Wednesday, March 28, 2001

Westmoreland: Reublican ideas advanced by Democrats in 2001 By JOHN THOMPSON jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com Looking back on the recently completed General Assembly session, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland believes the Republican Party made great strides. The Sharpsburg legislator said many of the initiatives passed this session were actually Republican initiatives that failed last year. "The college savings plan and putting paraprofessionals back in the elementary schools were all Republican-backed ideas from a year ago," he said. Overall, he rates the session successful, but says the real arguments will start in August. A special session is set to start Aug. 6 for the purpose of redistricting, and Westmoreland believes the fur will start flying. "Anytime you're talking about redoing more than 250 district lines, you're going to have debate. The Democrats are fighting for their life and the Republicans are fighting for freedom," he said. Westmoreland believes his first year as leader of the Republican Caucus was successful, and he looks forward to the next session to try and get more Republican-backed initiatives passed. What do you think of this story? Click here to send a message to the editor. Back to News Home Page | Back to the top of the page