From State Sen. Bob :
Dear Harford County Neighbor,
Over the next few weeks, the General Assembly will be considering a number of bills that are intended to take away powers belonging to Governor Hogan. Now in his second year in office, the Governor remains very popular with Maryland voters. It appears that, for purely political gains, some legislators want to do everything they can to clip the Governor’s wings. Fortunately, the Maryland Constitution was designed to limit this sort of extreme political gamesmanship and the inevitable harm it would cause to good governance.
The framers of the Maryland Constitution, like the framers of the United States Constitution, understood that the best way to prevent one branch of government from becoming too dominant is to divide power between three branches. That is why Article Eight of the Maryland Declaration of Rights requires that “the Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers of Government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other; and no person exercising the functions of one of said Departments shall assume or discharge the duties of any other.”
As the Senate debates the various efforts underway to reduce Governor Hogan’s executive powers, I have taken and will continue to take a firm stance that the Legislature adhere to the Article Eight prohibitions. Just this week, I challenged on the Senate floor the constitutionality of a bill that would have required Governor Hogan’s State Board of Education members to get the Senate’s permission before hiring our State Schools Superintendent. Board members are already approved with the Senate’s advice and consent. Requiring these Board members to get permission from the Senate before exercising their lawful executive authority to choose the State School Superintendent is an unconstitutional intrusion into the Governor’s executive powers. While the sponsors maintained the bill’s constitutionality, they did remove it from the floor and it will likely die.
There are several more bills still winding through the legislative process that seek to interfere with Governor Hogan’s executive powers. Bills still being debated would restrict Governor Hogan’s authority to make executive appointments, limit his authority to direct transportation funds, and further limit his authority to control the State budget. I will continue to work to defend Maryland’s constitutional safeguards on the separation of powers. Where possible, I will work with my Senate colleagues to kill bad legislation. Where necessary, I will stand firm on my oath to uphold Maryland’s constitution.
Again, thank you for reading my newsletter. I appreciate hearing your thoughts about what our state government is doing. You can reach me at 410-841-3158, or at Bob.Cassilly@senate.state.md.us. My legislative office is located on 11 Bladen Street; Room 321, James Office Building; Annapolis, MD 21401. Please stop by next time you’re in the area–if I’m not on the Senate floor, I’d like to catch up.
Sen. Bob Cassilly
Maryland Senate District 34
Harford County
Hey Bob, If you were a U.S. Senator, would you be just as willing to uphold the Constitution of the United States and at least hold hearings and endorse voting (up or down) on the presidents eventual nominee for the Supreme Court? Or would you be like most of the elected dorks in your party and flatly refuse to even consider whoever President Obama will ultimately nominate?
Let’s not be hypocritical Bob………
The intrusion into executive powers of the Md. State Governor has NOTHING to do with your inference regarding the Supreme Court. You need to remember what the original article is addressing. I am glad to see a legislator standing up against the powers to be who have been in office way to long. The Executive powers were in place with O’Malley and these same powers must remain with Hogan even thought the top Legislative leaders do not like it.
if the situation were reversed the Democrats would be doing the exact same thing. Hypocrisy is the only thing that functions well in Washington.
Or Annapolis, as in this case.
Seems defending the Constitutional duties or powers only works one way. Surely you will be helping confirm the next Supreme Court justice appointed by Barack Obama, or defending President Obama’s executive power??
Obama has every right to nominate whomever he wants to fill the seat. No one is stopping him from nominating anyone. The senate has every right either to not take up a vote or to vote down that candidate.
I appreciate that you libs think you are entitled to a liberal judge in that seat, even though congress, governors and state legislatures all majority Republican.
As a result of gerrymandering AND the fact that it’s way past time to get rid of the electoral college.
Electoral college for govs, states and both houses? Really?
The electoral college is more important now than ever before. It’s not going anywhere.
And democrats don’t gerrymander?
Your absolutely correct Democrats don’t lie. Just ask the people that were hung out to dry, no die at Benghazi.
Democrats spell like poop.
We all do, sometimes.
Senator Cassilly is so concerned about protecting Gov. Hogan that he’s lost sight of doing his own job. Democrats and others who are concerned about transportation issues and Maryland’s infrastructure have
some real issues and they go far beyond personal or party loyalty. It has a lot to do with our common future.
We know Senator Bob hasn’t voiced a word of protest or concern about Hogan’s cancellation of the Red Line. But of course what went along with the cancellation was $300 million that taxpayers already paid for
preliminary studies and planning. People defending Hogan aren’t concerned about that money that was apparently lost. I say “apparently” because the funding mechanisms are still in place and the Citizens
Advisory Committee of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board refused to authorize additional
funding to officially shut the Red Line down.
But okay, I can accept that Cassilly and his fellow Republicans don’t want the Red Line. What about projects that are in Harford County? Just a couple days ago I found out that the two bridge renovations
on U.S. Route 40 have been cancelled. Those bridges were built in 1935 long before the heavy traffic
into and out of the county from the city was realized. The bridges are declared to be unfit and if this is
true then it will simply be a matter of time before one or both of the bridges will collapse and people will
get killed in traffic because overdue repairs were not made. The only reason I have now is that the
projects were delayed because the Hogan Administration wanted to fund a bridge over the Potomac River!!! which is shared with Virginia. Not that this may not be a worthwhile project, but we deserve better explanations from Sen. Cassilly than that Democrats are not loyal and in lockstep with Hogan. Once again, this decision shows that Gov. Hogan won’t fail to spend money that will benefit his home
jurisdiction in Prince George’s County, JUST AS HE ALSO DID WITH CONTINUING TO SPEND MONEY THERE ON THE PURPLE LINE but not in Central Maryland with the Red Line.
There is another issue too, and that is about funds for these projects. Presumably the legislature
anticipated paying for the Red Line by their increase of the gasoline tax a year or two ago. But Hogan
hasn’t used the money to build the Red Line; in fact, he’s used the extra money for other outer
suburban and ex-urban projects. But surprise! There’s not enough money to fix the bridges over
the Gunpowder. There should be plenty of money but I think an inordinate chunk went for the Potomac
River bridge where just for the pedestrian walkway, $700,000 has been allocated. I will have more
about this soon.
So Bob, there’s plenty of reasons for you to be picking a fight with the governor, whether or not he’s
in your own party. But apparently you’re not willing to stand up and fight for us and our communities.
Democrats did nothing for these bridges for years to put them in the condition they are currently in, but now the sky is falling.
1935? Shiiiet.
Heck, the SHA had a project that contractors replaced a 100 year old bridge in Abingdon 2 years ago. You know it took all summer of 2014, but the new one should last another 100 years. Right?
Just for the record, I think Gov. Hogan’s commission to deal with gerrymandering in Maryland is a good
effort and I support it. I also testified as a witness because I ran in a Democratic primary against an incumbent Democratic congressman and it was obvious the gerrymanderinig is a criminal act against democracy and should be banned in all states and as practiced by both political parties. And I thought the
2nd congressional district is bad; there are many other districts that are perfectly ridiculous and even worse than the second congressional district if you can imagine it.
About bridges: I serve as a volunteer on the Citizens Advisory Committee of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board. Our jobs are to vet various transportation projects in central Maryland. I can’t speak about what happened in years past but I do take my volunteer job seriously.
How hard would it be to base congressional districts on the counties?
I like Poop!