If no pending good government bills pass today, lawmakers can't hide behind claims that Maryland simply didn't have the resources to make the legislative process more open and accessible to average citizens. A bill filed late in the session would create a fund to pay for such improvements -- by increasing the registration fee charged to lobbyists.
It's a great idea. Sponsored by Montgomery County Del. Heather Mizeur, the legislation would create a "Maryland Government Modernization Fund" that could be used only to make it easier for people to observe and participate in the legislative process.
Sure, the legislature has made some half-measures in the direction of making the process more open, but laws to actually require it -- steps that can't be taken back at the whim of a House speaker or Senate president one day -- have gone nowhere.
And it's not really about the cost. A pending proposal to require committees to post votes on bills and amendments on-line has a $20,000 pricetag. That's chump change in a state with a $13 billion general fund budget.
But in a particularly lean budget year, cost is enough of a fig leaf for lawmakers who are not too wild about their votes being posted for all the world to see. Delegate Mizeur's bill lays bare their true motivations.