Continue reading "O'Malley to release final Congressional map today" »

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Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley told a national television audience this morning that Republican Gov. Chris Christie would provide "tremendous entertainment value" if he runs for president, but will offer little in the way of "effective government."

O'Malley, a Democrat, appeared for on CBS's Face the Nation opposite GOP Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi in a segment that focused on widespread speculation that Christie will jump into the Republican primary battle.

Maryland's governor has been picking on Christie for about a year, starting last January when he blasted the New Jersey governor's attitude toward state workers.

O'Malley has sought to raise his national profile this year, taking on a leadership role in the Democratic Governors Association, making frequent trips to Washington, D.C. and appearing on Sunday talk shows. O'Malley is set to be in North Carolina early next week raising money for the DGA.

On Face the Nation this morning, host Bob Schieffer pressed both his guests on whether Christie's weight should disqualify him from occupying the Oval Office.

Barbour spoke of his own struggles shedding extra pounds, and paid O'Malley a compliment: "You see somebody like me opposed to somebody like Martin [O'Malley], he gets the first swing" because he looks better on television. 

Schieffer next turned to O'Malley, introducing him as the "slim, trim governor of Maryland." O'Malley dodged the Christie weight question, and when chided for doing so by Shieffer, O'Malley said "it was not an evasion, it was a redirection."

Continue reading "O'Malley blasts Christie on Face the Nation" »

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Continue reading "Special session could include jobs bill" »

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Continue reading "Md. shows nearly $1 billion budget surplus" »

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Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley said this morning that he "won't be satisfied" until power across the state is restored and showed reporters that he is tracking hour-by-hour progress on outages via his iPad.

"A lot of people had 48 hours of patience," O'Malley said. "That 48 hours is up. People are getting understandably prickly."

The governor said that Pepco, which provides power to the Washington suburbs, has been "really quick" to restore power to Marylanders. The governor had strongly criticized that utility in the past, after two blizzards in 2010 knocked out power in Pepco's service area for extended periods of time.

"I bet most of the people n the Pepco area were pleasantly surprised," O'Malley said.

O'Malley also noted that the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, which serves St. Mary's, is restoring power at a healthy clip. He said that southern Maryland suffered some of the worst damage, but as of 9:25 a.m. this morning 83.5 percent of households that lost power had it back.

Looking at Baltimore County, O'Malley observed that only 73.2 percent of households with outages had power restored. "I'm not sure that [Baltimore County] was hit any stronger," O'Malley said. The area is served by Baltimore Gas and Electric.

The governor was receiving power outage data via a webtool that his office made public for the first time during Hurricane Irene. The governor noted that the data is intended to give citizens a sense for how their utilities are preforming and compare their service against others in the state.

Posted by Annie Linskey at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Administration
        

Maryland's Senate Finance Committee kicked off a series of five hearings on Gov. Martin O'Malley's off-shore wind proposal Tuesday, the beginning of a study period intended to help lawmakers hash through their concerns with the governor's bill.

The time away didn't seem to resolve any issues: Lawmakers expressed the same concerns about cost that led the committee to shelve the bill earlier this year.

O'Malley, a Democrat, has proposed authorizing a wind farm in the waters off Ocean City. The legislation would allow the state's Public Service Commission to enter long term contracts with wind energy developers, making energy deals that would increase ratepayer costs -- at least in the short term. Wind energy is more expensive than traditional energy sources because of the high development costs.

During today's hearing Sen. Allan Kittleman, a Howard County Republican, wanted to know why Maryland should be on the leading edge of the off-shore wind industry. "Why not wait for other states?" Kittleman asked. Over time the costs associated with wind energy are projected to decline as technology improves.

Jim Lanard, the President of the Offshore Wind Developers Coalition, said that speedy passage of the legislation would put Maryland on the "vanguard" of a developing field and guarantee jobs for the state. He said that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, is backing off-shore wind in his state purely for the economic development benefits.

