One day after signing his first piece of legislation from the 2019 General Assembly session, Gov. Lawrence J Hogan Jr. (R) vetoed three high-profile bills on Wednesday, labeling them political stunts destined to damage the state.
The three bills were top priorities of Democratic legislative leaders, starting with a measure to raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour. Another bill would give local school districts control over their academic calendars, while the third would strip Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) of major regulatory duties.
Due to the timing of the legislative action on these bills and Hogan’s announcement, the legislature will have an opportunity to override the vetoes between now and the end of the legislative session on April 8. All three bills passed with veto-proof majorities, suggesting that overrides on all three measures are likely.
In a letter to Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), Hogan said the minimum wage legislation “could cost us jobs, negatively impact our economic competitiveness, and devastate our state’s economy. Normally, we have been able to come together to achieve bipartisan solutions, but this legislation misses the mark and entirely disregards my common sense compromise proposals.”
The “compromise” Hogan is referring to is his proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12.10 an hour by 2021. But while Hogan threw out the suggestion earlier this month, he made no visible public effort to engage lawmakers or convince them to meet him halfway.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Josh Kurtz over at Maryland Matters