The House Environment and Transportation Committee rejected Gov. Larry Hogan's proposed repeal of the stormwater management fee ("House panel kills Hogan's stormwater fee repeal," March 6). Proponents of repeal, predictably enough, are complaining that the voters "spoke" last November.
Yes, the voters did speak. They re-elected a large Democratic majority in the legislature, which, whatever its other faults, has long shown fairly strong support for protecting the environment on which we all depend. Continued support for the stormwater management fee was a predictable result.
To the extent that there is opposition to the fee, it appears to be based in part on the clumsiness of the mechanisms for collecting it, and in part on gross misrepresentation by some media and politicians, including the governor. A little less heat and more light from these parties would improve the quality of public discourse.
Katharine W. Rylaarsdam