Continue reading "Senate Finance Committee starts summer study " »

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Continue reading "O'Malley planning trade mission to India" »

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Continue reading "O'Malley talks taxes, but not specifics" »

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Despite Maryland's close ties to the federal government, state Treasurer Nancy Kopp said today that Maryland's AAA score from Standard and Poor's is safe. The agency downgraded America's rating Monday for the first time in history.

Kopp said in a statement that she's “pleased" S&P will evaluate each state on a case-by-case basis and she believes "Maryland’s prudent fiscal management will be viewed positively."

Kopp said her office has been on contact with all three rating agencies and will continue to do so. She bases her optimism about S&P on word from a Standard & Poor's analyst who told her office: "There is no action on MD's rating," according to a news release from Kopp. The analyst is not named. 

An accompanying report from S&P, however, does not sound quite as sunny. Speaking generally, S&P writers said that states "with relatively low levels of funding interdependencies with the federal government" would be safer. Maryland clearly does not fit that category.

But the folks at S&P said they'd look kindly states that keep their fiscal house in order -- and they do tend to put Maryland in the group.

Sun columnist Jay Hancock also analyzed the likelihood of a downgrade to Maryland's rating in today's Sun. He spells out some of the state's so-called "interdepedancies" with Washington: Maryland benefited from $80 billion in federal funding in 2009 and one of 18 MD jobs is directly connected to the federal government. 

Posted by Annie Linskey at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Administration
        

The governor's redistricting commission is considering a truncated public hearing schedule this year, with eight or nine meetings around the state instead of the traditional 12.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller suggested the change during the group's first meeting in Annapolis this afternoon. He's one of five members of the Governor's Redistricting Advisory Committee, which will travel around the state to seek input from Marylanders about how congressional and legislative maps should be re-drawn.

Miller said the hearing process should have "as much openness as possible" but added that time constraints make a 12 meeting schedule difficult. House Speaker Michael E. Busch agreed. The commission was just named Monday. Members said they want to make recommendations on the congressional map by September, giving them about two months to hold their meetings.

Continue reading "Redistricting commission may hold fewer meetings" »

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Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley said Wednesday he is "very, very disappointed that two long-term employees let us down," his first comments since the Friday release of a scathing report about activities in the upper ranks of the State Highway Administration.

The Office of Legislative Audits examined the revolving door between SHA, which has nearly a $1 billion annual budget, and private contractors after a tipster called a fraud hotline to report questionable activities. The Democratic governor said his administration is cooperating with the auditor -- who is poised to release more details in the weeks to come.

Among the auditor's initial findings: A high-level employee in SHA's Office of Construction apparently solicited funds from contractors for a golf tournament in which he had a financial stake, and then expedited awards to some of the same companies. In another instance, an SHA manager retired and 12 days later began a job with an engineering firm that benefited from a $16 million procurement he helped arrange while he was still with the highway administration.

Neither employee works for the agency any longer, and neither is named in the report.

O'Malley appeared to view the findings as isolated rather than systemic.

The two employees, he said, "fell short of what we expect in the administration." He said employees with private experience are valuable "but not if it leads to cutting corners."

Continue reading "O'Malley: SHA employees 'let us down'" »

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley called Maryland's often lengthy and confusing business permit process "one of the weaknesses of our state," this morning before signing an executive order aimed at easing it.

"Fast Track," he said, is supposed to help speed projects with significant economic impact in specific redevelopment areas -- so long as they would not adversely impact the state's environmental and Smart Growth goals.

Developers who qualify for Fast Track would be told up front whether their business plans have any chance at approval, or whether the state will fight "tooth and nail" against the project, O'Malley said.

The new program is part of an overall administration concept called Maryland Made Easy, which corrals state permitting and business approval information in one area. Noting that small businesses account for 85 percent of the jobs in Maryland, O'Malley said, "We understand that government is not the job creator. But it sets the conditions."

