2005 Legislative Scorecard
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2005 Legislative Scorecard Vote Descriptions:
- Living Wage Floor Vote:
The Living Wage Bill follows successful examples set by laws in Baltimore, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties, requiring that for-profit contractors pay wages that allow workers to feed their families. - Living Wage Override:
After Governor Ehrlich vetoed the Living Wage Bill, our lawmakers had one last chance to lift thousands of families out of poverty and ensure that our tax dollars create living wage, not poverty wage, jobs. A few Annapolis senators backed out at the last second, however, and left hardworking Marylanders out in the cold. - Medical Malpractice:
Special Session. The Maryland Patients' Access to Quality Health Care Act protects Maryland patients and doctors from the rising insurance premiums of monopolistic malpractice insurance companies by protecting everyone’s 7th amendment right to a jury trial. - Fair Share Health Care Bill:
The Fair Share Health Care Bill would ensure that the largest companies in the state with 10,000 or more employees pay their fair share of their employees' health care costs so that taxpayers don't have to foot the bill. Under this legislation, these companies would have the option of either offering health care directly to their employees or paying into a fund to reimburse the state for the additional Medicaid and emergency room costs.
The Fair Share Health Care Bill has also been called the Wal-mart Bill because while it affects Giant, Johns' Hopkins, Northrop Grumman, and Wal-mart, Wal-mart is the only one of these large companies that is not currently paying their fair share; the bill would act, in effect, to level the playing field. Governor Ehrlich vetoed the bill; however, the General Assembly voted to override the veto in the 2006 session. - Minimum Wage Increase:
The minimum wage, currently at $5.15/hour, has not been raised in nearly nine years. No one can live on just $10,700 per year. This bill would raise the minimum wage in Maryland by a full dollar to $6.15 per hour, helping tens of thousands of hardworking Marylanders come one step closer to making ends meet. This bill, vetoed by Ehrlich, was also in the 2006 session through an override vote. - Clean Money/Public Financing of Campaigns:
The Public Campaign Financing Act would strip wealthy special interests of their ability to turn private money into immense political power. Passage of the act would make it possible to pass laws that benefit all the voters, not just the HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, and other special interests that fund the campaigns of elected officials. - Trade Bill:
Vetoed by Governor Ehrlich, but overridden by both houses of the General Assembly. The new law prevents the Governor from binding the State to a federal International Trade Agreement without the approval of the General Assembly. This essentially saves many of Maryland's procurement laws, including prevailing wage, environmental and safety regulations. - Equal Pay Commission:
This bill established the Equal Pay Commission to study wage disparities based on gender, race, and ethnicity and will recommend steps that can be taken to eliminate the wage gaps that continue to persist today. The General Assembly overrode the governor's veto of this bill, honoring the legacy of the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements and ensuring the continued struggle for equal rights and pay. - Leadership Scores:
This category scores a lawmaker on the bulk of the General Assembly's work that happens behind the scenes and is crucial to the legislative process: whether a lawmaker works with progressive advocates to advance working-family legislation, lobbies colleagues in favor of these bills, speaks publicly in favor of them, etc.
View Other Scorecards: For 2008, 2007 and 2006
