Harford County Elected School Board Receives a Favorable Vote by the House Ways and Means Committee Yesterday, Successfully Passes the House Floor on Second Reader Today
On Thursday, March 26, 2009, the House Ways and Means Committee voted and passed House Bill 639 entitled Harford County – Board of Education – Selection of Members.
The Senate’s version of the bill, Senate Bill 629, received a favorable report with an amendment by the Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Friday, March 13, 2009, before it passed the Senate Floor with 46-0 vote on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted and approved, by a majority vote, House Bill 639 as amended to the Senate’s approved version.
Harford County Delegation Chairman, Delegate J.B. Jennings (R-District 7), who filed the bill, stated, “This is an historic moment in many respects, particularly for Harford County and for the Harford County Public School System. For the past two (2) General Sessions, this bill has met with resistance; however, the Delegation and I remained optimistic knowing that this year marked the first time this legislation has ever received a unanimous favorable vote by all eight (8) members of the Delegation.”
Delegate Wayne Norman, Vice-Chairman, (R-District 35A) said, “Before my appointment to the Harford County Delegation, I was a strong advocate of an elected school board. A fundamental part of a democratic society is having your voice heard on issues as well as having a vote for those who represent you on such issues.”
Delegate Dan Riley (D-District 34) opined, “This bill, or a similar bill, was introduced by the Harford County Delegation in prior years under several delegation chairs. The bill did not get approved. For some, the legislation was used as a “political hot potato” or a “political wedge”. There were attempts made by some people to make it a political or partisan issue or try to divide the Delegation for their own perceived gain. When changes were made to the delegation leadership, the political nonsense ended and the bill passed.”
Delegate Mary-Dulany James (D-District 34) commented, “This year no one saw the House School Board Bill until after Delegate Jennings became the Chairman of the Delegation. Delegate Jennings worked with all of the members of the Delegation and all the stakeholders to draft a well thought out transition from the appointed board to a blended board addressing nearly everyone’s concerns and “interests”.”
With the approval by the House Ways and Means Committee, the House voted and approved the bill on second reader this afternoon, and is now being printed for final passage.
Shame on Jennings and Norman. They never added a word to this bill..They just sold out to the dems who have blocked this bill for years. Jame and Riley are only supporting now because an election year is coming next year. Jennings and Norman threw Del. McCommas under the bus to try and get some credit for this passage. We know they were late to the effort. Thank you Susan for writing this bill and pushing all these years. We know you deserve the credit for pushing and pushing this Bill.
HB 639 just passed third reader on the floor of the House.
Well, we did get it filed and we did get it out of committee. In fact it was just voted on third reader and came out. We voted UP three delegation bills this morning. I guess someone could still find some fault with that……
I am happy to announce that HB 639 just received final passage from the House of Delegates!!! The Bill will now head to the Senate for their approval. I want to personally thank the entire delegation for all their hard work. This was a team effort and it could not have happened without everybody’s support!!!
Dear “Jane”,
You appear to know more about this bill than the average Dagger reader: to say that Delegates Jennings and Norman “never added a word to this bill” is irrelevant to its passage. Delegate Jennings brilliantly steered this bill through the legislative process from the minute HE dropped the bill! In no way was anyone thrown under the bus! Delegate Jennings recognized the importance of working in a biparisan manner throughout. His communication skills saved this bill when it was it appeared to be serious jeopardy. He worked tirelessly to bring the opposition into the conversation, and they ultimately compromised. He is too humble to take any credit away from anyone and he should be admired for that. Instead, people like you who continue to look for bones to pick should be ashamed. This is a victory for Harford County citizens and they’re the ones who deserve the ultimate credit!!!!!
hey Dagger!
I see that under the comments section it reads, “personal attacks will be deleted!”
I would say that “Jane’s” comments against Delegate Jennings and Delegate Norman would certainly quality for deletion.
Don’t you agree?
On a postitive note, congrats to the Delegation and its leadership for a job well done!
Dear Jane
All the citizens of Harford County should be thanking delegate Jennings and Norman for their success in this bill Mary James jumped on this bill this year after killing it last year beacuse 2010 is right around the corner (imagine that) . Susan McComas has failed in every aspect of leadership across the board. If she needs to think her way out of a paper bag I hope someone gives her a map
Thanks JB and Wayne YOU made it happen
The Senate version (SB 629) has a hearing scheduled before the House Ways & Means Committee on April 7th.
As a lifelong Republican voter, I want to express my sincere appreciation to Delegates JB Jennings, Wayne Norman and Donna Stifler, as well as Delegates Dan Riley and Mary-Dulany James, for showing true leadership on behalf of their constituents in Harford County. There are certain issues that shouldn’t be politically charged — better schools in Harford County is one of them.
In response to Jane’s comments above, it is important to note that this bill had been stuck in limbo for years. Only after the installation of a new leadership team — Jennings and Norman — did this bill begin to move. Good job, guys!