Bureaucratic red tape was a theme on the gubernatorial campaign trail last year, with Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. repeatedly criticizing the Democratic governor's "over-regulation" of private businesses.

Continue reading "O'Malley calls state permit process a 'weakness'" »

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Categories: Administration, Money and Business, jobs, jobs, jobs
        

Continue reading "Gubernatorial citation is *not* an endorsement, O'M spokeswoman says" »

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Continue reading "MD pols to attend tonight's U2 show " »

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Continue reading "O'Malley re-sets strategy to tighten septic rules" »

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Maryland's top tax collector said Monday that a season-long lockout of the National Football League this year would cost state and local governments between $33 million and $37 million in lost sales, income and amusement taxes.

In the first report produced by a state to project revenue losses in the event of a missed season, Comptroller Peter Franchot said a cancelled season would have "a measurable impact" on the Maryland's economy because the state is home to two NFL teams.

NFL owners and players are in talks to end the three-month-old lockout. But as The Sun's Ken Murray reported today, "there is no guarantee a deal will be reached in time to save the 2011 season."

Franchot estimated that the state could lose as much as $13.5 million from income taxes, $4.6 million from admission and amusement taxes and $5.5 from sales taxes.

Local governments could lose as much as $9.4 million in income taxes and $7.8 million in admission and amusement taxes, Franchot estimated.

Continue reading "Franchot: NFL lockout could cost state $37 million" »

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Continue reading "O'Malley's trip to Asia costs $164K" »

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Continue reading "State extends BWI taxi contract for one year" »

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Categories: Administration
        

Fresh from a 10-day trade mission to Asia, Gov. Martin O’Malley said Tuesday he hopes to make more foreign trips during his second term.

Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have requested a detailed accounting of public money spent on the expedition.

O’Malley said the trip to China, South Korea and Vietnam was good for $85 million in deals between Asian and Maryland businesses, and spoke of future travel to India, Africa and Latin America.

“You can't really be effective as a governor in a global economy … unless you are engaged abroad and doing things that only the governor's office can do,” the Democratic governor told reporters in Annapolis.

The Asia was O’Malley’s first to the world’s fastest-growing region. Other governors, including Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., his Republican predecessor, made similar expeditions.

What distinguished O’Malley’s trip was the size. Nearly 70 officials, educators and business leaders, who paid their own way, accompanied O’Malley for at least part of the mission.

While O’Malley was overseas, the Maryland House Republican leadership wrote to the state Department of Business and Economic Development asking for a breakdown of state expenses.

“Could the same thing have been accomplished without such a large delegation traveling on the taxpayer’s dime?” House Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell asked.

Continue reading "After Asia, O'Malley planning more foreign travel" »

Posted by Annie Linskey at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley, nearing the end of his trade mission to Asia, announced four new business agreements between Maryland companies and their counterparts in Vietnam on Friday.

Half of the agreements involved Maryland firms working with state-owned enterprises in Vietnam. These include Marlin Steel Wire Products, a Baltimore company that manufactures wire baskets that inked a “business collaboration agreement” with Inox Hoa Binh, a steel production and fabrication firm.

Marlin Steel CEO Drew Greenblatt, one of 68 business leaders, educators and state officials traveling with the governor, said before they left that he would not come home empty-handed.

“Because the governor is with us, doors are going to be opened,” he predicted.

O'Malley also discussed trade with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi, his office said, and signed a memorandum of understanding between Maryland and the Vietnamese Ninh Thaun Province to explore a sister state relationship to promote trade, investment and educational and cultural exchanges.

The governor’s office said it was the first such agreement between a Vietnamese province and a U.S. state.

Maryland maintains trade offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The state exported more than $25 million in goods and services to Vietnam last year, O’Malley’s office said, and imported more than $156 million in goods including furniture, apparel and wax products from the Southeast Asian nation.

