Furlough watch: Del. Bill Frank
Four Baltimore County legislators were not on the list of 155 senators and delegates who gave up at least one day’s pay as part of a voluntary program in January.
That doesn’t mean all of those four kept the money. Two, in fact, Del. Bill Frank and Sen. Andy Harris, both Republicans, announced they would give up the pay — just not to the state.
Instead, they both said they would make a donation to charity.
Patuxent Publishing Co., publisher of this Web site, is asking the 29 legislators who represent Baltimore County to voluntarily release information showing how many days pay they gave up in January. The House of Delegates and Senate declined to provide that information when asked last month, saying the information was a personnel matter.
For those who opted to make a charitable donation, we’re asking for a receipt or other proof.
Frank, who represents the 42nd District, said earlier this year he intended to make donations totaling $750 to charities including the Maryland Food Bank and Associated Catholic Charities.
But in a recent conversation, he acknowledged that college tuition for two children and high school tuition for a third got in the way.
Frank, who works as a fund raiser for United Way of Central Maryland, said he plans on making the donations this fall. Instead of donating to the charities directly, he will donate the lump sum to United Way, which supports the charities he wanted to make donations to, said Frank.
The delegate agreed to provide a receipt or canceled check.
“We should be leading by example,” Frank said.
We’ll be following up with him.
Sen. Bobby Zirkin said earlier this month that he would provide information showing the number of days he voluntarily gave up. Today, Zirkin faxed over a document authorizing state human resources officials to withhold four days pay.