Baltimore County Council meetings have at times turned into political train wrecks. Council members have filed last minute amendments to bills leading to confusion. Meanwhile, the public has no idea what’s being voted on.
1st District County Councilman Pat Young, a Democrat, plans to introduce reforms Monday night designed to bring order to the legislative chaos.
Young said he got to thinking about what government transparency should look like after last year’s confusing debate over banning single use plastic bags.
Young said, “Does it mean messing with bills or putting in amendments or drafting things and having no one understand what’s being considered and what’s not? I don’t think so.”
During the plastic bag debate, council members struggled with a flurry of last minute amendments.
At one point, then Council Chairman Julian Jones needed a redo.
“In all of this confusion I would definitely like to change my vote,” Jones said at the time. “We may have to do this again.”
Young’s reform legislation would require all proposed amendments be posted online by 10:00 a.m. on the day of the final vote, unless a super majority, at least five of the seven council members, agree to waive that rule.
Any amendment that is going to be debated by the County Council at one of its non-voting work sessions has to be on the Council’s website at least two hours before the meeting begins.
Another proposed change involves public hearings.
Currently, the public gets one opportunity to testify about a piece of legislation. Under Young’s reforms, residents would get two chances.
Young, who spent eight years in the Maryland House of Delegates before being elected to the County Council in 2022, said the legislative process at the State House was understandable.
“So much so that when I was in a situation that wasn’t executing a process that I recognized or could follow myself, I was losing my mind,” Young said.
Young’s reform package has three cosponsors, including Council Chair Izzy Patoka.
“I’m looking forward to it being put on the agenda as a resolution that we’ll be adopting and we’ll be acting on that for the years to come,” Patoka said.