ANNAPOLIS — Lawmakers are working overtime of late with just 15 days left in the 2012 General Assembly and an important deadline looming Monday.
With high-profile legislation such as same-sex marriage and the state budget largely settled, the House and Senate are working furiously to pass some of their most important remaining bills by Monday’s crossover day - the date by which bills typically must pass their initial chamber to have a legitimate shot at becoming law.
Legislators put in long hours Friday and Saturday to pass several notable bills ahead of the deadline, including a modified version of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposals to raise the state’s $30-a-year “flush tax.”
A number of other bills - including Senate-proposed ethics reforms and the governor’s proposal to limit septic systems - could be top priorities for lawmakers Monday as they try to beat the clock.
The 76th day of the 90-day session is the final day on which bills can pass their initial chamber and then be referred immediately to a standing committee in the opposite chamber. Any bills passed after Monday must go to the other chamber’s rules committee, which then decides whether to refer them to a standing committee. The session ends April 9.
House and Senate lawmakers could pass dozens of bills Monday, including a weakened Senate version of the governor’s bill to limit septic systems in new developments.
The governor’s bill would, in an effort to curb pollution, require counties to set rules regulating where septics can be used. But the Senate amended the bill Friday to give counties full authority over restrictions and allow the state only to suggest changes.
Sen. Thomas M. Middleton, Charles Democrat who sponsored the amendment on behalf of the governor’s administration, said the change was made out of concern that state-mandated restrictions on septics in rural areas would make land less attractive to buyers.
“If you do it the way the bill came in, there’s absolutely no recognition of property values,” Mr. Middleton said. “You would have had a state agency that is going to come in and doesn’t have to be accountable whatsoever.”
While bills that don’t pass in time for crossover day will face an extra legislative hurdle, that won’t necessarily make their ultimate passage impossible.
Some bills with influential sponsors or supporters can get a late push in the session’s final weeks, as did last year’s successful alcohol sales tax increase, which wasn’t introduced until mid-March and passed its initial chamber after the crossover date.
Lawmakers are unlikely to act by Monday on proposals by Mr. O’Malley, a Democrat, to raise the gas tax and implement offshore-wind energy but have not entirely ruled out either bill.
The Senate also appears content to wait until after crossover day before voting on a proposal to legalize table games and add a casino in Prince George’s County.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said Friday that while lawmakers are eager to move things along, some proposals are too complex to push through before the deadline.
“It’s going to miss the deadline but that’s all right,” said Mr. Miller, Prince George’s Democrat. “It’s more important that we know what we’re doing and take our time.”
• David Hill can be reached at dhill@washingtontimes.com.
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