The integrity of the Maryland Senate is very much at stake today as its Executive Nominations Committee deals with two cabinet appointees responsible for lucrative early retirement plans that benefited Gov. Parris Glendening and some aides.
Will this hearing lead to a critical examination of this outrageous program and other questionable personnel and labor moves by Mr. Glendening while running Prince George's County? Or will the hearing be a sham, with Democrats giving the two nominees kid-gloves treatment and an overwhelming vote of approval?
We fear the latter result. This Senate panel has rarely displayed much backbone. The confirmation process is often a joke. Little or no research is conducted; background checks are virtually nonexistent. As long as the nominee has a guardian angel in the Senate, approval is all but assured.
In this case, the governor has tried to ensure that he has plenty of guardian angels on the committee. The chairman, Sen. Larry Young, just happens to be an employee of one of Mr. Glendening's most admiring financial supporters, Willie Runyon, who gave $95,000 to the Glendening legal defense fund last month. What are the chances Mr. Young will buck his employer and vote against Mr. Glendening on these two nominations? What are the odds many Democrats will oppose the governor's choices now that Mr. Glendening has met the patronage wishes of so many committee members?
Still, we hold out hope that some senators recognize the public anger over these shenanigans: Sweetheart labor contracts that are proving costly to taxpayers and compounding the dilemma for county officials facing a $107 million deficit; a sweet pension plan for veteran managers "involuntarily separated" from their jobs; friendly legal rulings in 1992 making Mr. Glendening eligible for early payouts (though Attorney General Joseph Curran said yesterday it's improper), and the "firing" by Mr. Glendening of his P.G. aides that would make some eligible for six-figure benefit payouts.
We are counting on committee Republicans to see that these issues are pursued. We also agree with Sen. Larry Haines of Carroll County that the best way to proceed is for the governor to testify. Failing that, the committee will have to grill Michael Knapp, the governor's nominee for personnel secretary, and Frank Stegman, nominated as secretary of labor and licensing. They created the P.G. benefits plan, sweetened its provisions and also designed those sweetheart labor contracts.
The panel should not rubber-stamp these nominations. There are troubling questions about what happened in Prince George's, and even more worrisome questions about the Glendening team's attitude toward labor and personnel matters in Annapolis that must be answered.