Session's winners and losers tallied
Two moods -- both of them dark -- clouded the 1991 session of the Maryland General Assembly. When lawmakers weren't squirming beneath the weight of an economic recession, they were shielding themselves from the fallout of a gubernatorial depression.
Between the bad budget news and the bad vibes, the session, which ends at midnight today, was a 90-day test of wits, endurance and humor. So who comes out a winner and who crawls out a loser? Very few players will awaken tomorrow untarnished by the legislative grind. But some are more sullied than others. Here's a quick look at how some key participants fared.
GOV. SCHAEFER
Is William Donald Schaefer the biggest loser of the 1991 session? He may think so, because he's been boasting that he'll get even with House and Senate leaders who stood in the way of his legislative proposals, including plans to raise $800 million in taxes, to initiate a massive land-use program and to reorganize portions of the state bureaucracy. Schaefer began the session in a blue funk over the margin of his victory in the November election. Things only got worse as a souring economy forced him to make deep budget cuts. Then the media, perhaps losing interest in the session issues, focused on the governor's eccentricities. His letter-writing habits and penchant for surprise visits to critics' homes drew much attention. His announced plan to run for the Oval Office drew snickers. As the legislature pounced on his every move, he withdrew into his office on the second floor of the State House and ignored the political advice of those around him. Because he made his own policy decisions, most of his wounds were self-inflicted. Lawmakers sensed his vulnerability and moved in for the kill. Although it seemed at mid-session that he was losing his ability to govern, Schaefer still wields enormous power. At session's end, he reportedly is cudgeling his brain over whether to wage war against the legislature during the summer or try to act statesmanlike by concentrating on the needs of the state.
MELVIN A. STEINBERG
It's difficult to crack wise when you're walking a tightrope, so even the lieutenant governor these days is stifling his trademark sense of humor. Viewed as an outcast from the Schaefer administration because he broke ranks on the governor's failed Linowes tax plan -- and thereby committed the cardinal sin of disloyalty -- Steinberg felt compelled to begin his campaign for the governor's office a year or two ahead of schedule. Toward the end of the session, Steinberg spent more time in his old base of the legislature than in his second-floor office. No one's sure what the former Senate president has accomplished these past few weeks, but at least he's stayed out of trouble. Rumblings have it that the legislative staff he heads might not be around next year, leaving Steinberg virtually friendless on the State House second floor. There's even talk that Schaefer might take away Steinberg's state car and driver. That would be the deepest cut, because as Maryland's drug and alcohol abuse chief, Steinberg at least gets to travel around the state, which doesn't exactly hurt his gubernatorial campaign.
THOMAS MIKE MILLER JR.
Perhaps the best move the Senate president made all session was to force an early resolution to the abortion controversy, a carryover from last year when the emotional subject disrupted the legislative calendar with a bitter filibuster. By getting the abortion bill to the governor quickly this year, Miller opened the door for the legislature to address other issues. The Prince George's County Democrat started the session saying he wanted "to preserve the process," apparently meaning he wanted to keep the Senate under control. Though he did maintain control on abortion and several other issues, Miller stood by while his committee chairmen -- among the most independent critters in Annapolis -- largely ruled their own agendas. And, in the legislature's annual battle with Schaefer, the usually combative Miller rarely ventured to the front lines.
R. CLAYTON MITCHELL JR.
State House pundits predicted that the temperamental House speaker would have one of his roughest sessions ever. All eyes were on him to see if he would mastermind the death of a reforestation bill as he was charged with doing last year. And he was under investigation by the state prosecutor's office in connection with his role in an Eastern Shore land deal. He began the session looking over his shoulder to see if certain House members were planning to overthrow him as speaker. But the Kent County Democrat may have finished the session as one of the biggest winners. He let the tree bill through the House. The investigation cleared him of wrongdoing. And, even though he led the no-new-taxes cabal, he relented enough to allow passage of about $90 million in new revenues without losing face entirely. Sure, he went ballistic when the governor called his beloved Shore an outhouse, and his temperature rose in other clashes with Schaefer. But, overall, he handled the strains of the session -- including assembling a reasonable budget package in tough economic times -- with aplomb. Much of the credit is shared by his hand-picked new leadership team of Speaker Pro Tem Nancy K. Kopp, D-Montgomery; Majority Leader D. Bruce Poole, D-Washington; and Majority Whip Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George's. In a shrewd move, the speaker infused his inner power circle with representatives of youth, women and blacks.
