have served two terms. Thus, I feel SB1075 is a violation of the Maryland Constitution, and it would be most proper for Governor Ehrlich to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

Now, that would make things interesting come next January if Gov. Ehrlich is reelected, since the bill’s effective date is this June. Makes it more important to get enough GOP Delegates and Senators elected to thwart the Democrats’ chances at overriding a veto.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.