Senate Amends Compromise Bill, SB 160
March 8, 2013
We wanted to let you know about some promising news!
On Thursday night, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee threw a hammer into House Bill 78/Senate Bill 160, the so-called "compromise bill" sponsored by Delegate Simmons. In a 7-4 vote the Senate committee amended it to provide much needed relief for Maryland dog bite victims. Left unamended, Simmons' bill would have codified the One Bite rule into Maryland law, as well as abrogating the entire Solesky ruling.
So far, we have not seen the actual language of the amendment. Yet Simmons' outrage by it (and threats), clearly shows it is favorable to dog bite victims. We hope to get a legal analysis of the amendment over the next few days.
Pit bull bill compromise unravelsRead full Baltimore Sun article
A compromise in the General Assembly over legislation to undo a court ruling that declared pit bulls inherently dangerous has unraveled, turning what had appeared to be a settled issue into a dogfight between two veteran legislators.
The breakdown in the understanding between Sen. Brian E. Frosh and Del Luiz R.S. Simmons — both Montgomery County Democrats — raises the chances that owners of the breed will continue to face heightened liability and the possibility of eviction.
"I am extremely disappointed in Brian Frosh," said Simmons. "He basically reneged."
At issue is an amendment adopted by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, which Frosh chairs, on Thursday night. Simmons said the amendment "killed" the bill. Frosh said Simmons is overreacting...
PS. Simmons is unraveling, making threats and calling fellow party members "incompetent." Also, we truly hate to send you to a Balt Sun article, as they have ingnored dog bite victims 99.99% of the time in their articles since the Solesky ruling. Note the language, "then [dog bite victims] enjoyed before the Court of Appeals ruling." So, victims "had it easy" proving their cases under the One Bite rule?
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