Executive Order

The recent column by two law school professors urging President Barack Obama to "bypass Congress" by making law through executive orders is truly alarming ("Bypass Congress," Dec. 27). The Revolutionary War was fought for our freedom from the King of England who made arbitrary laws with no accountability, no restraints, no constitution. The system of checks and balances with three independent branches of government was designed to protect us from a president who would envision himself as a king who can do no wrong, who can by the "stroke of a pen" as the law professors say, make law according to his own personal whims.

As reported by Rusty Weiss on January 10, 2013, "…. a federal judge struck down the attempt to regulate stormwater runoff as a breach of authority. The judge, U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady, ruled that the EPA had exceeded their authority in trying to regulate stormwater runoff into a Fairfax County creek because it was a pollutant. " By not appealing its own EPA demand, Maryland's Tax and Spend government has not acted in the interests of taxpaying citizens. Instead, our elected officials add this new "rain tax" to: recent "sin" tax increases, recent sales tax increases, recent road and bridge toll increases, recent increases in licensing and other fees, recent state income tax increases - the list goes on. Furthermore, the "rain tax" is the result of demands made by a Federal Agency, which is responding to a President's executive order (May 2009)

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski is calling on the Obama administration to prohibit federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss salaries -- a new twist on a key provision of the pay equality legislation the Maryland Democrat has sought for years. In a letter to the White House on Tuesday, Mikulski argued that President Obama should sign an executive order baring contractors from firing employees who disclose their own pay or inquire about another employee's salary.

Baltimore city government employees are now able to devote up to two work hours per week to helping third-grade students hone their reading skills, the mayor's office announced this month. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake signed the executive order on Feb. 1, according to a release, that would allow full-time employees to volunteer in the Baltimore city school system to provide one-on-one tutoring to students struggling with reading--a cause the mayor has taken up as part of her "Third Grade Reads Initiative.

In the latest back and forth over the degree to which Harford County government will have a measure of authority over the local volunteer fire and ambulance service, a good deal has been made over the words "coordination, command, control and the oversight. " Such is the wording of an executive order issued earlier this month under which the county government would gain oversight responsibility for what to date have been essentially a conglomeration of a dozen private clubs that provide a vital public service.

DID GOV. Parris N. Glendening have the power to grant unions collective bargaining? That is the crux of a lawsuit filed by prominent Maryland business groups seeking to nullify the governor's executive order as a flagrant usurpation of legislative authority. They cite an impressive array of 39 prior court rulings, attorney general opinions and legislative history to prove their case.In May, we termed the governor's executive order "bad for state government, bad for taxpayers and bad for other state-employee unions" beyond the favored American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that heartily supported Mr. Glendening's campaign for governor.

GOV. PARRIS GLENDENING is mulling over a novel way to deal with the state legislature: If lawmakers pass something he doesn't like, he can simply issue decrees to countermand the General Assembly's wishes. And if the legislature refuses to pass something the governor wants, he can promulgate an executive order to do it anyway.Such actions skirt the edges of legality. The Department of Legislative Reference has already been asked to investigate. But that may not stop the governor from going ahead this week with an executive order to implement a form of collective bargaining for state workers -- though the General Assembly twice rejected such a move by wide margins last month.

Without fanfare, Gov. Martin O'Malley signed executive orders this month giving collective bargaining rights to home health aides and child care workers whose pay is subsidized by the state, despite the General Assembly's rejection of those proposals. In the orders, O'Malley said home health aides -- who provide services for disabled Marylanders through the Medicaid program -- often earn low pay, with few benefits or opportunities for training. And the child care work force, he wrote, needs to be stabilized and have a collective voice.

PRESIDENT BUSH says we are fighting terrorism to preserve our way of life -- not the least element of which is our democratic government. Trust in the laws made by our representatives prevents erosion of individual rights and domestic peace. Thus we are troubled by an executive order that could keep records of the Reagan-Bush administration out of the public domain. Those papers should be available for public inspection under a 1978 law sealing them for 12 years then making them available.

When Yoshi Yamasaki-Bussey took the stage yesterday in an Anne Arundel Community College auditorium after an impressive introduction, the audience paid rapt attention. That is, until he began his remarks in Japanese. Sensing the audience's confusion, he switched to Spanish. But that didn't help much. "Now," Yamasaki-Bussey asked in English, "how do you feel being left out?" "Disconnected," one man called out. "Panicked," a woman said. "Embarrassed. Ignorant," said another The exercise was part of a keynote address Yamasaki-Bussey gave at the 20th annual conference of the Maryland Coalition for Refugees and Immigrants, a network of service providers who offer assistance to refugees and immigrants in the Baltimore-Washington area.

