Howard County delegation amends HOCO 10-26 education reporting bill and agrees to hold final vote open

The Howard County delegation considered HOCO 10-26, a measure to require reporting of the percentage of county budget devoted to the school system. County staff proposed clarifying edits intended to capture certain pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) and one-time expenses.

Mister Schefter, the county representative, displayed the suggested wording changes and said the edits would clarify that "excluding one-time expenses" refers to county general fund revenue and that language changes would cover items like pre-K costs that might otherwise be omitted. Dara Moriarty, the delegation's counsel, said the phrasing "but not limited to" was unnecessary because the code already treats "including" as non-limiting.

Delegate Hill moved to fold the county’s clarifying edits into a previously offered amendment; the delegation voted to accept the modification. Musa called the roll and the chair announced that the changes to the amendment had passed.

Members then moved to vote on HOCO 10-26 as amended. Early in the roll call Musa reported "4 votes in the affirmative, 2 in the negative," leaving the outcome unresolved because Delegate Watson was present via device but not able to cast a vote at that moment. Delegates discussed precedent for holding a roll open to allow an absent member to record a later vote; the delegation agreed to hold the vote open until the beginning of the floor session so Delegate Watson could submit her vote.

At the end of the meeting the final disposition of the bill remained pending; delegation staff said they would confirm legal precedent and follow the agreed procedure for collecting the absent member’s vote before finalizing the result.