Committee Chairmen

Legislation that would create a citizen board in Baltimore to hear complaints against police has stalled in the General Assembly and might die at the hands of two powerful committee chairmen, neither of whom lives in the city.The bill's supporters say Baltimore residents have long demanded a civilian board to provide an unbiased look at charges of police misconduct. The proposal won widespread support from the city's legislators, as well as the mayor, the City Council, the police commissioner and the police union.

Sunday, Feb. 20 Dinner and jazz Vocalist Felicia Carter, along with pianist Robert Redd and bassist Amy Shook, perform from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at 49 West Coffeehouse, 49 West St. in Annapolis. $20 cover. Information: 410-626-9796. Recital Pianist Reynaldo Reyes performs classical music at 7 p.m. at Galilee Lutheran Church, 4652 Mountain Road in Pasadena. Reception follows the concert. Free. Information: 410-255-8236. Monday, Feb. 21 Blacksmith group The Chesapeake Forge Blacksmith Guild meets at 7 p.m. at Kinder Farm Park, 1001 Kinder Farm Park Road, Millersville.

WASHINGTON -- A special House panel is recommending tha the authority of powerful committee chairmen be sharply curtailed as part of a wide-ranging package of reforms designed to make the legislative system more efficient and accountable.The proposals, which also would establish deadlines for adoption of major legislation to avoid end-of-session logjams, were disclosed yesterday by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Democratic Caucus Committee on Organization, Study and Review.

Every year, lawmakers come to Annapolis brimming with ideas to make our roads just a little bit safer. Some of them are sound and logical. Some of them are well-intentioned but harebrained schemes. Most of them get a few minutes in the spotlight and then never see the light of day. Last week, a House of Delegates committee held hearings on a few of the less-publicized bills intended to promote transportation safety. Some of them had a great deal of merit and could make it into law. Others are sound proposals that are destined to be snuffed out in a late-night committee vote.

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans have modified a 6-year-old rule change they once touted as a key to reforming the House of Representatives.In 1994, after voters handed Republicans control of Congress and Newt Gingrich was elected speaker, House Republicans set a six-year term limit for all committee chairmen, saying this was a way to limit the power of seniority, prevent chairmen from becoming entrenched and allow a younger generation of lawmakers a...

WASHINGTON -- As Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt readily concedes, there's nothing subtle about the campaign he and his fellow Democrats are waging to wrest control of the House back from the Republicans they regard as usurpers. Their Web site is takebackthehouse.com. -- which blares the message: "6 seats to a Democratic majority!" Candidate recruitment and fund raising, intended to erase the Democrats' six-seat deficit, have dominated the party leaders' time for months. And with a sense of anticipation that is almost palpable, Gephardt and company are now daring to tempt fate by debating exactly how they will run the House after they take over.

WASHINGTON -- The fast-paced Republican timetable for passage of the party's conservative revolution encountered its first major delay yesterday as House GOP leaders abandoned their promise to move for massive spending cuts by the end of January.Slippage of the central element of the Republican agenda might jeopardize the 100-day timetable for the House Republican "Contract with America." House leaders acknowledged that they are having more trouble identifying and agreeing upon the $200 billion in spending cuts needed to finance the contract than they had anticipated, marking the first serious setback for the newly powerful Republicans.

IN AN institution where change can be glacial, last week's developments in Congress were dramatic. They signal a desire by House and Senate leaders to set aside rigid partisanship in hopes of averting gridlock. The Senate's action was historic. Members approved a power-sharing arrangement that reflects the 50-50 split of November's election outcome. Democrats gain nearly equal clout with Republicans on committees, with the power to move their own bills to the floor. Majority Leader Trent Lott called it an exercise in "nonpartisanship."

WASHINGTON - Freddie Mac's 13-member board raised the pay this year for its 11 outside directors by 20 percent to $60,000, said the government-chartered company, which has tried since 2003 to recover from a $5 billion accounting scandal. The board for the McLean, Va.-based company - the second-largest source of money for U.S. home mortgages - also raised directors' compensation per meeting to $1,500 from $1,000, the annual pay for committee chairmen to $10,000 from $5,000, and the annual pay for audit committee chairmen to $20,000 from $10,000.

WITH WILDFIRES raging across the West last summer, President Bush tried to get Congress to approve a new policy for thinning timber on federal lands, but lawmakers couldn't agree. No matter. Mr. Bush simply created new logging rules without them. Similarly, when Congress couldn't come to terms last year on removing barriers that prevented religious organizations from receiving federal grant money, the president eased the restrictions on his own. And as election-year pressure was building on Capitol Hill to limit patent protections -- and lower prices -- on popular medicines, the president interceded with a modest regulatory curb shortly before voters went to the polls last fall.

