WBAL.com

n the Maryland Senate, lawmakers who agree with Governor O’Malley that the death penalty should be repealed say they may bypass having the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee consider the bill, and bring it to the Senate floor directly.

The committee rejected the bill by one vote in 2007, and did not take a vote on it last year.

Frederick County Republican Senator Alex Mooney who is considered a swing vote on the death penalty thinks avoiding the committee isn’t a bad idea.

“I think it would be fair for all 47 senators to vote on it, not just the committee,” Mooney told WBAL-TV Friday night.

Senate President Mike Miller thinks the bill can pass the full Senate, by one or two votes.

However, Miller has said repeatedly that there are not the 29 votes needed to end a threatened filibuster by death penalty supporters.