I’m a firm believer in incremental progress, but not this time.

If the House passes the Senate’s death penalty bill, without adopting any further amendments, it will go to the Governor for his signature.

These minor changes would have a major political effect.

Legislation ending the death penalty in Maryland would not get to the floor of the Senate or the House for another decade.

The thinking would be: let’s see what effect these changes have upon the system before we again debate whether to eliminate it.

This afternoon, I spoke to several of the House co-sponsors of the repeal bill. All of them agreed that we should still pass it – unamended.

I’ve also asked for research on court decisions that demonstrate the inadequacy of the evidentiary changes in the Senate bill.

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I promised that I’d share with you my response to the personal attack on me in the Washington Examiner. Here it is:

Dear Editors:

Deception was the hallmark of the lead paint industry throughout most of the 20th century – when it marketed and sold its poisonous product to families, knowing full well of the dangers of lead pigment to children. Legislation in Annapolis that would finally hold the lead industry responsible for its conduct prompted an equally misleading column by Marta Mossburg.

House Bill 1156 seeks to end both the cycle of poisoning of Baltimore’s children and taxpayer subsidies of treatment for the preventable disease caused by the lead-paint industry’s pollution. It would allow for market share liability, based on evidence in a court of law as to each manufacturer’s share of the lead paint market. This is a recognized legal concept to apportion responsibility for wrongdoing.

The facts are clear: lead paint continues to poison thousands of innocent children every year, causing life-long, irreversible brain and nervous system damage. Medical and hospital costs associated with lead poisoning can reach more than $700,000 over a lifetime of a child.

Baltimore City has the highest lead poisoning and=2 0exposure rate in the state. The bill simply provides poisoned Baltimore City children the opportunity to hold the lead industry responsible for the damage it has knowingly caused.

Perhaps your columnist was deceived by the team of high-priced, lead paint lobbyists and publicists who have lined up to defeat my bill and protect the profits the lead paint industry made through its campaign to poison generations of children.

Ms. Mossburg compares innocent, lead paint poisoned children to gamblers and overeaters. A child doesn’t ask to be lead poisoned.

Good business policy does not encourage poisoning of children, nor does it encourage gambling, alcohol or any other addictions. As it has for more than a century, the lead paint industry has yet again shown the lengths to which it will go to avoid being held financially responsible for its wrongdoings.