January 18th, 2018 by WCBC Radio
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) on Wednesday injected race into an ongoing squabble with Gov. Larry Hogan (R) over budget briefings, accusing the governor of a lack of diversity in deciding who to invite to a breakfast meeting.
After Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings (R-Baltimore County) expressed disappointment that Democrats had skipped the breakfast with Hogan and budget officials that morning, Miller — who is white — complained that no African American lawmakers had been asked to attend.
“He does not have five white men at the breakfast when he explains the budget, he has a diverse group, this is the Senate of Maryland,” Miller said. “That’s not democracy.”
The breakfast meeting is an annual tradition in Annapolis on the day the budget is released. Miller and other Democratic legislative leaders announced Tuesday that they would skip it, because Hogan invited them only a day in advance and had released details of the $44.4 billion spending plan to Republicans — and reporters — before sharing it with them.
Miller said Hogan, who called for bipartisanship last week on the opening day of the 90-day legislative session, broke a nearly 30-year tradition by briefing Republicans and news organizations on the budget before discussing it with top legislative leaders
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