The all-Republican delegation representing Carroll County in the General Assembly is concerned Democrats may try to slip in issues not related to the main purpose of the upcoming special session.
Gov. Martin O'Malley recently announced a special session of the General Assembly will be convened Oct. 17 to decide new boundaries for Maryland's Congressional representatives. The boundaries are required to be redrawn following the completion of the 2010 Census.
Members of the Carroll County delegation are concerned that the special session will be about more than congressional redistricting. Local legislators said they don't want the Democratic administration to push for a tax increase, similar to what occurred in the 2007 special session.
"Knowing what has happened in other special sessions, things seem to be thrown in," said Sen. Allan Kittleman, R-District 9. "Hopefully that won't happen and we can focus on the congressional redistricting, get that done and save everything else for the normal session in January."
Del. Justin Ready, R-District 5A, said the General Assembly needs a full, 90-day session to discuss and debate controversial topics. A proposed tax increase, Ready said, shouldn't be crammed in to a special session.
Del. Susan Krebs, R-District 9B, said she also thinks a full legislative session is required to discuss a tax increase. Sticking to the congressional redistricting issue, Krebs said, should only take a couple days.
"There's not enough time to really vet the issues," she said.
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