Senators and State House observers on Thursday downplayed the political fallout surrounding the 18-count indictment one day earlier of Senate Budget & Taxation Committee Chairman Ulysses Currie.

The committee's head since 2002 relinquished his leadership post Wednesday — but did not resign his office — after federal investigators indicted Currie (D-Dist. 25) of District Heights on charges that he used his legislative influence to benefit a grocery chain for whom he did consulting work.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. quickly elevated Vice Chairman Edward J. Kasemeyer to lead the panel on an interim basis.

Miller (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach does not plan to name an acting vice chairman and will re-evaluate the makeup of all committees between the upcoming elections and the start of the legislative session in January, Deputy Chief of Staff Patrick H. Murray said.

A committee member since 1995 and vice chairman since 2007, Kasemeyer (D-Dist. 12) of Columbia expects there will be little change in how the panel operates.

"I don't think it will be significantly different in spirit than the way it had been run," he said.

The committee will be in good hands with Kasemeyer as chairman, said Sen. David R. Brinkley, who has served two terms on the panel. He doesn't see Currie's legal troubles hanging over the next legislative session.

"The Senate itself is going to continue to function efficiently regardless of the challenges that one member, even if it's a key member, is operating under," said Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) of New Market.

Although Currie has led Budget & Taxation for eight years, the 15-member committee has many knowledgeable budget writers, said former chairwoman Barbara A. Hoffman, who now runs an Annapolis lobbying firm.

"The loss of a single person does not ever spell the demise of the committee," she said. "I lost an election. It didn't fall apart when Senator Currie took over the committee. The legislature is bigger than any person or personality."

Annapolis insiders don't believe it would be a major blow to Prince George's County if Currie were to resign his seat or give up the chairmanship permanently, several insiders said.

"As long as the Senate has Mike Miller, Prince George's doesn't have to worry," said Laurence Levitan, a former four-term Budget & Taxation chairman who now is an Annapolis lobbyist.

Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie is the only other committee member from Prince George's County.

Depending on how the election plays out, Montgomery County could be the beneficiary, said Levitan, who represented the county in Annapolis for 24 years. When then-Budget & Taxation Vice Chairman Patrick J. Hogan left the legislature in 2007 to become the University System of Maryland's chief lobbyist, Montgomery lost a leadership slot it held on the committee for most of the past 30 years.

Currently, three of the committee's 15 members are from Montgomery: Sens. Rona E. Kramer (D-Dist. 14) of Olney, Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington and Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village.

There has been some talk Miller might reduce the size of the committee to 13 members after the election and increase the size of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, which currently has nine members.

Because Currie is unopposed in the primary and general elections, he will win another four-year term unless he withdraws his candidacy. Regardless, his name still would appear on the primary ballot, and it's unclear what would happen if he were to resign before the Nov. 2 general election.

But the indictment could be an election-year liability for Maryland Democrats who have seen several of their elected officials, including former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and former state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell, the subjects of high-profile ethical misconduct cases.

"The mayor of the city of Baltimore has had her own problems, so that reflects badly on us as Democrats," said Sen. Lisa A. Gladden (D-Dist. 41) of Baltimore.

abrody@gazette.net

Staff writer Sarah Breitenbach contributed to this report