Dwyer removed from committee assignment

Bryan P. Sears//January 9, 2014

//January 9, 2014

Del. Don Dwyer’s afternoons for the next 90 days have been suddenly freed up.

Del. Don Dwyer [Photo: Maryland State Archives]

The embattled Anne Arundel County Republican who was twice-convicted of operating vehicles while under the influence is officially a man without a committee assignment.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch announced that Dwyer was being removed from the House Ways and Means Committee. Dwyer, a three-term Republican, has served on the committee since 2013.

Last year Dwyer was sentenced to 60 days in jail related to two separate DUI-related offenses—one involving his boat and the other a car. His sentence was reduced to 40 days with Dwyer being allowed to serve his time on weekends. The delegate will continue to serve those weekends during the 90-day General Assembly session that began on Jan. 8.

Busch, in an emailed statement, said the move was necessary.

“My job as Speaker is to protect the integrity of the institution of the House of Delegates,” Busch said in an emailed statement. “Delegate Dwyer’s actions have reflected poorly on the House and, as Speaker, I feel it is important that there are consequences to those actions. I hope that Delegate Dwyer is finding help but we cannot allow the general public to lose confidence in the effectiveness of their leaders. ”

The move leaves Dwyer without a committee to serve on. He is the only one of the 188 House and Senate members to have no committee.

This is the second time Dwyer was removed from a committee assignment. In 2012 he was removed from his assignment on the House Judiciary Committee following a alcohol-related boating accident.

There is also an effort within the House of Delegates to expel Dwyer as well as an online petition drive calling for his ouster.

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