Continue reading "O'Malley announces deals with Vietnam businesses" »

Posted by Annie Linskey at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Administration, Money and Business
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley has decided to sign into law controversial legislation that categorizes incinerated trash as a renewable energy source on par with wind and solar generation.

Wednesday morning update: Check out this article by The Sun's Tim Wheeler.

O'Malley called the legislation "but one part of a comprehensive solid waste management approach."

The Democratic governor's final bill signing for the 2011 legislative session is Thursday, and O'Malley had publicly struggled with whether he would approve the measure. Many environmental groups strongly oppose the waste-to-energy plan, fearing it will discourage recycling and undercut other green energy efforts, such as solar and wind.

“After careful deliberation, I have decided to sign Senate Bill 690," O'Malley wrote in a statement. "Our State has an aggressive goal of generating 20% of our energy from Tier I renewable sources by 2022 and we intend to achieve that goal through as much in-state energy generation as possible. This will require a diverse fuel mix including onshore and offshore wind, solar, biomass including poultry litter, and now waste-to-energy if we are to realize our 20% goal."

In his statement, O'Malley said he remains committed developing an offshore wind farm -- a plan the legislature rejected this year in favor of a study. Entire statement after the jump.

Continue reading "O'Malley will sign waste-to-energy bill" »

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Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown today announced that he is engaged to be married to Karmen Bailey Walker.

In a short, joint statement this afternoon, Brown and Walker said they are planning their wedding for summer 2012. Walker is Comcast's director of government affairs, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Brown and Walker each had a previous marriage. Brown lives in Mitchellville with his 16-year-old daughter, Rebecca, and 10-year-old son, Jonathan. Walker lives in Hughesville with her 11-year-old son -- named Anthony.

“It brings us great joy to announce to our friends, family, and neighbors that we are engaged to be married," the couple said in a statement. "Our love and respect for each other have grown stronger each day of our relationship and we are so very excited to be taking this next step together."

Brown was Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley's running mate in 2006 and again last year.

(Photo provided by Brown's office.)

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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State prison officials now believe they overestimated the necessary capacity of a planned jail for teenagers who face charges as adults.

A study released yesterday by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency concludes the city needs about half the size of what was originally to be a 230-bed facility, Sun colleagues Liz Kay and June Torbati report this morning.

The youth lockup became a campaign trail issue last year for Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley and Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Both had a hand in planning the jail.

Just as officials prepared to break ground, juvenile services activists loudly protested, saying Baltimore needs more youth programs, not more jails. O'Malley agreed to the study that came out yesterday. The lower capacity reflects a downward trend in teen arrests.

Continue reading "State rethinks youth jail, revisiting campaign issue" »

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Categories: Administration, Crime & Justice, Law and Courts
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley has chosen aide Ted Dallas to lead the Department of Human Resources, the state's fourth-largest agency. The Democratic governor also announced hiring choices for communications director and deputy chief of staff (see jump).

Dallas has been O'Malley's deputy chief of staff since March 2010 and has served as interim Human Resources secretary since January. When Secretary Brenda Donald left the agency in July, O'Malley said his administration would conduct a national search for her replacement.

“I am pleased that Ted has chosen to step up and lead our Department of Human Resources," O'Malley said in a statement.

O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec said the administration considered candidates from Florida, Ohio, Georgia and elsewhere before asking Dallas to take the job.

Dallas said he is pleased to become secretary of "an agency that helps people."

"The impact the agency can have on people's lives, particularly on the most vulnerable among us, is a rare opportunity," he said in an interview today.

Before coming to Maryland, Dallas was the second-in-command at Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare. He has also worked as an aide to Philadelphia's then-Mayor Ed Rendell and in the private sector for an IT company.

Continue reading "Interim Human Resources secretary takes the job" »

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Continue reading "Miller: Special session should include tax hikes and pension shift " »

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Continue reading "Maryland higher education: the state gives and takes" »

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Categories: Administration
        

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is trying to oust David Geier from a state autism advisory panel, The Sun's Meredith Cohn reports.

