Votes to know about

Over the weekend I looked into the actual votes of our Delegates and Senators as far as some of the more controversial bills they faced in the General Assembly this year. A vast majority of the votes in these bodies run either as unanimous or have just token opposition, so I just picked a total of nine (five for our Senators) that were pretty well split.

For this format, I’ll list the bill number, a brief synopsis of the proposal, how the total votes came out, the vote number, and how our Delegates and Senators actually fared. Just so you know my editorial stance, I would’ve voted “no” on every last one of these proposals!

Now, as a review:

Delegates:

District 37A (Wicomico, Dorchester): Rudy Cane, Democrat.

District 37B (Wicomico, Dorchester, Talbot, Caroline): Addie Eckardt, Republican; Jeannie Haddaway, Republican.

District 38A (Wicomico, Somerset): Page Elmore, Republican.

District 38B (Wicomico, Worcester): Norm Conway, Democrat; Jim Mathias, Democrat.

Senators:

District 37: Rich Colburn, Republican.

District 38: Lowell Stoltzfus, Republican.

HB131/SB103, the “Maryland Clean Cars Act”. It mandates that cars sold in Maryland after 2010 meet California emissions standards. Passed the House of Delegates 122-17 and the Senate 38-9.

Vote #0892 (House): Cane excused, Conway “yes”, Eckardt “no”, Elmore “yes”, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “yes”.

Vote #0789 (Senate): Colburn “no”, Stoltzfus “yes”.

HB148/SB634, the National Popular Vote Act. Maryland would follow the national results in determining how its electoral votes are tallied rather than the will of the people, if states that hold a majority of electoral votes pass similar legislation. Passed the House of Delegates 85-54 and the Senate 29-17.

Vote #0730 (House): Cane “yes”, Conway absent, Eckardt “no”, Elmore “no”, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “no”.

Vote #1128 (Senate): Colburn “no”, Stoltzfus “no”.

HB359/SB91, the “Clean Indoor Air Act”. This bans smoking in all bars and restaurants (with some temporary waivers allowed). Passed the House of Delegates 101-39 and the Senate 31-16.

Vote #1165 (House): Cane “yes”, Conway “yes”, Eckardt “no”, Elmore “yes”, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “yes”.

Vote #1193 (Senate): Colburn “yes”, Stoltzfus “yes”.

HB430, establishing a two-tiered “living wage” for Maryland. Passed the House of Delegates 91-49 and the Senate 31-16.

Vote #1213 (House): Cane “yes”, Conway “no”, Eckardt “no”, Elmore “no”, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “no”.

Vote #1099 (Senate): Colburn “no”, Stoltzfus “no”.

HB475, would have repealed the exemption of LLC’s from paying transfer taxes for public school assistance. This was a House vote only, it passed 101-35. The Senate did not consider this before the session ended.

Vote #0435 (House): Cane “yes”, Conway “yes”, Eckardt “no”, Elmore “no”, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “yes”.

HB518, would have allowed municipalities to collect a 1% hotel tax. Again, this was a House vote only (passing 99-37) as the Senate did not act on this in time.

Vote #0657 (House): Cane “yes”, Conway “yes”, Eckardt “no”, Elmore “no”, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “yes”.

HB523/SB591, allowing municipalities to enact a building excise tax. Only the House approved this bill, 102-35. The Senate did not finish it prior to sine die.

Vote #0437 (House): Cane “yes”, Conway “yes”, Eckardt “no”, Elmore “yes”, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “yes”.

HB1220/SB901, the “Chesapeake Bay Green Fund”, paid for by a fee on new impervious surfaces. Passed the House 96-41, did not get a vote in the Senate.

Vote #0500 (House): Cane absent, Conway “yes”, Eckardt “no”, Elmore “yes”, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “yes”.

SB739, the “Legislative Scholarships Integrity Act of 2007”. This prohibited relatives of Delegates and Senators from receiving state scholarships. Unless there was a conference that didn’t occur, I fail to see why this didn’t pass since both bodies approved it. The House went for it 101-35 and the Senate 39-8.

Vote #1056 (House): Cane “yes”, Conway not voting, Eckardt “no”, Elmore not voting, Haddaway “no”, Mathias “yes”.

Vote #0507 (Senate): Colburn “yes”, Stoltzfus “yes”.

So if I were to score area legislators on these votes, here’s how they would fare.

1. Addie Eckardt, 9 for 9 (100%)
2. Jeannie Haddaway, 9 for 9 (100%)
3. Rich Colburn, 3 for 5 (60%)
4. Page Elmore, 4 for 8 (50%)
5. Lowell Stoltzfus, 2 for 5 (40%)
6. Jim Mathias, 2 for 9 (22%)
7. Norm Conway, 1 for 7 (14%)
8. Rudy Cane, 0 for 7 (0%)

Obviously I’m a little disappointed with several of Page Elmore’s votes and just plain shocked that Lowell Stoltzfus ranked as he did. I guess he really thinks our air is dirty. On the other hand, Jim Mathias did share my views twice, so that’s a start.

Originally when I did this I was going to crown a “king (or queen) of taxation” but I decided not to bother because we all know which party’s attempting to ratchet up the tax rates. It’s easy to see who sponsors all of these bills by the General Assembly website, and most normally they’re people who inhabit the Western Shore.

I think this will wrap up my GA coverage for the year. In the next few days I’ll come back and look at what our region’s federal representatives are up to.