By Adam Pagnucco.
Recently, Maryland Matters reported on two state senators from Prince George’s County (Anthony Muse and Ron Watson) coming under fire for holding jobs with county agencies. Watson was appointed as a senior advisor to the superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools. He asked for an exemption to a general state law prohibition on state legislators holding county jobs and was denied by the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics. Watson resigned from the job. Muse was told by the ethics committee that it was illegal for him to hold a $180,000 a year job in Prince George’s County government. He has declared his intention to fight the order, in court if necessary. It’s noteworthy that both Muse and Watson were hired to these jobs after they were seated in the General Assembly.
This issue is not confined to Prince George’s County. Delegate Teresa Woorman (D-16) is a public information officer in Montgomery County government. After reading the Maryland Matters article on Watson, one of my readers commented, “Why is Teresa Woorman allowed to have a county job?”
Setting aside Woorman for a moment, are state legislators allowed to hold county jobs?
The answer is yes and no.
Generally speaking, state legislators are not allowed to receive earned income from local governments or agencies. However, there are exceptions. MD General Provisions Code § 5-514 (part of the state’s Public Ethics Law) addresses the issue as follows.
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(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3) of this subsection, a member of the General Assembly, a filed candidate for election to the General Assembly, or a member–elect of the General Assembly may not receive earned income from:
(i) an executive unit; or
(ii) a political subdivision of the State.
(2) The Joint Ethics Committee may exempt an individual from the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection if the earned income is for:
(i) educational instruction provided by the member, candidate, or member–elect;
(ii) a position that is subject to a merit system hiring process;
(iii) a human services position; or
(iv) a career promotion, change, or progression that is a logical transition from a pre–existing relationship as described in paragraph (3)(ii) of this subsection.
(3) This subsection does not apply to compensation to a member, candidate, or member–elect derived from:
(i) employment as a nonelected law enforcement officer or a fire or rescue squad worker; or
(ii) a transaction or relationship that existed before the individual:
1. filed a certificate of candidacy for election to the General Assembly while the individual was not an incumbent member of the General Assembly; or
2. was appointed to fill a vacancy.
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That’s a lot of legalese, but here’s the bottom line. State legislators are generally prohibited from earning income from local governments and similar governmental entities in the state. There are three exceptions: 1. Income earned as a non-elected law enforcement officer or fire/rescue squad worker, 2. An exemption from the General Assembly’s ethics committee under limited circumstances and 3. A preexisting arrangement before the individual ran or was appointed to office.
That third condition applies to Woorman, who worked for county government before she was appointed to the House of Delegates. Woorman is complying with state law.
Woorman is not alone. Examples of legislators holding county jobs include current Lieutenant Governor and former Delegate Aruna Miller, who worked in Montgomery County’s Department of Transportation; Delegate Greg Wims, who was director of the county’s Upcounty Regional Services Center when he was appointed but left that position soon afterwards; former Delegate Jane Lawton, who worked in Montgomery County’s cable office; and former Speaker of the House Mike Busch, who worked in Anne Arundel County’s parks department. All four held those jobs before they joined the General Assembly. There have been others.
Why does this general prohibition exist? The state government, local governments, school districts and other governmental entities sometimes have conflicting interests. If state legislators are on the payroll of local governments, the leaders of those governments could potentially have disproportionate influence over state decision-making. That could create a hiring spree by county executives, county commissions and school superintendents seeking to buy state legislators to get largesse from Annapolis. There is good reason for this prohibition.
One could ask whether the grandfathering of preexisting employment should be in state law. That’s a worthy debate for another time. But at this moment, Woorman’s employment is legal while Muse and Watson have been told that their outside jobs are illegal. If voters have a problem with Woorman, the solution is not with the state ethics committee but rather in pushing to change state law and acting at the ballot box.