Apr 29, 2005  | COMMENTS     

Social conservatives are mobilizing to stop four gay-friendly bills from becoming law in Maryland.

The Medical Decision Making Act (SB796), the Hate Crime Penalties Act (HB692), the Transfer & Recordation Tax Exemption (HB1298) and the Safe Schools Reporting Act (HB407) all passed the legislature by the time the session ended on April 11. They now await Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s signature.

The governor has not given any clear indications as to whether he will sign any of the bills. He has until May 26 to sign or veto the bills. If he does nothing, the bills will automatically become law.

Meanwhile, petitions have begun to circulate as part of an initiative to put all four of the bills to a popular vote. If the governor approves the bills, and these petition drives are successful, the measures will be put on hold until the November 2006 election.

Delegate Don Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel) has claimed that the Medical Decision Making Act, which would allow registered same-sex couples, as well as opposite sex couples older than 62 to visit each other in the hospital and participate in medical decisions, “is Maryland’s civil unions bill.”

Dwyer maintained an intense focus on marriage issues throughout the legislative session, once blocking an increase in marriage license fees intended to help fund a domestic violence shelter. Dwyer has said that no bill that relates to marriage in any way would get by him without an attempt to add a marriage amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

The day after the Medical Decision Making Act passed, Dwyer filed paperwork with the State Election Board to put the legislation to a popular vote in the November 2006 election. Tres Kerns, executive director of Votemarriage.org and Take Back Maryland, filed petitions in response to repeal the three other bills through referenda.

Kristina Wilfore, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, said that ballot measures tend to increase voter turnout in non-presidential election years.

Dwyer said he believes that that will be the case in the 2006 election.

“I have confidence that this issue is important enough to Democrats, Republicans, independents and even those who do not currently vote, that the petition will be successful,” Dwyer said this week via e-mail.

Dwyer said that church members have volunteered to collect signatures and that the petition effort has quickly multiplied to every corner of the state.

Wilfore said there are no spending limits on referenda because they are not considered electioneering activities by the Federal Elections Commission and that ballot measures are protected as free speech.

“These initiatives tend to harden people’s opinions rather than soften them,” Wilfore said.

According to the Maryland State Board of Elections, there are no financial reporting requirements for ballot measures.

Anthony McCarthy, a public radio political commentator and talk show host in Maryland, said he believes that Ehrlich is seeking counsel from his advisers and looking for a way that he can sign the Medical Decision Making Act and the Transfer Tax Recordation Exemption without offending his base of conservative voters.

“Both of those bill encompass groups other than LGBT people,” McCarthy said. “It will be an incredible balancing act for the governor.”

McCarthy said he believes the other gay bills are less likely to get the governor’s signature.

“Ehrlich has said several times that he believes all crimes are hate crimes and that he’s opposed to adding sexual orientation to the hate crimes laws. If he’s smart, he can wait and it automatically becomes law,” McCarthy said. “Hate crimes laws are not anathema to the religious right. Marriage is where their heart and opposition lies now.

Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, a statewide gay rights group, said he doesn’t think rights should be put up for a popular vote.

“One of these measures is a law enforcement tool, one is about not treating same-sex partners as strangers under tax law and one deals with medical decisions. The notion that the general population of Maryland has a vested interest in this, that this is going to alter society in some way that is going to affect them, is not true.”

Furmansky said that the Maryland Democratic Party and several other groups have expressed interest in working to keep the referenda off the ballot.

Eartha Melzer can be reached at emelzer@washblade.com.