WASHINGTON -- In a move sure to stoke the partisan debate over organized labor, Rep. Andy Harris will introduce legislation Wednesday to end the favored treatment union contractors receive on construction projects paid for by the federal government. The proposal, which in the past has been strongly supported by construction trade groups but opposed by labor, is a response to an executive order President Obama signed early in his first term requiring agencies to consider using project-labor agreements to set wages and site rules on federal construction projects.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski is calling on the Obama administration to prohibit federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss salaries -- a new twist on a key provision of the pay equality legislation the Maryland Democrat has sought for years. In a letter to the White House on Tuesday, Mikulski argued that President Obama should sign an executive order baring contractors from firing employees who disclose their own pay or inquire about another employee's salary.

The Baltimore Sun editorial board's recent focus on the issue of local hiring ("Jobs for City Residents" January 9) is appreciated as increasing job opportunities for city residents is the central focus of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development (MOED). Under the leadership of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, our agency engages the local business community and promotes local hiring to support the mayor's goal of growing Baltimore by 10,000 families over the next decade. However, none of these initiatives to promote local hiring in partnership with Baltimore's business community were recognized in the editorial.

The recent column by two law school professors urging President Barack Obama to "bypass Congress" by making law through executive orders is truly alarming ("Bypass Congress," Dec. 27). The Revolutionary War was fought for our freedom from the King of England who made arbitrary laws with no accountability, no restraints, no constitution. The system of checks and balances with three independent branches of government was designed to protect us from a president who would envision himself as a king who can do no wrong, who can by the "stroke of a pen" as the law professors say, make law according to his own personal whims.

Incumbent presidents don't run for reelection simply to preserve first-term accomplishments. Presidents and presidential candidates are men and women of big ambition, driven by the immense self-confidence required to run for the job and a desire to accomplish important things. Barack Obama's ambitions are clear. He came to office in 2009 on the strength of a far-reaching, progressive agenda that included resurrecting the economy, rebuilding the American middle class, ending one war, winning another, stopping the Bush-era tax giveaways to the rich, fixing the health care system, addressing global warming, ending "Don't ask, don't tell," and more.

In the latest back and forth over the degree to which Harford County government will have a measure of authority over the local volunteer fire and ambulance service, a good deal has been made over the words "coordination, command, control and the oversight. " Such is the wording of an executive order issued earlier this month under which the county government would gain oversight responsibility for what to date have been essentially a conglomeration of a dozen private clubs that provide a vital public service.

Baltimore city government employees are now able to devote up to two work hours per week to helping third-grade students hone their reading skills, the mayor's office announced this month. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake signed the executive order on Feb. 1, according to a release, that would allow full-time employees to volunteer in the Baltimore city school system to provide one-on-one tutoring to students struggling with reading--a cause the mayor has taken up as part of her "Third Grade Reads Initiative.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening has told labor leaders he will make a new attempt to write collective bargaining for state employees into law this year -- possibly with an expanded reach that could add thousands of workers to union rolls.At the same time, Glendening has shelved an ambitious proposal to make Maryland the first state to ban the sale of all but child-proof handguns, going back on a campaign promise to introduce such legislation in the coming session.Glendening's decision to include a collective bargaining bill in his legislative package for the 90-day General Assembly session will reopen a battle the governor fought and lost in 1996.

On Wednesday, one of the most sweeping changes in U.S. immigration policy in decades went into effect when an estimated 1.7 million children of undocumented immigrants became eligible to apply for the temporary right to work and go to school in this country without fear of being deported. Under an executive order issued by President Barack Obama in June, the federal government will no longer deport undocumented immigrants under the age of 31 who came to this country as children if they meet certain conditions.

Depositions given under oath by Anne Arundel County police officers said County Executive John R. Leopold personally ordered the firing of a county employee who had complained about his conduct. The depositions were filed Thursday in U.S. District Court as part of Karla Hamner's harassment lawsuit against the county. Officers said Leopold told then-County Police Chief James Teare Sr. that the woman was being transferred to the Police Department but was not to be given a permanent job. "[Leopold]