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Gov. O'Malley is on MPT tonight for his monthly gig on Direct Conneciton with Jeff Salkin. The appearance comes at an auspicious time, as he faces huge budget shortfalls and orders state employee furloughs. You can submit questions at directconnection@mpt.org or call in to the show live, 1-800-926-0629. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
What would you like to see Jeff ask him about?
Laura Smitherman has been ensconced in the State House basement, writing about the governor, General Assembly and vagaries of Maryland politics for several years. An erstwhile business reporter, her interest in politics dates to her days in Washington when she covered Congress and national campaigns for another media outlet. She now follows a range of policy debates from slot-machine gambling to universal health care and energy regulation, while keeping an eye on the next election.
Paul West covers Washington for The Baltimore Sun, continuing a tradition that began the month the paper was born, in 1837. He hasn't been in the DC bureau that long--only since Ronald Reagan was president. He's covered Congress, the White House and presidential campaigns as the paper's national political correspondent and Washington bureau chief. He's on the lookout for news of significance to Sun readers at the other end of the B/W Parkway. That includes the activities of the state's congressional delegation and anything else that might shed some light on the inner workings of the nation's capital. 
Julie Bykowicz's first days as a political reporter, in January 2009, coincided with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's indictment and the start of the Maryland General Assembly's 426th legislative session. She focuses on coverage of state agencies, such as social services, juvenile justice and prisons. During the session, she wrote about the death penalty, slots parlors and speed cameras, among other hot topics. Julie began political reporting after more than seven years on The Baltimore Sun's crime desk. She lives in Baltimore and works primarily in Annapolis.
Comments
Question-
Why not do pay reductions of 6 percent to each state employee making 6 figures and up?
Why not cancel 1-2 vacation days to save money?
Why not dump Lt. Governor's staff and let the Governor's staff do both jobs?
Does the Governor's wife need a staff?
Any legislator within one hour of Annapolis cancell their hotel lodgings-
let them commute like the rest of us!
those are my fiscal sanity requests!
Posted by: Anonymous | December 17, 2008 10:58 AM
Question
With the resignation of David Edgerley, the State has lost a very experienced, knowledgeable, and dedicated economic development director at an inopportune time, given the current economy. What changes, if any, in economic development policy does the Governor envision, and what short- and long-term objectives does the Governor look for the next DBED director to achieve?
Bill Ruxton
Millersville
Posted by: bilrux | December 17, 2008 12:34 PM
Why do you not charge sales tax for the sale of your gear at Omalleys March? Yet, the resat of us are required to charge and collect?
Posted by: Joe | December 17, 2008 12:54 PM