W.S. RATCHFORD 2ND
As Legislative Fiscal Services director, Ratchford is counted on by Miller and Mitchell to provide the best revenue prognostications his staff of bean-counters can muster. It has been a dizzying time for economists nationwide, and a XTC particularly muddling session for Ratchford. House leaders susepcted him of twisting his numbers to make the governor look bad and of withholding vital data from the House until the last minute. In addition to the private bruising he got from the House, "Ratch" continued to be on Schaefer's hit list because he was the one who recommended to legislators where the governor's budget should be cut. The session was tense for Ratchford, but he is a seasoned survivor and has made it through tougher sessions.
LAINY M. LEBOW
Even when the governor withdrew from many of his closest aides during the second half of the session, LeBow was seldom far from his side. As gatekeeper to the governor's office, she controlled access in tempestuous times. As his foremost admirer, she provided nurture when Schaefer's ego was as battered as a whiffle ball.
MARK L. WASSERMAN
Long believed to be the wonder kid in Schaefer's inner circle, even Wasserman had trouble breaking through the governor's funk. Wasserman, an influential aide from Schaefer's Baltimore days, saw his role diminish as the session wore on. It wasn't because he didn't have any bright ideas. Wasserman continued giving advice, but Schaefer, rattled by critics, stopped listening to him and the rest of his inner circle. Through most of the session, Schaefer seemed to distrust even those whose loyalty he had never questioned before.
R. ROBERT LINOWES
The name Linowes is anathema to House and Senate leaders these days. Not because they don't like the zoning attorney from Montgomery County, but because he was the one Schaefer picked to head the commission that recommended raising some $800 million in new taxes. Lawmakers dispatched the tax plan to a summer study and appear likely to come up with similar tax proposals for next year. Those proposals, however, are likely to bear the legislators' imprimatur and not the name of the tax lawyer who vanished from the Annapolis scene halfway through the session.
LAURENCE LEVITAN
Known for his scalpel-sharp attacks on the governor, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee chairman from Montgomery County had a field day this session. As the angry rhetoric between legislature and Schaefer continued, Levitan kept his blade sharp. Give him credit for candor, however. While House and Senate leaders plotted behind the scenes to grab power from Schaefer, Levitan not only called for an all-out power struggle, but blithely predicted the legislature would win.
WALTER M. BAKER
Supporters say he's philosophical in his approach to legislation; critics say he's narrow-minded. But everyone agrees the chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee took strong positions on some of the most important issues of the session, namely abortion, assault weapons, spousal abuse and motor vehicle emissions. As one of the few legislators who truly believes there are too many laws already on the books, the Eastern Shore Democrat was not intimidated by either his boss, Senate President Miller, or Governor Schaefer. Both tried to get him to change his mind. Both were unsuccessful.
JOHN A. PICA JR.
After winning a squeaker election last fall, the Senate's roue from Baltimore lowered his head and began digging a new position of power with the blessings of Senate President Miller. His first task was working the floor to get a controversial abortion-rights bill out of the Senate. He succeeded and Miller gave him more work. Largely because of Pica, the city delegation gave enough votes to help pass a bill raising Motor Vehicle Administration fees, although the bill died on the House side. For better or worse, Pica is emerging as leader of the city delegation, a position held in a de facto sense by the respected but tired Sen. Clarence Blount. Pica has a leading role in redistricting plans over the summer. Can he keep up his $H momentum? Some lawmakers, who suggest this session was the first time in his 13 years in office that Pica has worked hard, are waiting for him to stumble.
CHARLES J. RYAN
The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has perhaps the most fiscally creative mind in the General Assembly. He also knows how to play politics. Both abilities came in handy because the House had first go at the governor's budget this year. Seeing early on the need for new revenue sources, the Prince George's County Democrat persuaded the reluctant House speaker to budge from his no-new-taxes stance.
RON A. GUNS
During his first year as chairman of the House Environmental Matters Committee, the Cecil County Democrat faced key abortion and land-use bills. He had no personal affection for either, but he followed leadership's call and directed an abortion-rights bill out of committee while shelving the governor's so-called 2020 growth management proposal for summer study. He surprised House leadership by letting out of committee a bill that would force the state to adopt auto emissions standards set in California. Veteran House members suggest the affable Guns may emerge as a key chairman as he gains stronger leadership skills.
BRIAN E. FROSH
This Montgomery County Democrat is acknowledged as the leading environmentalist in the House. His so-called California emissions control bill was a sleeper until he roused it in the second half of the session. Before a Senate committee shelved it, the measure was considered to be more significant than the widely publicized reforestation bill -- another measure in which Frosh played a key role.