Today’s Good News: Maryland State Legislature Gets It Done
From the Progressive States Network’s “Stateside Dispatch†newsletter comes a great report card for the recently-completed
Maryland passed no fewer than FOUR electoral reforms. Best in my book is SB 392, supporting “paper, not vapor” (scrapped existing electronic voting machines in favor of ones that produce voter-verifiable paper records). Next, SB 488 will restore voting rights to repeat ex-felons once they have completed their sentences, rather than forcing them to wait three years before they are able to register to vote. Third, a constitutional amendment, SB 1, allows early voting in the state. Last (I confess I don’t get why people are pushing for this one), Maryland became the first state to sign onto a national compact by the states to allocate its Presidential electors to the winner of the national popular vote– a system that will go into effect once states accounting for a majority of electoral votes agrees.
On environmental issues, the state joins ten others in the “Clean Cars” initiative, demanding tougher emission standards in cars sold by 2011. They’re also expanding requirements for the state to use solar energy, funding the creation of new energy sources, and reducing restrictions on wind power projects. Environment Maryland says no fewer than EIGHT of its priority bills passed, including both of its top priorities, the Clean Cars Act and the Stormwater Management Act. Three years of hard work on Clean Cars and more on the solar bill finally paid off.
June 8th, 2007 at 7:26 am
I’m so proud of my home state! Good to see some positive developments.