ANNAPOLIS —With a stack of dead legislation in his left hand and a cup of coffee in his right, Delegate Warren E. Miller began the first day of his first full General Assembly session.
“These are old bills from last year,” Mr. Miller said yesterday, tossing the multicolored papers into the trash, “got to make room for all the new bills.”
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. appointed Mr. Miller, Howard County Republican, in March to replace Robert L. Flanagan, whom the governor selected as his secretary of transportation.
Mr. Miller said he is looking forward to writing legislation and learning more about committee votes.
“Last year, I came in too late to draft legislation,” he said.
This year, he plans on introducing more than a dozen bills, including ones on education and transportation.
Mr. Miller is one of five House Republicans who are replacing lawmakers now working for Mr. Ehrlich, the state’s first Republican governor in three decades.
“It has been challenging being in the minority party,” he said. “But I am happy to be here supporting a Republican governor.”
If the opening day of the 418th session of the General Assembly was a harbinger of the next 90 days, Mr. Miller and his colleagues indeed will face a challenge.
The political sparring began in opening remarks by Mr. Ehrlich and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat.
“Traditionally, the second year is the most substantive of a four-year term,” Mr. Busch said. “Last year, we started the term with a new governor, a new administration, new committee leadership in the Senate, a new House speaker and new faces in one-third of the seats in this chamber. Now that everyone has had an opportunity to settle in and determine their priorities, we will see a heightened level of debate and a number of major initiatives.”
Mr. Ehrlich responded in his address by saying, “I reject the notion that the second year is the most important, every year is important.”
The two publicly have disagreed about how to cut the $786 million deficit in the state budget and on finding $1.3 billion for the public-education initiative known as the Thornton proposal.
Mr. Busch has said he again will oppose Mr. Ehrlich’s plan to put slot machines at four race tracks, which Mr. Ehrlich says is necessary to finance the education proposal.
“I really do have a fierce will to succeed and so do you,” Mr. Ehrlich said. “That is good. … It helps us produce results.”
Two points on which Mr. Busch and Mr. Ehrlich agree is the importance of public education and improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
“Maryland is known for its quality [kindergarten through 12-th grade} and world-class university system,” Mr. Busch said. “It is a primary reason why families and businesses move to Maryland and why they stay in Maryland.”
Mr. Busch also gave tentative support to Mr. Ehrlich’s recent proposal to add a $2.50 surcharge to monthly sewer bills to improve water-treatment plants, including those that feed into the watershed.
“One issue that has been highlighted by [Mr. Ehrlich] in recent weeks and one that we all must address is the restoration of the Chesapeake,” Mr. Busch said.
He also said House lawmakers would focus on consumer protection and disaster relief. Mr. Busch did not address the governor’s plan to fund the Thornton proposal with slots revenue.
Just before the House adjourned, lawmaker paid a tribute to Delegate Howard “Pete” Rawlings, the widely respected former Appropriations Committee chairman who died last year.
“He was a man of great intellect, a man of great passion,” said Salima S. Marriott, a Baltimore Democrat.
“No one can replace Chairman Rawlings, but we can and must follow in his footsteps,” said Norman H. Conway, Eastern Shore Democrat and the new Appropriations Committee chairman.
The ceremony concluded with Mr. Busch handing flowers and Mr. Rawlings’ nameplate to the Rawlings family.
Also in attendance at the opening session were Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, Democrat; U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, Republican; U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn, Democrat; Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, Democrat; Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson, Democrat; and Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., Democrat.
This morning, House lawmakers will attempt to overturn Mr. Ehrlich’s vetoes from last session — including a bill to provide a pension for Baltimore City Department of Social Services employees who lost jobs when a private company took over the agency.
Another veto was the Maryland Efficiency Standards Act, which establishes minimum energy- efficiency standards for new products to be sold in the state.
“It will be nice to see that all of those vetoes carry,” Mr. Miller said. “If not, I think the session is going to get off to a very negative tone in the beginning.”
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