In Maryland, Old Friends In New Roles
Speaker Busch to Face Off Against Gov. Ehrlich

By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 3, 2002; Page B01

The two freshmen entered the House of Delegates 16 years ago, single and handsome in their white banker's shirts. They shared a love of football, an eye for the young women whom
lobbyists remember flocking to their committee hearings and became fast friends who shot hoops, drank beer and even vacationed together.

Today, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is Maryland's first Republican governor-elect in a generation. And his old buddy, Democrat Michael E. Busch, was elected the House speaker yesterday,
replacing his mentor Casper R. Taylor Jr. (D-Allegany), who was swept out of office in the November election.

The long-standing friendship between Ehrlich and Busch will be tested by their partisan and philosophical differences as the General Assembly prepares to head into one of the most
difficult legislative sessions in recent history.

For the first time in 34 years, Maryland has a politically divided government. The Republican executive and the Democratic-led General Assembly will bring different ideologies and
agendas to the table as they grapple with the biggest problem facing the state: a record deficit that could require deep cuts in government services.

The House of Delegates will be led by Busch, a pragmatic lawmaker from Anne Arundel County who opposes one of Ehrlich's top priorities -- the legalization of slot machine gambling to
provide a new source of tax revenue. Del. Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore) also was elected yesterday as speaker pro tem, becoming the first black woman to hold the position.

As it has for the past 16 years, the state Senate will be led by President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Prince George's), a fierce partisan who nonetheless supports Ehrlich's gambling plan.

In the coming months, the three men are expected to jockey for leverage even as they search for common political ground.

The man House Democrats unanimously chose to become the leader of what one delegate called the "loyal opposition" made it clear that his friendship with Ehrlich will not get in the
way of his desire to uphold Democratic principles. Both men have long since married, and Busch said they rarely see each other socially these days.

Busch, a former college football player and high school coach, compared the coming clash to a sports competition. On the political field, he said, the two men may go at one another, but
it won't be personal.

"I don't see that as being hard at all," said the jovial Busch. "My loyalty is going to be to the House of Delegates and the people who got me here."

Ehrlich said he believes that their long friendship will be helpful in finding compromise on a host of issues, if not slots.

"He's the leader of the Democrats in the House, and I guess I'm the titular head of the Republican Party in the state," Ehrlich said. "We understand those roles, but the pettiness and the
game-playing isn't going to take place. If I disagree with him or he disagrees with me, we'll do it up front."

Ehrlich's coattails helped Republicans pick up eight seats in the House, but it remains firmly in control of Democrats, who have 98 seats to the GOP's 43. Busch takes over a chamber with
a number of new members -- 46 -- who will have to learn the ropes.

Though he acknowledged that his chamber is closely divided on the issue of gambling, Busch called slots a short-term fix to the state's structural deficit. He questioned the Senate
president's position.

"I find it hard to understand why Senator Miller is so far out in front on this bill," Busch said.

And the new speaker issued a challenge to Ehrlich, saying that if the governor-elect "can't rally all the people in his party to the bill, I don't know why the Democrats should have to take
it up."

Busch indicated his willingness yesterday to look at raising taxes as a way to solve the state's budget problems.

While Ehrlich headed off to Congress in the Republican sweep of 1994, Busch stayed in Annapolis, gaining a reputation as a centrist lawmaker who got things done by building
consensus. A charmer, he is quick to dispense a smidgen of political gossip or a compliment, telling one dapper lawmaker yesterday that he should get the chamber's "best-dressed
award" and throwing his big arm around a host of other well-wishers.

"Like any good coach, he's a guy who knows the team succeeds when everybody is happy," Del. Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery) said in his nominating speech.

Busch also became an expert in health care legislation, successfully pushing programs to provide health care to the state's poorest children and to make prescription drugs more
affordable for the elderly.

In that, he shares the passion of his predecessor. But in other areas, the Annapolis lawmaker will present a different leadership face from Taylor's; Busch favors abortion rights and
stricter gun control laws and is considered an aggressive protector of the environment.

He also is an aggressive politician, winning the House speakership through personality and mettle. Within minutes of learning on election night that Taylor was likely to lose his
reelection bid after 28 years, Busch contacted him.

Though Busch had been up since 5:30 that morning, he headed to the office at 11:15 p.m. and started phoning colleagues, assuring them that he would not dramatically shake up Taylor's
leadership team if they would support him.

Others who had considered challenging him quickly abandoned the idea, including Del. Howard P. Rawlings (D-Baltimore), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "He was
very levelheaded, and he just rounded up the votes," Rawlings said.

Though Busch's position on slots could give the chamber bargaining power on other issues, he may face stiff opposition from within his ranks. As Del. Tony E. Fulton (D-Baltimore) put
it yesterday, "I respect his position, but how are we going to solve the budget problem and fund the priorities I need in my district?"

Fulton said that in the end, he believes Busch will "be a speaker who reads the waters and follows the right course." And Busch himself didn't put it much differently:

"The legislature will build consensus either for or against," he said. "They don't work for me."

                                                 © 2002 The Washington Post Company