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By John Wagner and Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 12, 2005; Page A01
The Maryland General Assembly gave final approval yesterday to
legislation designed to curb doctors' soaring medical malpractice
insurance rates, mustering just enough votes to turn back an intense
lobbying effort and override Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s veto.
The Democrat-backed measure provides immediate relief to Maryland
doctors, who were facing double-digit increases in this year's
premiums, and includes long-term initiatives aimed at limiting the
cost of malpractice litigation.
"The beneficiaries today are the citizens of Maryland," said House
Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel). "It's not about the
legislature and the governor. . . . It was about access to quality
health care."
Lawmakers convening for the final day of a rare emergency session
took a series of votes on vetoes Ehrlich has issued over the past
year. Democratic leaders let stand his rejection of a bill capping
state university tuition and failed to override his veto of a bill
requiring higher wages on state contracts. Even so, it was a bleak
day for the Republican governor, who watched six measures become law
over his objections.
Ehrlich scrapped a plan to unveil his legislative agenda for the
2005 session, which starts today, choosing instead to lash out at
Democrats for passing a malpractice bill he rejected as "a superfund
for trial lawyers" and "another tax on working families."
"It's incomplete and inadequate, and, of course, it sends the signal
down here that this [issue] is finished," Ehrlich said.
One Republican, Sen. Richard F. Colburn (Dorchester) said the show
of legislative muscle was clearly intended to embarrass Ehrlich.
Democrats disagreed.
Passage of the malpractice bill by the thinnest of margins capped a
remarkable journey for an initiative the governor called his number
one priority. After lawmakers passed an altered version during a
special session he initiated, he vetoed the bill Monday.
In rejecting the bill, Ehrlich said it was unacceptable because the
legal changes fell far short of what he sought and because Democrats
chose to use a tax on HMOs to pay for doctors' relief from rising
insurance premiums.
But lawmakers said the bill would rescue physicians, some of whom
have considered abandoning their practices, by creating a state fund
to hold insurance rate increases to about 5 percent this year,
compared with an average 33 percent increase that was facing those
covered by the state's largest carrier.
"The doctors should be dancing in the streets of Annapolis," said
Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George's), chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, who helped push the measure through the House.
Yesterday's overrides marked the second year in a row that Democrats
succeeded in resurrecting bills over Ehrlich's objections. Before
that, it had been 15 years since lawmakers had last overridden a
governor's veto.
This year, in addition to the medical malpractice measure, the
General Assembly resurrected measures that would clarify the state's
open-meetings laws and tweak the state's approach to nursing care.
Lawmakers failed to override Ehrlich's veto of a living-wage bill
that would have required state contractors to pay workers $10.50 an
hour. Tom Hucker, executive director of Progressive Maryland, which
lobbied for passage, said anemic Senate support was "like a body
blow for the Democratic Party."
House leaders opted against a vote on Ehrlich's veto of a bill
capping tuition increases, crediting the governor's decision to
increase funding for the state university system.
But the malpractice bill generated most of the day's drama. To
override the governor's veto, Democrats needed a three-fifths
majority.
On the second floor of the State House, members of the governor's
senior staff shuttled between Ehrlich's office and the gallery that
overlooked the delegates, as the staff members tried to assess their
chances for victory.
As the floor debate raged, Ehrlich was calling potential swing
voters, said George W. Owings III, a Cabinet member and a Democrat
who served for 10 years as the House majority whip. Some delegates
took the governor's calls, he said, while others refused.
Members of Ehrlich's team became more confident that they had a shot
at blocking the override after the speaker delayed the session's
start for almost an hour, a pause they believed was prompted by
last-minute Democratic defections.
When the votes appeared on the electronic board in the House
chamber, Ehrlich's deputy chief of staff, Edward B. Miller, whipped
out his cell phone. "I'll call him right now," he said, referring to
Del. Nathaniel T. Oaks (D-Baltimore), a fence-sitter who appeared to
be breaking against Ehrlich.
But it was too late. The speaker had mustered the necessary 85
votes. Nine Democrats joined 41 Republicans in opposing the bill,
but Oaks was not among them. As Busch read the result into the
record, Ehrlich's chief of staff, Steven L. Kreseski, headed back to
the governor's office and scowled. "I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna
kill him!" he yelled, without revealing who he was referring to.
After the vote, Oaks said he was torn. "It hurt me," he said.
"Everybody and their brother in the administration was calling me.
They knew I wasn't wedded to this bill. But it was too little too
late."
In the end, he said, "I didn't want to wind up without any place in
my district for a lady to go have a baby."
Later, the Senate passed the bill 31 to 15, just clearing the
threshold of 29 votes needed to override. Only two conservative
Democrats, both from competitive districts, Sen. Roy P. Dyson (St.
Mary's) and Sen. John C. Astle (Anne Arundel), voted against the
override.
Even before the Senate vote, Ehrlich held a news conference outside
his office. He read from a short, handwritten text, telling
reporters: "We're not surprised. Obviously we can count. But it's
disappointing nevertheless."
The bill takes effect immediately, but it could be months before
doctors feel the benefits of the new state fund, lawmakers said.
Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery) said the relief would be passed
along to doctors through adjustments in premiums or rebates.
T. Michael Preston, executive director of the Maryland State Medical
Society, said doctors have mixed feelings about what has transpired.
He said that the relief fund is "a major commitment" from the state
but that legal changes in the bill are relatively modest.
"This is the end of the first round. We have to keep moving
forward," said Preston, whose organization initially supported
Ehrlich's efforts but backed the Democratic bid to override his
veto.
Ehrlich has vowed to introduce more sweeping legislation on medical
malpractice in the regular session that starts today.
But he expressed fear that, after all the energy consumed on the
legislation over the past two weeks, lawmakers were ready to put the
issue behind them.
"This is only one chapter in this debate," Ehrlich said, adding that
he suspected that it's going to be very difficult to write the next
one.
Staff writer David Snyder contributed to this report.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
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