WASHINGTON - Freddie Mac's 13-member board raised the pay this year for its 11 outside directors by 20 percent to $60,000, said the government-chartered company, which has tried since 2003 to recover from a $5 billion accounting scandal. The board for the McLean, Va.-based company - the second-largest source of money for U.S. home mortgages - also raised directors' compensation per meeting to $1,500 from $1,000, the annual pay for committee chairmen to $10,000 from $5,000, and the annual pay for audit committee chairmen to $20,000 from $10,000.

WITH WILDFIRES raging across the West last summer, President Bush tried to get Congress to approve a new policy for thinning timber on federal lands, but lawmakers couldn't agree. No matter. Mr. Bush simply created new logging rules without them. Similarly, when Congress couldn't come to terms last year on removing barriers that prevented religious organizations from receiving federal grant money, the president eased the restrictions on his own. And as election-year pressure was building on Capitol Hill to limit patent protections -- and lower prices -- on popular medicines, the president interceded with a modest regulatory curb shortly before voters went to the polls last fall.

Maryland's campaign finance system operates more like a protection plan for incumbent politicians and the business interests who buy access to them, with corporations concentrating their investments on lawmakers who wield the most power in Annapolis, according to new studies that examine four years' worth of state elections data. Donations flow most heavily to a relatively small number of legislative leaders who seldom face serious election challenges, the studies found. Without competition, top lawmakers are often free to redistribute funds to their colleagues, cementing their positions of influence.

Maryland's campaign finance system operates more like a protection plan for incumbent politicians and the business interests who buy access to them, with corporations concentrating their investments on lawmakers who wield the most power in Annapolis, according to new studies that examine four years' worth of state elections data. Donations flow most heavily to a relatively small number of legislative leaders who seldom face serious election challenges, the studies found. Without competition, top lawmakers are often free to redistribute funds to their colleagues, cementing their positions of influence.

IN AN institution where change can be glacial, last week's developments in Congress were dramatic. They signal a desire by House and Senate leaders to set aside rigid partisanship in hopes of averting gridlock. The Senate's action was historic. Members approved a power-sharing arrangement that reflects the 50-50 split of November's election outcome. Democrats gain nearly equal clout with Republicans on committees, with the power to move their own bills to the floor. Majority Leader Trent Lott called it an exercise in "nonpartisanship."

WASHINGTON - The specter of Newt Gingrich is returning to Congress like the Ghost of Christmas Past. In 1994, newly installed House Speaker Gingrich shook up the seniority system and went over the heads of senior members to pick more ideologically compatible committee chairmen. At Gingrich's behest, House Republicans also imposed six-year term limits on committee chairmen. As a result, there is now a free-for-all among GOP lawmakers to move into those vacancies. "This place has now become energized," said Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, a Maryland Republican from the Eastern Shore, predicting that rotating many of the committee chairs will produce "thoughtfulness and innovation."

Annapolis Alderman Samuel Gilmer has been voted out as chairman of the City Council's Housing and Community Development Committee.The Ward 3 Democrat had held the post for eight years, but Thursday night the other two members of the committee voted for a change.M. Theresa DeGraff, a Republican representing Ward 7, voted to support Wayne C. Turner, a Republican representing Ward 6, who had nominated himself.In the past, the mayor has appointed the committee chairmen. But this year, the council members noticed that the city code gives the mayor the power to appoint members to council committees, but that the committees have the right to elect their own heads.

WASHINGTON -- The largest crop of freshman House members in more than 40 years flexed their muscle on Capitol Hill yesterday when Democratic newcomers asked that 25 percent of the important committee assignments be set aside for them.The unusual request to the Democratic leadership was a sign that the new lawmakers -- who came to Congress vowing reform -- may live up to their billing as a force for change.The leadership had promised to set aside one seat each on these committees, but under the freshmen plan presented last night they would get three each on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and the committees on Appropriations and Energy and Commerce.

Legislative leaders are considering making Maryland's State House safer by closing its historic entrances and forcing tourists, lobbyists, political junkies and ordinary folks to go through a metal detector on the ground floor. Metal detectors would also go up in legislative office buildings - and their side doors would be shut - under a consultant's proposal to clamp down on security at the state capitol. Only lawmakers and state employees with electronic access cards could continue to walk freely in and out of the large brick buildings that dominate downtown Annapolis.

WASHINGTON -- As Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt readily concedes, there's nothing subtle about the campaign he and his fellow Democrats are waging to wrest control of the House back from the Republicans they regard as usurpers. Their Web site is takebackthehouse.com. -- which blares the message: "6 seats to a Democratic majority!" Candidate recruitment and fund raising, intended to erase the Democrats' six-seat deficit, have dominated the party leaders' time for months. And with a sense of anticipation that is almost palpable, Gephardt and company are now daring to tempt fate by debating exactly how they will run the House after they take over.