As with most of the issues of concern to the constituents of the 36th District, Delegate Smigiel's record on the environment is easily discernable by reviewing his voting record.
The Maryland League of Conservation Voters gave Delegate Mike Smigiel its second highest score for any Republican legislator in the House of Delegates. As with most scoring systems, there is a question of whether some of the bills on which the Delegates were rated upon actually have anything to do with the environmental stand of the legislator. This year the Maryland League of Conservation voters rated the Delegates based upon their vote on
7 bills. Delegate Smigiel received a pro-environment rating on his vote on
5 of 7 bills.
The concern raised by Republicans is that the two bills which many Republicans were given anti-environment ratings on would appear to have little or nothing to do with the environment.
The two bills are really one bill with two votes. SB-478 dealt with the early voting issue. Many Republicans like Delegate Smigiel believe that it is just as important to ensure the integrity of an election as it is to ensure accessibility to vote.
The Republicans wanted to have a requirement that an ID be shown proving the voter is whom they claim to be and that there be some sort of paper trail of the votes cast so if there were a power failure or other technological problem with the computer voting machines, a recount of the votes cast could be conducted. The Democrats overwhelmingly rejected these efforts to protect the integrity of the elections.
No matter where you stand on the issue, most would agree that the dispute on how to conduct elections has little to do with a legislator's stance on environmental issues. Yet, the League of Maryland Conservation Voters chose to rate legislators on how they voted on this bill and the veto over ride of Governor Ehrlich on this same bill.
These two votes were the only two "environmental" votes counted against Delegate Smigiel. This accounts for why no Republican received a 100 rating from the League of Conservation Voters.
Mike voted for the Healthy Air Act ( HB-189 ) which will help to reduce
Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Mercury Pollution and Carbon
Dioxide from our air. Governor Ehrlich signed this bill into law earlier this year.
Mike also was the sponsor of HB-27 the House version of The Unicorn Lake Bill which was an effort to save one of the most pristine spots on the Eastern Shore from
having a landfill placed in close proximity to its shores. Delegate Smigiel worked aggressively with the entire 36th District Delegation and a bipartisan collection of local elected officials and citizen activists to obtain a 3 year moratorium protecting Unicorn Lake during that time and allowing the County Commissioners time to work with the Maryland DNR to obtain a solution to the problem.
The votes considered by The
Maryland League of Conservation Voters included:
Open Space Amendment - SB102
- A vote for was a correct vote
ICC Funding - HB1352
- A vote against was the correct vote
Healthy Air Act Amendment - HB189-
A vote against was the correct vote
Healthy Air Act - HB189
- A vote for was a correct vote
Citizens' Standing - HB1429
- A vote for was a correct vote
Early Voting - SB478
- A vote for was a correct vote
Veto Override - SB478
- A vote for was a correct vote
If you have any questions about this or any other matter
please contact us.
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