Republicans move to invalidate Special Session legislation

Republican legislative leaders filed suit yesterday in Carroll County Circuit Court with the goal of invalidating all laws approved during the special session, particularly those related to tax increases, gambling, and spending reductions. The GOP contends that the Senate violated Article III, Section 25 of the state constitution by adjourning for a six-day period from November 9 to 15, without a vote of approval from the House of Delegates.

The clause in the constitution reads, “Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, at any one time, nor adjourn to any other place, than that in which the House shall be sitting, without the concurrent vote of two-thirds of the members present.”

The GOP argued that this invalidates all measures adapted during the special session.

“I think we have a very good chance to win this argument,” David R. Brinkley, Senate minority leader, said during an interview with PolitickerMD.com. “The legislature ignored the constitution.”

Democrats contend that the plaintiffs have misread that clause of the constitution, arguing that the two-thirds vote applies to moving the proceedings to another place, not to adjourning for more than three days.

“When someone starts to deflect from the reasoning of the argument—they validate what we are saying,” Brinkley said in response.

The office of Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler will review the case.

“We have received (the lawsuit) and reviewed it,” Raquel Guillory, Director of Communications at the attorney general’s office, said.

Guillory referred to a letter written last month by Assistant Attorney General Kathryn M. Rowe, which was in response to an inquiry on the matter from Michael E. Busch, Speaker of the House of Delegates.

“It is my view that the Constitution does not require that such an adjournment be approved by a two-thirds vote,” Rowe said.

“Under the general rules of statutory construction, referential and qualifying words and phrases ‘“refer solely to the last antecedent,”’ she later wrote.

“Thus, the text of (Section) 25 indicates that the two-thirds vote of all members present applies only to a relocation, while the adjournment for more than three days requires only ‘“consent of the other”’ house. Moreover, the use of the term ‘“vote”’ in the second clause indicates that the consent provision in the first clause does not require a formal vote.”

Christine Hansen, Deputy Press Secretary for Gov. Martin O’Malley, would not comment specifically on the lawsuit, but did say, “We came together during the special session to close the budget gap, and it is a shame that some Republicans did not support it.”

“We are certainly in support of the Republican leadership,” John Flynn, Executive Director of the Maryland Republican Party, said.

Flynn said the special session was a “sham from the beginning,” and said it “did not give the people of Maryland a choice to be heard.”

Flynn chose not to comment when asked if he thought the special session would be invalidated, saying, “I’ll leave that to the leadership in the House and Senate.”

“We wouldn’t have filed suit if we didn’t think the measure had merit,” Anthony J. O’Donnell, minority leader of the House of Delegates, said. “We feel we have an obligation to strictly adhere to the constitution.”

“Any lawsuit has a chance to succeed,” Brinkley added.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and Michael E. Busch, Speaker of the House of Delegates, could not be reached for comment.