Shut Up and Sit Down
- Feb 2, 2017
- 1 min read
UPDATED/REVISED Feb. 2 at 7:32 pm.
When Frederick County state delegates confronted their delegation chair about not being allowed to speak in a delegation meeting, they were told that nobody wants to hear them.
"We were told no one in the delegation wants to hear us speak out on a proposed ethics bill because we're 'unpleasant,' Del. Karen Lewis Young (D-Dist. 3A) said.
The delegates, Young and Del. Carol Krimm (D-Dist 3A), wanted to speak in favor of a proposed ethics bill submitted by the county, and written and submitted by the League of Women Voters, the county's ethics commission and concerned citizens. They were shut down by delegation chair, Del. Kathy Afzali (R-Dist. 4). Sen. Michael Hough (R-Dist.) said last week that the county's bill was "weak" and pledged to write his own.
Hough's version was first on delegation's agenda for discussion, before the county's bill.
Hough's bill, Del. Young said, is too complicated to pass this year, and if put forward will not pass in this year's session of the Maryland General Assembly.
For proponents of the county's ethics bill, that means that their bill will not be in place for the 2018 gubernatorial election.
"They are killing a good local bill with a bill that is way too extensive and overly complicated," Del. Young said. "And now we're not even allowed to talk about it."
The delegation votes on the bills Friday, Feb. 3.
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