Legislature

Maryland's growing Republican Party is hoping November will bring it more seats than ever in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.Republicans are watching several hot state Senate races where they could topple powerful incumbents or advance their march into rural and suburban areas."

WASHINGTON - Vice President Al Gore's lawyers have told the Supreme Court that Florida's legislators would probably violate the Constitution if they moved to name a slate of presidential electors - a slate no doubt pledged to George W. Bush. The Texas governor's attorneys immediately countered that challenge. Even though the election is over, it might be unconstitutional, they say, to limit the state Legislature's authority to devise a way to choose electors. The exchange came in final legal briefs filed yesterday on the eve of the justices' hearing this morning on the Florida election dispute.

PERHAPS IT'S TIME to break the governor's iron grip on Maryland's annual budget -- now topping $21 billion. A one-sided arrangement that heavily favors the governor is distorting necessary checks and balances in the State House. Maryland is the only state where the legislature cannot move money around within the budget submitted by the governor. Lawmakers cannot increase spending for a program or add a new item. It's a frustrating situation. Gov. Parris N. Glendening's current budget bill has fueled the controversy.

The rest of the year, many of these 188 men and women are farmers, social workers, entrepreneurs, morticians, even Washington lobbyists. Yesterday, they gathered in Annapolis to launch the 194th term of the people's legislature, doing, presumably, the people's business.As the General Assembly convened for its annual 90-day session, senators and delegates spoke proudly of how the legislature works for every Marylander. "We represent everybody, not just the Democrats and Republicans," said Sen. Walter M. Baker, a Cecil County Democrat, in one such address.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After avoiding the spotlight for three weeks, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is being thrust inexorably toward a more central role in his brother's struggle for the state. As the Republican-controlled state Legislature moves toward intervention in the dispute, the prospect is growing that the governor soon might sign unprecedented legislation to directly award Florida's 25 electoral votes to his brother, George W. Bush. Yesterday, in his most extensive public comments yet on the controversy, Jeb Bush endorsed the arguments of state Republican legislative leaders who say they have a constitutional right to directly appoint the electors if it appears the legal disputes over the Florida results won't be completed in time to assure that the state participates in the Electoral College.

New York -- Three years ago, when Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg decided to sponsor a domestic partnership law for gay and lesbian couples in New Jersey, the big surprise was how little fuss it caused. There were no picketers outside the legislature, no furious attacks by the opposition. When the bill was passed, she said, "I looked back, and I maybe had one nasty e-mail in the entire two years we worked on that." In this quiet way, the state has gradually become known as a haven for gays and lesbians seeking legal protection.

A raft of new state laws take effect Monday, imposing new requirements from the car seat to the hearse. Children under 8 years old will be required to sit in a booster seat or child seat until they reach a certain height - the Maryland legislature repealed a provision that allowed heavier children to forego a special seat. And morticians will have to follow stricter rules when handling the dead, under legislation enacted by the General Assembly earlier this year. Other laws cut costs for patients undergoing oral chemotherapy, allow sports fans to win cash prizes in online fantasy football tournaments and give prisoners a reprieve from having to pay child support while behind bars.

Blue Cross' plans to create a for-profit business -- which the company had once hoped would be approved by now -- appear headed for a lengthy debate and an uncertain future in the 1996 General Assembly.Company executives and Maryland Insurance Commissioner Dwight K. Bartlett III got a taste of the future when they testified yesterday in Annapolis for the first time about the plans.Nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland would split into nonprofit and for-profit businesses, and sell part ownership to investors.

In his inaugural address, his budget and his first State of the State speech, Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley showed a desire to proceed deliberatively and build consensus on how to tackle problems such as the budget, education and the environment. But Democrats in the legislature -- used to acting on their own during Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s term -- are not waiting for O'Malley to take the lead. Legislators are the ones pushing efforts to ban smoking in bars, abolish the death penalty and establish strict pollution limits for cars -- initiatives that have been adopted in more liberal states.

About 7,000 Maryland state workers are classified as "at will" employees, meaning that they serve at the pleasure of the governor and can be fired at any time or for any reason. Governors have long used such plum appointments to bring in trusted aides to carry out their policies and to reward political supporters. But the spoils system is also subject to serious abuse when important posts are filled with unqualified appointees or when competent jobholders become the targets of partisan witch-hunts.