After recent fights and scandals over schools lacking air conditioning or heating, Maryland lawmakers are moving to rewrite the process of deciding which schools can get repaired, renovated or rebuilt.

The proposal is moving quickly and appears headed for a veto showdown with Gov. Larry Hogan.

By a veto-proof margin, the House of Delegates on Tuesday approved the measure to strip that authority from the state spending board composed of Hogan, the state comptroller and treasurer and give it to a new commission appointed by state leaders. Even before the Democratic-controlled House gave the bill preliminary approval Monday night, the Republican governor was threatening a veto.

The bill is now speeding through the Senate, which suspended normal procedures Tuesday, and could possibly be presented to Hogan by Friday.

Democratic supporters say the bill would strip the Board of Public Works of its “bully pulpit” power to override the priorities of local school administrators.

“We have decided to take politics out of school construction,” said Del. Maggie McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat.

McIntosh blamed politics for the negative national attention city schools received about frigid classrooms this winter that spurred viral photos of students attending class in coats and hats. A year earlier, the board had withheld $10 million from the city and Baltimore County school districts until officials presented plans to install air conditioning in schools that lacked them.

“So this year, kids in Baltimore City had air conditioning, but they didn’t have heat,” McIntosh said on the House floor, explaining that the district had to forgo heating repairs to install air conditioning. “Thanks to that bully pulpit, Maryland children were featured on CNN with coats and gloves.”

Republican lawmakers have criticized the proposal as an attempt to strip power from Hogan, who has garnered praise from many parents concerned about crumbling infrastructure and overheated classrooms during warm months.

“We need to remember that that bully pulpit that the Board of Public Works has, whether you or I like it politically, it actually produces results for the children,” said Del. Nic Kipke, the House minority leader. “More kids are getting air conditioning in their schools because of the political pressure.”

Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, is also protesting the bill as a political attack, though none of his fellow Democrats have defended him. Treasurer Nancy Kopp, also a Democrat, could not be reached for comment.

Hogan and Franchot both suggested that transferring oversight from a bipartisan board of elected officials that conducts its business in public and giving it to a committee would diminish transparency and accountability.

The proposal is attached to a set of reforms to the process used to vet projects seeking state funding. The legislation includes provisions that could allow growing jurisdictions to more easily acquire land for new schools and give cash-strapped school districts more flexibility in spending state money.

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