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The Maryland Senate passed a House bill Wednesday prohibiting minors from using tanning devices without parental consent, but not before fighting about it.

Opponents said abortion providers can allow minors deemed mature and capable of giving informed consent to get the procedure without parental permission, but no such exemption exists in the tanning bill’s text.

“You need parental consent to get a tan, but not an abortion?” asked Sen. Alex Mooney, R-Frederick, who voted against the bill.

Sen. David Brinkley, R-Frederick, said the bill is hypocritical given that there’s no clause allowing “mature” minors to give informed consent. But he still voted for the measure.

“I’ve had melanoma,” he said. “I understand the importance of it. … It’s a very potentially serious health hazard that has to be watched carefully.”

Sen. Robert Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, launched into a sarcastic list of other potentially harmful things that could justify parental consent. He included Twinkies, McDonald’s fast food, sushi, video games, certain types of music, and even the sun itself.

“The same youngster who’s going to go to a tanning salon is also going to go to the beach,” he said, before voting against the bill.

The bill text said 25 percent of American teenagers have used tanning booths three or more times, and approximately 1 million Americans get skin cancer each year.

“Sometimes the most minute bills generate the most discussion,” said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., D-Calvert.

–By Capital News Service’s Laura Schwartzman

The Maryland Senate this week approved changes to a bill that would have strengthened the state’s requirements for physical education in public schools.

As originally proposed, the Bryan Moore Student Health and Fitness Act would have required Maryland public schools to provide students in kindergarten through eighth grade with 150 minutes of physical activity a week, including a minimum of 90 minutes of physical education.

The amendment alters the bill so that it simply establishes a task force, which would determine the feasibility, merit and fiscal impact of such a change.

The amendment’s sponsor, Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, R-Somerset, said he appreciates the need to address the state’s growing childhood obesity problem but is concerned about the burden it would place on schools.

“The superintendent from the Lower Shore called me and said, ‘This is going to be a very significant increase, and we don’t have the money to cover it,’ ” Stoltzfus said on the Senate floor. “It will require the additional hiring of faculty in many schools … and people in these areas are saying, ‘We just can’t afford it.’

“I support what this is trying to accomplish, and that’s to get our kids to exercise more, but the fiscal note seems overwhelming,” Stoltzfus added.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. David C. Harrington, D-Prince George’s, said he would accept the amendment — reluctantly.

“I know that some of you received telephone calls from back home regarding the cost [of possibly hiring] some more teachers for physical education,” he said. “But I think we also need to speak to this bill, and the reason we put in this bill, and frankly the reason why I’m passionate about this bill.”

Currently, the Maryland State Department of Education requires physical education in all schools, but specific programs are determined by the local school districts, so the amount of activity varies widely across the state. According to the bill’s policy note, some elementary schools provide 30 minutes of physical education each week, while others may provide up to 125 minutes a week.

Bryan Moore, the bill’s 14-year-old namesake, says in a YouTube video that he supports more activity in school. Moore was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at the age of 12 as a result of obesity.

“I was just so big,” Moore says in the video. “I wouldn’t want any other person to go through what I’ve gone through.”

–By Capital News Service’s Kate Elizabeth Queram

The Maryland Legislature provides updates on the status of the bill.

State Delegate Kumar Barve, D-Montgomery, was named the Democratic Leadership Council’s New Democrat of the Week in recognition of his aggressive stance on the environment.

“I’m very honored,” he said. The recognition is just that - an “attaboy,” said Barve. But the DLC is a national organization of moderate Democrats that was once chaired by former President Bill Clinton, so the attention carries some clout.

Barve, along with Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-Prince George’s, is pushing for the Global Warming Solutions Act to pass the General Assembly this year. The bill calls for one of the toughest crackdowns on greenhouse gas emissions in the country — it’s comparable to California’s legislation — and Barve believes that passing it could push the rest of the nation to follow suit.

The bill was recently discussed in a joint hearing before the House Environmental Matters and Economic Matters committees, where Barve faced a barrage of questions from fellow lawmakers on the reality of global warming.

Delegates asked him to prove that global warming is a real problem instead of just part of a rotating hot and cold weather cycle, and asked if increased temperatures could be due to sunspot flare-ups.

“Some of the comments were a little surprising,” said Barve. “The whole thing with sunspots, that was debunked years ago.”

Though Barve admitted the bill will be difficult to pass, he said most legislators realize global warming is a problem.

“A very small number of people have difficulty believing it, and they’re very vocal,” he said. “The majority of legislators understand that it’s a problem.”

–By Capital News Service’s Kate Elizabeth Queram

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., not only won big in Maryland’s GOP primary on Tuesday, he won in every jurisdiction.

“In the areas we did the best, we had the greatest effort from volunteers,” said Jim Shalleck, McCain’s campaign director in Maryland. “It was a result of good, old-fashioned politics, with sign-waving and distribution of literature.”

McCain captured his biggest vote tally in Montgomery County, where he amassed 27,366 votes to former Arkansa Gov. Mike Huckabee’s 9,315, according to unofficial returns from the Maryland State Board of Elections.

But his percentage of victory was largest in Talbot County, where McCain garnered 61.4 percent of the votes cast, to Huckabee’s 17.2 percent — for a difference of 44.2 percent of the vote.

McCain’s margin of victory over Huckabee was slimmest in Garrett County, where just 138 votes separated the two–1,733 to 1,595.

But the percentage of votes separating the two was smallest in Washington County: McCain captured 45.8 percent of the votes cast, to Huckabee’s 43.9 percent, for a difference of just 1.9 percent.

Statewide, McCain captured 54.9 percent of the Republican votes in the primary to former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee’s 28.5 percent, according to unofficial returns from the Maryland State Board of Elections. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Assistant Secretary of State Alan Keyes captured 6 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Additional votes were cast for five GOP candidates who had already withdrawn from the race before Tuesday’s primary, but whose names still appeared on the ballot.

About 37.45 percent of registered Republicans and Democrats turned out to vote — the state’s strongest turnout since the 2000 presidential election, said Maryland Republican Party Executive Director John Flynn.

“There was a lot of interest on both sides because for the first time in my memory, Maryland was relevant to the nomination process,” said Shalleck.

 –By Maryland Newsline’s Paula Vasan

Although Sen. Barack Obama beat Sen. Hillary Clinton convincingly in Maryland’s Democratic primary — 60.6 percent to 35.9 percent - eight counties denied the Illinois senator a clean sweep.

Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties in Western Maryland; Caroline, Queen Anne’s and Worcester on the Eastern Shore; Cecil County in northeastern Maryland and Carroll County in central Maryland each went for the New York senator, according to unofficial results from the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Clinton’s biggest vote margin came in Cecil County, where she beat Obama by 2,209 votes. Her smallest vote margin came in Caroline, where she beat Obama by 78 votes.

David Paulson, communications director for the Maryland Democratic Party, declined to comment on the county returns.

But he did have something to say about voter turnout. “Well over 800,000 Democrats were so inspired to go to the polls in the sleet, ice and dead of night,” Paulson said. “And we know that both candidates inspired the turnout.”

According to the Maryland State Board of Elections’ unofficial primary presidential results, 821,682 Democrats headed to the polls on Tuesday, well ahead of the 486,449 who voted in 2004 and the 514,653 in 2000.

–By Maryland Newsline’s Michelle Williams