Laurel Leader reports on Del. Frush's planned recall bill

Laurel Leader
Budgets tight as Maryland General Assembly convenes; Laurel-area legislators lining up bills
By Lindsey McPherson
lmcpherson@patuxent.com

... Frush has big legislative plans. One of the bills she plans to introduce would allow voters to recall politicians.

"There should be some avenue the electorate has to say, 'Wait a minute, I don't like what you're doing' and to vote them out of office," Frush said, explaining that the bill will create "something that will hit hard to people who basically break the law."

She added that "we've had a lot of that lately -- especially in Prince George's County" and the bill is being created at the request of a group of constituents.

Frush said the major piece of the bill she is still working on is what percentage of voters should be needed to recall a politician from office.

"I don't want to have any fringe groups come in and try to take people out," she explained.

Frush also has a few other bills aimed at preventing politicians from becoming corrupt or influenced by money.

For example, she explained that she doesn't believe judges should be elected because they take campaign contributions from attorneys who end up arguing cases in their courtrooms.

"I think it's a conflict. So, I'm going to put in a bill about that," Frush said, noting that she believes judges should only have retention elections.

Frush also said she plans to put in a bill that would take away some of the Prince George's County Council's authority to regulate zoning. The members of the council also make up the county's Zoning Board.

"We have found that there has been difficulty in that respect," Frush said, explaining that "there's been a practice of pay for play in the county for many, many years." ...