HB1783 — The Governor is Gas Lighting Maryland on the Facts
Annapolis, MD — In the wake of the the Maryland General Assembly voting to override Governor Larry Hogan’s veto of HB1783, the 21st Century School Facilities Act, the Young Democrats of Maryland released the following Fact Sheet to rebut a series of misleading attacks on the bill by Larry Hogan and his allies.
Today the General Assembly voted to override a veto by Governor Larry Hogan on HB1783. The new law would “ensure that our public school buildings are safe and comfortable learning environments for all Maryland students. The bill would put an end to the demeaning and political “beg-a-thons,” when local boards of education petition the three members of the Board of Public Works (BPW) for construction funding. This BPW has too often played favorites and politicized decisions about issues like heating and air conditioning Baltimore’s schools. The proposal would replace the current process with a balanced panel of education experts.” — The summary is from the awesome newsletter drafted by Senator Cheryl Kagan.
In the lead up to this bill passing, being vetoed, and the override led a number of political headlines. Why? Because Governor Hogan and not surprisingly Comptroller Peter Franchot are attempting to gaslight Marylanders on the facts. Here are just a few of their biggest lies on this issue.
1) This law will harm transparency. — Governor Hogan and Comptroller Franchot
The law does not end public transparency at all. The 9 member commission, which has five members named by the governor, will meet in public and their sessions will be live streamed. Also as it works now the Board of Public Works does not allow members of the public to comment on issues before them without the permission of the governor. Under this law public comment will be built into the commission.
2) This bill “would remove control over our school construction funding from elected officials and give it to people appointed by the Speaker of the House, and the President of the Senate.” — MD Senate GOP
FIRST — The 9 member commission is jointly appointed by the Governor, Speaker and Senate President. Five of the members will be appointees of the governor.
SECOND — This law recreates the balance of power for school construction dollars. Governor Hogan has substituted his judgment for that of locally elected school boards and county councils on what should be funding priorities in their communities.
3) The law would allow a lobbyist to determine how this money is spent. — MD GOP
It will not. The law specifically bars lobbyist from being appointed to this commission.
4) This is a political bill written to punish a Republican by the Democratic majorities in the legislature. — MD Senate GOP
Not true. This did not happen when Bob Ehrlich was Maryland’s governor because he did not abuse his power to overturn the role of local elected officials. In fact it was the former Executive Director of the Public School Construction Program David Lever, who was appointed by Governor Ehrlich, who began to question Governor Hogan’s behavior (see his letter below).
School construction is at times an emotional issue. There always appears to be more needs than we have dollars to go around. The Interagency Committee on School Construction was established as then Director Lever wrote to bring a “deliberative, objective, and professional approach” to planning. Larry Hogan has upended this process and HB1783 will fix it. This law, once it goes into effect, will join a growing list of bills the Democratic majority have been forced to pass over Larry Hogan’s veto such as earned sick leave, voting rights for ex-felons, ban the box on college applications, and more.
