Who’s the greenest one of all? Group rates legislators

Friday, July 27, 2007

The Maryland League of Conservation Voters’ legislative scorecard showed significant gains among both senators and delegates, with the largest improvement coming among Republicans in both chambers.

‘‘We believe the high — and greatly improved — scores coming out of this year’s legislative session show the importance of the environment as an issue for legislators and the public,” Cindy Schwartz, executive director of Maryland LCV, said in a statement.

The environment was one of the biggest winners in a 2007 General Assembly session that saw few victors due to the state’s looming budget woes. Maryland adopted California-style vehicle emissions standards to reduce air pollution, mandated the future use of more solar energy and set minimum energy efficiency standards for certain products, such as most residential furnaces and industrial-sized refrigerators.

The legislature also decreased the amount of stormwater runoff and prohibited the sale of dishwashing detergent containing phosphorus, both of which contribute to bay pollution. The budget for fiscal 2008, which began July 1, included full funding for Program Open Space.

Lawmakers’ scores were tabulated based upon their votes on key environmental bills identified by Maryland LCV. Sixty lawmakers received a perfect 100 percent grade, including Sen. Thomas ‘‘Mac” Middleton (D-Charles). None scored a zero for the first time since 1982, but eight legislators came in below 20 percent, including Del. John F. Wood Jr. (D-St. Mary’s, Charles), the lowest-ranking Democrat.

Middleton scored 60 percent in the previous scorecard, which combined the 2005 and 2006 legislative sessions. During his 13 years in Annapolis, Middleton has earned a 64 percent average score.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) was one of 49 delegates – all Democrats – to score100 percent. The average score in the House was 80 percent, up from a 67 percent average in 2005 and 2006. Republican scores nearly doubled from 26 percent to 50 percent. Democratic scores rose from 85 percent to 91 percent.

Meanwhile, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert, Prince George’s) received a score of 83 percent (He got one unfavorable grade for voting in support of an amendment that advocates said would have weakened an energy efficiency bill). Eleven Senate Democrats notched 100 percent marks. Overall, the Senate averaged 69 percent, up 10 percent from the previous scorecard. Republicans almost tripled their rating, from 13 percent to 38 percent. Democrats inched ahead from 79 percent to 82 percent.

The increase among GOP lawmakers drew praise from Schwartz, as did the performance of freshman legislators, who posted higher scores than the rest of their colleagues in the House (seven percentage points higher) and Senate (15 percentage points higher).

‘‘Clearly, there is room for improvement,” she said of the GOP scores. ‘‘But we hope this represents an upward trend that will continue.”

The increased scores reflect increased awareness of environmental issues that ‘‘transcend[s] party politics,” Schwartz said.

‘‘Environmental legislation should become part of the general discussion of the state’s priorities and should be funded as a regular part of the state’s priorities,” said Del. Steven R. Schuh, a first-term Anne Arundel County Republican who scored 71 percent.

Most Southern Maryland officials improved upon or hovered around their scores from the previous scorecard. Del. Sally Y. Jameson (D-Charles) had the biggest improvement, vaulting from 44 percent to 64 percent. Sen. Roy P. Dyson (D-St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles), who is vice chairman of the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee and has a lifetime score just over 50 percent, improved from 71 percent to 91 percent in 2007 (he voted against a bill that increased solar energy production).

Del. James E. Proctor Jr., who represents a sliver of northern Calvert County, received his second consecutive 100 percent score. His district-mate Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. notched an 86 percent score.

Del. Sue Kullen, who received a perfect mark on her first scorecard, earned an 88 percent, while Del. Murray D. Levy’s score rose slightly from 63 percent to 71 percent. Southern Maryland’s only first-term lawmaker, Del. Peter F. Murphy, received an 80 percent and Del. John L. Bohanan Jr. improved his score from 63 percent to 71 percent.

Wood, too, saw his score rise – but only from 11 percent to 14 percent. He received a 45 percent mark in the 2003-04 scorecard and a 57 percent in the 2001-02 rating. House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary’s) received a 23 percent in this year’s scorecard, just lower than his previous 25 percent score.

One of the lowest-scoring senators, Baltimore County Republican Andrew P. Harris, charged that the LCV ‘‘is not about common sense environmentalism,” and that his 18 percent score and many others who received low marks does not reflect their support for the environment. Harris is seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-Md., 1st) in February’s GOP primary.

Interest in environmental issues came to the forefront in 2007, said Del. Anne Healey (D-Prince George’s), one of the unblemished lawmakers. Preserving that trend could be more challenging until the state digs out of the $1.5 billion structural budget deficit it is projected to face in fiscal 2009.

‘‘It’s going to be very, very challenging to divert any funding to anything other than closing that budget gap for the next 12 months,” Schuh said.

But Healey said legislators shouldn’t let the momentum wane. ‘‘We need to strike when the iron’s hot. We need to do as much as we can while there is interest there before it’s eclipsed by the next crisis of the moment.”

Some lawmakers fear that intense budget discussions will engulf other policy initiatives, such as the environment, and are pushing for a special session to resolve the budget before January.

Advocates are hoping that the biggest unresolved environmental issue in 2007 will win passage next year. The Green Fund bill, which passed the House but died in the Senate this year, would use fees paid by developers who build impervious surfaces, such as paved sidewalks and parking lots, to clean up the coastal bays and the Chesapeake Bay.

‘‘We don’t believe 2007 was the year of the environment,” Schwartz said. ‘‘But we do believe that it marked the start of a new and exciting ear for protecting the environment in Maryland.”

E-mail Alan Brody at abrody@somdnews.com. E-mail Sean Sedam at ssedam@gazette.net.