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Lawmakers pledge to change bill after Howard residents blast them

By Josh Kowalkowski
Examiner Staff Writer 11/28/08

Howard residents scolded the county delegation for a poorly written bill they said would trample their freedom of speech, prompting the lawmakers to offer apologies and pledge their support for an amendment.

“What bothers me is that our experienced legislators would craft a piece of legislation that was so filled with infringements on my basic rights,” said Rick Bowers, who unsuccessfully ran for a delegate seat in 2006.

“It’s very disappointing to me.”

The disputed legislation would ban any person from standing on state highways in the county from advertising “any message.”

The bill’s other provision, banning people from soliciting money on state roads, was lost in the firestorm of criticism from the crowd about that two-word phrase.

Bowers said sign waving helped him in his political campaign for a delegate seat in District 13, which is now represented by Democratic Dels. Guy Guzzone, Shane Pendergrass and Frank Turner, who are also the bill’s sponsors.

More than 100 people packed the Board of Education building in Ellicott City for a three-hour public hearing this week on 10 local bills affecting Howard County in the next General Assembly session.

“It’s nothing personal, but the wheels of government failed us miserably,” said Ed Priola, of Columbia. “The research is not there — and that’s what good government is about.”

Several in the crowd said the Democratic lawmakers were pushing the bill.

“The Republican Party of Howard County showed tonight that we aren’t going to be pushed around anymore,” said Jay Krueger, of Columbia.

Guzzone and Pendergrass said their intent with their sponsorship was never malicious. They said they just wanted to extend the county’s panhandling ban on non-transit activity, like soliciting patronage, to state roads.

“The simple answer to all of this is simply to amend it to make it clear,” said Guzzone. “Nobody wants to limit anyone’s freedom of speech in any shape or form.”

Turner, however, defended the bill and said the whole intent was to ensure safety, explaining his concern with accidents involving sign wavers.

The Examiner this past Sunday first reported that the Maryland Attorney General’s Office found the bill’s provision on advertising unconstitutional, after Republican state Sen. Allan Kittleman asked the office to review the proposal.

“I was pleased by the large turnout. It demonstrated the public concern at any attempt to take away their civil liberties,” Kittleman told The Examiner after the meeting.

“Because people came out, there will be changes to the language of this bill. People should be glad their presence made a difference.”

Kittleman and Guzzone said they’ll work together to draft language that would amend the bill to ensure political sign waving and other similar advertising would be permitted.