The Maryland House of Delegates will reconvene in a special session within the next month to select a replacement for the late Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), who died Sunday afternoon at the age of 72.
While the House made no formal announcement about a succession vote before adjourning at midnight Monday, several delegates said they expect to be called back on April 18, April 25 or May 1 – with the latter date the likeliest.
“It’s just a question of who’s going to be in town when,” said Montgomery County Del. Eric G. Luedtke, the House Democratic Caucus chair, who presided over two tense, emotional meetings Monday to discuss succession planning and rules.
Some lawmakers will return to the State House for bill signings scheduled for April 16 and 30. A signing ceremony scheduled for Tuesday was canceled in deference to Busch.
While working through their grief over Busch’s death and a long, busy day of lightning-round legislative deliberations and voting, delegates also spent a considerable amount of time talking privately about the options before them.
Some younger lawmakers pressed for a quick vote on a Busch replacement – perhaps as early as Tuesday, sources said. But a majority of Democrats felt that to be sensitive to Busch’s family, they should wait.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Josh Kurtz over at Maryland Matters