When the House debated a bill Thursday intended to improve the safety of storm drains, House Minority Whip Jesse T. Pippy (R-Frederick) rose to ask a question of the sponsor — knowing the sponsor would not be there.
As he has for the last three weeks, Del. Christopher Eric Bouchat (R-Carroll and Frederick) showed up to register his presence in the House in the morning, then turned and left. The freshman delegate, frustrated with Annapolis, has stopped attending floor sessions and committee meetings and has all but thrown in the towel on his legislative career.
So when Mason’s Law, named after a 13-year-old Mount Airy boy who died after being swept into a storm drain, hit the floor, Bouchat was not there to speak for it.
“This is, like, a very important bill. It certainly has an important origin,” Pippy said, looking to the back of the chamber at Bouchat’s desk.
The chair was empty. On the desk, a small bust of Socrates stared blankly into the chamber.
“I would like to ask the sponsor a few questions,” Pippy said, “if someone could find him.”
There were some snickers and groans from other delegates.
Bouchat missed the vote on his bill, one of 90 bills taken up by the House on Thursday, one of hundreds since the end of February, when he all but quit the General Assembly.
A new routine
Bouchat remains a delegate and each day registers his presence during the first quorum call of the day. Then he leaves.
It’s a pattern he appears to have followed every day since Feb. 27, according to a review of House records.
For about three weeks, Bouchat has settled into a new schedule.
He has skipped Monday night sessions. Other days, Bouchat has arrived in the morning and registered his presence. He does not stay for floor sessions or vote. He is not going to his committee.
Bouchat is more frustrated than apologetic.
“I get up at 5:15 AM, commute to my business in Arbutus, work then drive to Annapolis, met my Cheif [sic] to review constituent emails, reply, go to the floor, pray, punch in, and then go back to my business the rest of the day,” Bouchat said in an email Thursday
A breaking point
Bouchat, known for his festive hats, is coming to the end of his first term — and his time in the House. With roughly three weeks left, he has effectively quit. He contends he still does some work.
A salary bill sponsored by Bouchat appears to have been the last straw. House Bill 165 would raise the salaries of some sheriffs to match that of the state’s attorneys in their counties. The bill remains in the House Judiciary Committee more than a month after a bill hearing.
Bouchat said the reason was “death by a thousand cuts.” But acknowledged he was unhappy with the committee holding his bill.
“Once I found out [the Judiciary Committee] had no intention of giving the ten sheriffs who are primary law enforcement the same salary as their state’s attorney partners, I accepted being there was not productive, while my business is suffering,” Bouchat wrote in an email. “I need to have a job at the end of this term after this duty has harm me financially.”
Bouchat owns an Arbutus welding company.
“I lost around a half million dollars in income over four years to earn $210,000.00 as Delegate,” he wrote. “I can not afford to stay in office. There is no return on investment and I refuse to suck donations from constituents telling them I can achieve things for them, knowing the Republicans are useless.”
Since entering the State House in 2023, Bouchat has had a sometimes uneasy relationship with his own party. At times, he has expressed his own displeasure with Republicans.
In his first year, he criticized members of his caucus over their approach to debates on gun laws. He called some members “show horses” who engaged in futile efforts to tack on amendments that were doomed to fail, in an effort to score political points.
He voted with Democrats when many in his party were against COVID-era rules, including pro forma sessions.
Haven Shoemaker, a Republican who was once a delegate from Carroll County and later its state’s attorney, wrote a scathing op-ed criticizing Bouchat’s legislative efforts. Bouchat said party leaders held him up to ridicule last session “for amending the Second Look Act to prevent rapist and life-sentenced inmates from being eligible for it,” Bouchat wrote in an email.
But Bouchat has little love for his party, saying “Republican votes are completely worthless” in Annapolis.
“Since my term started, you can remove every Republican vote taken on every bill both in committee and on the floor and nothing would change,” he wrote to Maryland Matters. “Which means we are useless.”
“I submit great bills that go no where. Offered both political science reform and tax reform only to get ignored by my own party. I am a businessman with 32 years experience, 30 years political experience and the only member of the GA who practiced law at the U. S. Supreme Court and state Supreme Court with case law regarding redistricting,” he wrote. “My party ignored me. If you had someone on your bench batting .300 would you keep them on the bench? Only if you were fearful and jealous of their abilities outshining your track record of failure.”
Bouchat resigns from committee, urges GOP to follow
On Feb 26, Bouchat sent an email to House Republican leaders including Pippy and House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany), saying he was resigning from his committee and encouraging all House Republicans to do the same.
“None of our votes matter in the committee or on the floor and it is due time we show this to the public,” Bouchat wrote in the email obtained by Maryland Matters. “Let this General Assembly be a ship wreck and watch it happen without us having any blame symbolically.
“Until you admit to the public then prove it that we are useless here and not to blame, the Democrats will keep playing you for fools before the public eyes,” he wrote. “I am amazed that you guys actually run for office and to return for more than this.”
Bouchat, who is not running for re-election in his staunchly Republican district, warned in that email that Republicans will lose more legislative seats this year.
“You’re going to be in a worse position this time next year,” he wrote.
‘Most unproductive years of my life’
Pippy’s “questioning” of Bouchat Thursday — he later said there was “no malice” in his questioning, which was an attempt to inject a moment of levity into a long day in the House — is almost the only public acknowledgement of Bouchat’s decision to ghost the legislature.
Bouchat’s absence raises questions about how the General Assembly holds members accountable for failing to perform basic duties.
A spokesperson for House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk confirmed Bouchat sent a letter attempting to resign his committee assignment. “He was told he doesn’t have the ability to resign a committee assignment made by the speaker,” said Heather Mizeur, the spokesperson. “They can’t just resign.”
“Attendance is always on the delegate with accountability coming from their constituents,” Mizeur said.
The General Assembly is empowered to set rules for its members. That includes their removal. There are few that govern attendance.
The Maryland Constitution provides a number of reasons for removal of a member of the General Assembly, including “failure to act.” But no legislator has ever been removed for “failure to act,” according to the Department of Legislative Services Library.
Mizeur declined to answer questions about whether the legislature should hold Bouchat accountable. Buckel declined to comment on Bouchat’s absence, as did House Judiciary Committee Chair J. Sandy Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel), who chairs the committee Bouchat is assigned to.
Bouchat did not respond to questions about how he would explain his absences to his constituents or if he thought he should be removed from office, insisting he has not completely given up as a delegate.
“I still go to office, reply to constituents and attend functions. I am juggling keeping my business afloat,” he wrote in one of a number of emails Thursday.
Bouchat, who announced last year he would would run for governor, missed the filing deadline and now says he will run for governor in 2030. Being in the minority party in the legislature left a bad taste in his mouth.
“If you are a goal oriented person use to being productive and successful do not do this job, if you are a Republican anyways,” Bouchat wrote in an email to Maryland Matters. “It is the most unproductive four years of my adult life.
“However, it has been the most educational and enlightening four years,” he wrote. “I love political science and this makes me wiser. Therefore, I am extra grateful to be blessed with the challenges presented. If, I am to be Governor this is the correct path, through knowledge and experience.”