The 22 Delegates

On Saturday, March 24, 2012, an amendment was posted on the Maryland General Assembly web page for a bill that had been previously introduced.  The bill was HB 596.  The amendment was in fact a new proposal to change existing law but using the original bill number. 

A public hearing had already been held on the original bill as written. There is no public hearing scheduled for the new version of Bill 596. 


The new version of Bill 596 was introduced and voted on at a House Ways and Means Committee meeting without ever having been released to the public.  


What is fascinating about this is that when HB 596 was introduced in its original version, almost 600 citizens from across the state of Maryland signed a Petition opposing the changes.  Delegates in Annapolis knew that at a minimum there were almost 600 people that cared about potential changes to this law. 


Yet, when the Ways and Means Committee met and voted on March 23rd, none of the 22 Delegates listed on the voting record below apparently felt the need to release the new version of the Bill to the public prior to their vote.  


If you click on the Fiscal and Policy Note for this bill, you will see that even that information relates to the original version of the bill and not the new version. A member of the public reading the HB 596 webpage would be justifiably confused.  


And HB 596 isn't through the entire legislature yet.  What other changes are in store for this Bill as it zips through the legislature before this year's legislative session ends on April 9th?  


Do citizens have the right to know what legislators in Annapolis are voting on in advance, or should we all just wait and be surprised?

Delegates who voted without consulting parents/constiuents