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April 2, 2009

UPDATED: Speed cameras not dead yet

UPDATE 3: The 10 minutes expired, and Miller called a vote -- after E.J. Pipkin once again talked about Big Brother and unwarranted government intervention. The final vote was 27-20. Wow. What a turn of events.

UPDATE 2: The Senate just approved, at about 11:03 a.m., a cloture vote to limit debate on the speed camera bill, ending Mooney's filibuster. The vote got exactly the 29-person supermajority needed. Miller said the chamber needed to get to the budget; Mooney said he was "disappointed." So debate will end after 10 minutes.

UPDATE: The motion to reconsider the legislation has been overwhelmingly approved, and the Senate is again debating speed cameras. Several of the senators who voted yes for preliminary approval and no on the final plan voted "yes" to reconsider -- namely, Mike Miller, Bobby Zirkin and Ulysses Currie. So the debate is going on again, at 10:55 a.m., and Sen. Alex Mooney, a Republican, is waging a filibuster.

Aides to Senate leadership say that the speed camera legislation killed by a single vote Wednesday night is not quite dead yet.

Expect a procedural move to reconsider the vote this morning, aides tell The Baltimore Sun's Laura Smitherman.

A bill authorizing speed cameras within a half-mile radius of all schools, as well as highway work zones, appeared cleared for passage Tuesday, when it gained preliminary Senate approval. So Wednesday night's rejection was a complete surprise.

The legislation is a priority of Gov. Martin O'Malley's. It's likely that he is working behind the scenes to build support.


Posted by David Nitkin at 11:15 AM | | Comments (10)
        

Comments

So, if the leftist legislooters do not get the vote they want, they change the rules or use some obscure seldom used "procedure" to get the vote they desire?
Do they make quid pro quo deals to a few vulnerable or naive legislooters?

Is this any way to run a state?

Can the pro 2nd amendment people in Annapolis use this very same procedure to move CCW bill out of Vallarios desk drawer? Or is the procedure just for the dems use?

Ah yes, bribes and favors.

Sorry, but speeding through school and construction zones does not amount to a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. Cameras slow traffic to legal levels. Something should, and there can't be a cop on every corner. Sure, the cameras raise money for local governments. But outrageous speeding raises money for hospitals, doctors and funeral homes. Slow down! One way or another!

Sorry, but speeding through school and construction zones does not amount to a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. Cameras slow traffic to legal levels. Something should, and there can't be a cop on every corner. Sure, the cameras raise money for local governments. But outrageous speeding raises money for hospitals, doctors and funeral homes. Slow down! One way or another!

Revunue enhancement by MOM and the Annapolis axis of evil!

Don't Senate rules prohibit a reconsideration of a vote AFTER they have ADJOURNED? They adjourned last night.

Gov. O'Malley is dead set on passing speed cameras so that Marylanders have yet one more tax.

Jake,

According to the rule book a vote may be reconsidered within two legislative days.
----

Mook -- Thanks. You guys are good out there!

-- David

Ah yes indeed. remember the good old days of the Ehrlich adminstration when the ex-gov would cower in fear behind a lock door lest he to take a position?

Yea Owe'Malley wants speed cameras. mo' money mo' money mo' money.. Tops on his agenda along with repealing the death penalty. All while record unemployment, recession and depression loom, the housing crisis, etc.. but these are his 2 top things to get done along with his special session to tax us even more. Oh yea.. great timing on the slots too. VOTE THEM ALL OUT!!!

Chumm.. About Ehrlich.. Sure dude.. after trying to get slots in the state for 3 years and getting his veto overridden the most times in decades I guess he might have just said the he!! with it. Owe'Malley was against slots when it was Ehrlich's idea now he's for them. I at least Erhlich didn't flip-flop as much. Now slots are a disaster and our dear gov has his head so far up Obama its embarassing. No plan for the state, just ram through all you pet ideas and keep you hand out waiting for Obama to bail us out. That's a true governor. Owe'Malley is a bigger stooge than Glendenning..

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About the bloggers
Annie Linskey covers the statehouse for The Baltimore Sun. Previously, as a City Hall reporter, she covered the corruption trial of Mayor Sheila Dixon and kept a close eye on city spending. Her reporting on the city’s economic development arm led to the termination of multiple improperly bid seven-figure public works contracts and her coverage of the death of a fire department cadet resulted in overhaul of that agency’s top brass. Before that, as a crime reporter, she interviewed Bloods gang members and the police detectives who pursue them.
Originally from Connecticut, Annie has lived and reported on war crimes tribunals and landmines from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She lives in Baltimore.

Paul West covers Washington for The Baltimore Sun, continuing a tradition that began the month the paper was born, in 1837. He hasn't been in the DC bureau that long--only since Ronald Reagan was president. He's covered Congress, the White House and presidential campaigns as the paper's national political correspondent and Washington bureau chief. He's on the lookout for news of significance to Sun readers at the other end of the B/W Parkway. That includes the activities of the state's congressional delegation and anything else that might shed some light on the inner workings of the nation's capital.

Julie Bykowicz's first days as a political reporter, in January 2009, coincided with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's indictment and the start of the Maryland General Assembly's 426th legislative session. She focuses on coverage of state agencies, such as social services, juvenile justice and prisons. During the session, she wrote about the death penalty, slots parlors and speed cameras, among other hot topics. Julie began political reporting after more than seven years on The Baltimore Sun's crime desk. She lives in Baltimore and works primarily in Annapolis.

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