Harford County Council overrides executive veto on arbitration bill, 7-0

The Harford County Council voted 7-0 on Dec. 25 to override the county executive's veto of Bill 25-012, a measure that adds an enforcement provision to memoranda of agreement (MOAs) allowing binding arbitration for certain grievance disputes under the county personnel code.

Council member John Bennett, who moved to override the veto, said he continued to support the bill and accused the county executive of making misleading public statements about testimony in earlier hearings. "I just want to reaffirm everything I previously said about this bill and the reasons for it," Bennett said. He added that it was "disappointing to see the county executive say some of the things he has in his statements and to confuse the public and to continue to use untruth statements."

Why it matters: The bill changes how some workplace disputes involving union contracts are resolved in Harford County by adding an explicit binding-arbitration enforcement path to MOAs. Supporters argued it protects county employees' rights under contract; opponents…