Veto Power

It's official: The Howard County Council will have one less role this fall.Gov. Parris N. Glendening signed into law yesterday a bill that creates a separate, appointed county liquor board. The council, which will still double as the zoning board, will retain veto power over the liquor board's decisions.State Sen. Martin G. Madden, a Clarksville Republican who opposed the legislation until recently, said the council will be relieved of routine duties."We recognize that about 95 percent of what the liquor board does is license transfers and expansions and other noncontroversial stuff," Madden said.

William and Kate are getting hitched soon. And if they are like most newlyweds, they need to discuss finances. Should they merge accounts? Shall Kate be added as an authorized user on William’s card? Will the Queen have veto power on purchases over 5,000 pounds? (Ok, most newlyweds don’t have to deal with a monarch.) Anyway, we’re looking to interview couples — those just married or about to be — about how they plan to handle their finances and maintain marital bliss. Please email me at eileen.ambrose@baltsun.com if you’re interested in talking.

Republicans in Howard County are looking to flex their newfound political muscle against the traditional power of Democrats during the process of reshaping councilmanic districts.When the county last drew the districts in 1986, the county executive had switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP, but all five members of the County Council were Democrats.Now, there is another Democrat-turned-Republican serving as county executive, but he is flanked politically by two Republicans on the five-member council.

Anne Arundel County's public safety unions will likely sue the county, labor leaders said Monday, after the County Council failed to override veto action by County Executive John R. Leopold on a bill altering binding arbitration in collective bargaining disputes. The council voted 4-3 to override three amendments to the bill, which were intended to garner broad support for the bill and ensure the legislation was in accordance with the county charter. The bill — with the amendments — passed unanimously earlier this month and was designed to give the council final say in labor disputes between the county and its public safety employees.

The Baltimore County Council has twice passed legislation designed to stop the project, and it has been taken to court both times. State lawmakers introduced measures with the same goal in mind, but in two years, nothing has come of their effort. County executives, two Maryland governors and the state's representatives in Congress all have come out against the proposal for a liquefied natural gas terminal on Sparrows Point. But even a collective this powerful faces what could be an insurmountable obstacle: A federal commission has the final authority to decide the project's fate.

More certain than whether the Orioles can discover at least four wins and Cal Ripken's 400th home run against the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics on their six-game road swing is that they will return much if not entirely the same as when they boarded a charter Thursday.General manager Frank Wren never promised a midseason overhaul. Indeed, he suggested otherwise as recently as Monday.Wren said he has scripted an extended vision for a club that has typically been constructed around each year's free-agent pool.

WASHINGTON - The United States has warned four nations campaigning jointly for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council that Washington will not support their cause unless they agree not to ask for the veto power that the five current permanent council members hold, senior diplomats and administration officials said. The four nations - Brazil, India, Germany and Japan - are unhappy about that position. "The Security Council is not like an aircraft, with first-class, business and economy seats," said Ryozo Kato, Japan's ambassador to the United States.

A Senate committee approved yesterday a bill that would effectively fire the five current members of the Public Service Commission, which has been under intense criticism for not doing enough to protect Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. ratepayers from an impending 72 percent increase in electric bills. The move -- supported by Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee -- is a rebuke to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who appointed four of the commission's five members and has spoken of trying to make the body more helpful to business.

A newly appointed commission will study the advisability of revising the 1708 Annapolis city charter to grant the mayor greater power over the government.The five-member panel, selected last week by Mayor Alfred A. Hopkins, will examine whether the mayor's authority should be expanded or whether that power should be vested in a city manager, said Roger "Pip" Moyer, who was mayor of Annapolis in the 1960s.Mr. Moyer will lead the commission. The other members are Ward 7 Alderman M. Theresa DeGraff, City Administrator Michael D. Mallinoff and residents Hillard Donner and Harvey Ennis.

William and Kate are getting hitched soon. And if they are like most newlyweds, they need to discuss finances. Should they merge accounts? Shall Kate be added as an authorized user on William’s card? Will the Queen have veto power on purchases over 5,000 pounds? (Ok, most newlyweds don’t have to deal with a monarch.) Anyway, we’re looking to interview couples — those just married or about to be — about how they plan to handle their finances and maintain marital bliss. Please email me at eileen.ambrose@baltsun.com if you’re interested in talking.

