Lobbying efforts by death penalty opponents will intensify this weekend, even though a bill to abolish state executions died yesterday in a key Senate committee.
Ordinarily, the "unfavorable" vote by the Judicial Proceedings Committee would end debate. But because of a major push this year by the governor, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said he will entertain a rarely used parliamentary maneuver to allow the full chamber to resurrect the bill "as early as next week."
That sets up a fierce debate on capital punishment that could tie up business in the Senate for hours, if not days. It's likely the last serious chance for repeal proponents before the 2010 election, and they are planning a major final push.
Gov. Martin O'Malley "will be having multiple conversations" with undecided senators "throughout the weekend," said spokesman Rick Abbruzzese.
Jane Henderson, executive director of Maryland Citizens Against State Executions, said her advocacy group will be "pulling out all the stops" in coming days to persuade fence-sitting senators by mobilizing phone banks and visiting churches, encouraging people to e-mail and call their representatives in Annapolis.
"We will leave no stone unturned," she said.
And on Tuesday, the first day the repeal bill could come to the Senate, two former Maryland governors and other senior officials will come to Annapolis to urge lawmakers to replace capital punishment with a sentence of life without parole.
Death penalty supporters, meanwhile, are counting votes to make sure they retain their slim majority in the 47-member Senate. If a repeal bill passes the Senate, approval by the House of Delegates is expected.
Miller, a tenacious arm-twister who wants to keep capital punishment, deflected questions yesterday about whether he has kept a promise not to lobby members on the hot-button moral issue. "That's hard to say," he said, acknowledging that he has been counting votes. "I wouldn't call that lobbying."
Miller's willingness to entertain a full-floor debate could reflect his confidence that the repeal effort will ultimately fail. A recent survey by The Baltimore Sun showed that 19 senators favored a full repeal and 24 opposed it. Four senators declined to state their position.
Moreover, the parliamentary procedure being contemplated faces several practical and philosophical obstacles. Miller will allow a motion from the floor essentially rejecting the committee vote and re-introducing the bill before the entire chamber. Such a move would subvert the privilege that committees typically have in vetting legislation.
