Our say: Legislators shouldn't dilute flush fee

The state flush fee is exhibit No. 1 in making the case that the Ehrlich administration is serious about cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. So we don't expect to see it altered soon, particularly in an election year.

Nonetheless, Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. didn't originally want septic system users to pay the $30-a-household annual fee, which now goes into a fund for upgraded sewage plants, cover crops on farms, and repairs to failing septic systems. His first idea was to raise money just from Marylanders who are hooked up to sewage systems. Mr. Ehrlich reluctantly went along with a broadening of the program in order to get the General...