A RECENT NEWSPAPER STORY revealed that there is something in the marketing business called "the wife test." Apparently, if the husband takes the initiative in purchasing anything for the home short of lawn and garbage bags, and she doesn't like it, it doesn't stay. The story made specific reference to compact fluorescent lights, particularly unattractive energy-saving alternatives to the light bulb. They aren't big sellers in this country because women don't like them, global warming notwithstanding.

The Baltimore County Council has twice passed legislation designed to stop the project, and it has been taken to court both times. State lawmakers introduced measures with the same goal in mind, but in two years, nothing has come of their effort. County executives, two Maryland governors and the state's representatives in Congress all have come out against the proposal for a liquefied natural gas terminal on Sparrows Point. But even a collective this powerful faces what could be an insurmountable obstacle: A federal commission has the final authority to decide the project's fate.

This week the new Democratic House is expected to move with lightning speed to pass legislation aimed at showing a disenchanted public that the days of the do-nothing Congress are gone. House leaders are promising to vote quickly centscm+RDjlandaw:vote to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour, to repeal subsidies for the oil industry, cut college-loan interest rates in half, require Medicare to negotiate lower prescription-drug prices for seniors and implement unfulfilled recommendations of the Sept.

How openly can a president express his displeasure with a law without actually vetoing it? President Bush has been pushing the limit by offering far more statements than any of his predecessors, at the time he signs a bill into law, as to whether he will enforce certain provisions. These disapproving signing statements have come under increasing attack - as they should. Last week, Sen. Arlen Specter, who heads the Judiciary Committee, introduced a bill that would allow Congress to challenge a signing statement that disputed the words or meaning of a statute.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, swiftly defying a bipartisan majority in Congress and a strong current in public opinion, exercised the first veto of his presidency yesterday by blocking an expansion of federal support for embryonic stem cell research that he considers immoral. Within hours of Bush's announcement, a House effort to override the veto fell 51 votes short of the required two-thirds majority, effectively killing the bill for the rest of the year. The vote was 235 for the override and 193 opposed, with 51 Republicans siding against Bush.

By the end of the week, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s desk will likely be covered with bills to agitate Constellation Energy Group executives enough to force their hand. The General Assembly is rushing to pass legislation that would require Constellation to give back $528 million to Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers and cap their electric rates until the refund is paid. Other bills would fire the members of the embattled Public Service Commission, appoint a special counsel to investigate the utility's planned merger with FPL Group of Florida and give the General Assembly veto power over the $11.4 billion deal.

How openly can a president express his displeasure with a law without actually vetoing it? President Bush has been pushing the limit by offering far more statements than any of his predecessors, at the time he signs a bill into law, as to whether he will enforce certain provisions. These disapproving signing statements have come under increasing attack - as they should. Last week, Sen. Arlen Specter, who heads the Judiciary Committee, introduced a bill that would allow Congress to challenge a signing statement that disputed the words or meaning of a statute.

NEW YORK - Northwest Airlines Corp. executives said yesterday that the carrier has the power to thwart a Continental Airlines Inc. purchase of Delta Air Lines Inc., discounting a report that such a transaction could get around a Northwest veto. Northwest can block any transaction that might significantly increase Continental's size, not just a purchase of the Houston-based carrier, Chief Financial Officer Mickey Foret said at an investor conference in New York. He didn't elaborate after making the remarks at a Goldman Sachs transportation conference.

A Senate committee approved yesterday a bill that would effectively fire the five current members of the Public Service Commission, which has been under intense criticism for not doing enough to protect Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. ratepayers from an impending 72 percent increase in electric bills. The move -- supported by Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee -- is a rebuke to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who appointed four of the commission's five members and has spoken of trying to make the body more helpful to business.

Voicing doubt about whether a merger between Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s parent company and a Florida utility will benefit consumers, members of the House of Delegates yesterday neared approval of a bill granting the General Assembly veto power over the $11.4 billion deal. BGE officials have threatened to sue if the legislature attempts to exert control over the merger, and they have said they would immediately withdraw a proposal to phase in this summer's 72 percent rate increase.