Democrats Approve Agenda in Final Push
Maryland Bills Include Gay Rights, Labor Issues; Slots Effort Fails Again
By John Wagner and Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 12, 2005; Page A01
The Maryland General Assembly concluded a rancor-filled session last night, with Democrats galvanizing hefty majorities in both chambers to muscle through a liberal agenda that has been endangered under a Republican governor.
The final push came at the end of a 90-day session in which lawmakers denied Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) his top priority -- the legalization of slot machine gambling -- for the third year in a row and continued to chip away at the powers of Maryland's first Republican governor in a generation....
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Much of the Democrats' agenda this year appeared aimed at propelling them into the 2006 governor's race in a posture that will help both preserve their base and draw back support from the blue-collar workers who abandoned them in 2002....
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Toward that end, the assembly approved a $1 increase in the minimum wage that Maryland employers must pay and required the state's largest employers to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll for health benefits. Ehrlich has pledged to veto that bill, which currently would affect only Wal-Mart. The governor has not said what he will do with the minimum wage bill or a measure, approved yesterday, that would help the working poor gain access to community health centers....
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Other portions of the Democrats' agenda targeted their progressive base. With the domestic partners bill, they gave unmarried partners, including gay couples, the right to make health decisions for each other. And they expanded the state's definition of hate crime laws to include crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44888-2005Apr11.html 
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