ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The Latest on a Maryland bill to require a departing governor in the state to bid with the public at auction on any old furniture the governor wants in the executive mansion (all times local):
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1:15 p.m.
The Maryland House of Delegates has voted unanimously to require old furniture in the governor’s mansion to be put up for public auction to prevent a departing governor from buying state-owned property at a steep discount without giving residents a chance to bid on it.
The House on Friday voted 136-0 for the measure, which now goes to the Senate.
Del. Haven Shoemaker, a Republican, says he sponsored the bill to prevent governors from both parties of getting sweetheart deals on state-owned property when they leave office.
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3 a.m.
Maryland lawmakers are scheduled to vote on a bill that would prevent departing governors from buying furniture from the executive mansion at a discount.
The bipartisan measure is scheduled for a vote Friday in the House of Delegates.
The bill was filed after former Gov. Martin O’Malley and his wife paid nearly $10,000 before he left office last year for 54 pieces of furniture that initially cost taxpayers about $62,000 eight years earlier. The Maryland Department of General Services sold the furniture after the pieces were declared “junk.”
The measure would prevent the agency from transferring ownership of state-bought furniture in the mansion, unless the governor participates in an auction open to the public.
The Anne Arundel County state’s attorney’s office is investigating O’Malley’s purchase.
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