MarylandReporter.com

House votes to increase public school dropout age to 17

April 5, 2012

The House of Delegates voted to increase the mandatory age Maryland children are required to attend public school to 17 years old after a lengthy debate on Thursday. [...more]

Education, News Comments (6)

Posting of roll call votes online delayed by busy session

March 28, 2012

Tally sheets from roll call votes in the House of Delegates have not been quickly posted on the General Assembly’s website, with clerks citing technical difficulties and an end-of-session pile up of votes. The clerk’s office and the IT staff apparently caught up with the backlog by Wednesday evening, with all but votes from Wednesday morning’s brief session now posted. MarylandReporter.com had asked about the absence of online roll calls votes earlier in the day. [...more]

Annapolitics Blog, General Assembly, News, Transparency Comments (0)

House defeats bill to nearly double costs of hunting licenses

March 27, 2012

Legislation that would have nearly doubled the price of hunting licenses faced a rare defeat in the House of Delegates Monday night after a lively debate. The bill would have increased the cost of a hunting license from $24.50 to $40 as well as imposed various other fees related to hunting stamps. [...more]

Environment, News Comments (2)

Same-sex marriage passes House 72-67

February 17, 2012

Same-sex marriage passed the House of Delegates with a 72-67 vote Friday night, paving the way for a long battle to determine whether Maryland will be the nation’s eighth state allowing people of the same gender to wed. [...more]

General Assembly, Hot Topics, News, Same-Sex Marriage Comments (2)

GOP delegates object to rule change on debate

February 9, 2012

A change to the House of Delegates to curtail “dilatory or frivolous” conduct was approved Thursday morning, but not without rounds of objections from the chamber’s Republican minority. [...more]

News, Transparency Comments (3)

House passes O’Malley redistricting plan

October 19, 2011

The House of Delegates on Wednesday approved Gov. Martin O’Malley’s congressional redistricting map exactly as he had proposed, despite fierce opposition by Republicans and some minority groups. The vote was 91-46, with five minority Democratic delegates from the Washington suburbs joining all 41 Republicans voting against it [...more]

General Assembly, Hot Topics, News, Redistricting Comments (2)

$3.1M renovation of old House of Delegates chamber takes it back to the Victorian era

May 9, 2011

Starting this summer, visitors to the State House will be able to transport themselves to the Victorian Era in Annapolis in the old House of Delegates chamber – complete with ornate paintings, luxurious furnishings and intricate carpeting. The long-planned re-creation of the chamber as it appeared in the late 1800s is nearly complete. The newly renovated room, where the House of Delegates met until the current chamber was finished in 1904, has been under construction for about two years. [...more]

General Assembly, News Comments (2)

House passes budget; Senate committee makes retirement changes

March 25, 2011

The Maryland House of Delegates passed a slightly trimmed version of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s $34 billion budget on a straight party-line vote Thursday evening. About 90 minutes before, the members of the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee passed its own version of the same budget. They agreed to most of the changes made by the House which had been suggested by the Department of Legislative Services, but they disagreed on a few key points. [...more]

Budget, News, Pensions Comments (1)

House gives tentative OK to $34 billion budget, rejecting GOP cuts

March 24, 2011

The full House of Delegates gave preliminary approval Wednesday night to an overall state budget of $34 billion for fiscal 2012, 2.8% higher than this year. After nearly 4½ hours of debate, the budget as passed by the House Appropriations Committee emerged unscathed. The House rejected a series of 14 amendments to cut the budget with various components of the Republican budget proposal or to add pieces of failed bills. [...more]

Budget, News Comments (1)

With votes in question, House sends same-sex marriage bill back to committee

March 11, 2011

Without enough supporters in the House of Delegates to guarantee its passage on Friday, the same-sex marriage bill was sent back to the Judiciary Committee, and the issue will not be picked up again in 2011, according to House leaders and backers of the bill. After the issue passed the Senate last month, same-sex marriage supporters thought that the bill would easily sail through the House of Delegates to passage. However, the solid support thought to exist in the House evaporated as committee hearings began, with co-sponsors waffling on their support. The committee sent the bill to the House floor on a razor-thin vote. [...more]