Geier and his father, Dr. Mark Geier, have drawn scrutiny for their controversial view that autism is linked to the mercury in in vaccines -- an idea that has been discredited by the Institute of Medicine. 

Mark Geier's medical license in Maryland was suspended this week; David Geier is not a medical doctor, but the Montgomery County man has worked closely with his father.

"Under the circumstances, we do not believe it's appropriate for David Geier to serve on the autism commission," said David Paulson, a spokesman for the state health department. "Unfortunately, he declined to resign his commission. ... As a result, we are considering the appropriate next steps."

The health department recommended David Geier and 18 others for the panel, which was created in 2009 and advises Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly on autism.

Health officials have not explained why it wanted Geier's input, other than to say they sought a "diverse" array of views. Like all applicants, Paulson said, Geier applied on his own.

Continue reading "State seeks to rescind controversial autism appointment" »

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Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O’Malley made a case to Maryland’s business community that the state needs more money to fix roads and build new ones in a 15 minute speech to the Chamber of Commerce Wednesday night.

Outlining five “hard truths” about the state’s aging infrastructure and dwindling revenue sources, he appeared to be laying the groundwork for a package of tax and fee increases. Top lawmakers have speculated that the fall special session needed for congressional redistricting will include a fix to the transportation trust fund.

“I’d like to tell you bridges are like trees and if we left them alone they would grow taller and stronger, but it is not true,” O’Malley said. “He said he would “like to” be able to say that the state could “build a $90 million bridge for $10 million” but added “it does not work that way.”

Continue reading "O’Malley says new funding needed for transportation" »

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Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley dropped by the state house around 8:45 p.m. to offer reflections on former Gov. William Donald Schaefer. What follows are notes I sent to my colleague Michael Dresser, who is putting together tomorrow's story for The Sun.

"He was a real inspiration to anyone who served," O'Malley said. "He carried the concerns of every person in our state every person in our city."

"He was not the sort of person who rode in the back of a car with his nose in the newspaper," O'Malley said. "He was a person who was wide awake, eyes wide open, and head always on a swivel looking for opportunities to make the state a better place."

Continue reading "O'Malley (in person) on Schaefer" »

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Gov. Martin O'Malley has one week to extract his signature proposals from legislative committees and usher them to approval in the full General Assembly.

But even as he labors to save efforts such as offshore wind and an investment fund for small businesses, another agenda item is calling out for O'Malley's attention: pension reform.

Lawmakers grew so frustrated Friday that they took the weekend to cool down. Now, they must work to settle differences on state employee pensions and health care as they race to complete their budget duties. 

In an interview last week, O'Malley said he had aimed high this session.

"Those are big, difficult issues that require a lot of understanding and a lot of outreach within the General Assembly and within the public," he said. "I didn't run for a second term to do easy things."

Critics say there's another reason his agenda has foundered: his new role in Washington as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. He has spent sizable chunks of the 90-day state legislative session in the nation's capital.

Continue reading "O'Malley's end-of-session to-do list growing" »

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Categories: 2011 legislative session, Administration
        

Updated with Liz Bowie report from school headquarters

Maryland schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is stepping down from her post as the nation's longest-serving state education chief.

Grasmick, 72,, announced her retirement this afternoon to a large gathering of workers at the state Department of Education office that bears her name. She'll step down June 30.

"I have made a very tough decision to leave," she said. She highlighted the state's accomplishments on its Advanced Placement performance, its preparation for kindergartners and its successful Race to the Top application.

"I am never saying goodbye. We have three more months together. We will prepare for the next journey," she said with her voice breaking.

Staff members hugged her and cried. One employee, Mary Gamble, said, "She is a fabulous visionary leader, a marker for all superintendents across the country."

Gov. Martin O'Malley thanked Grasmick in a statement this afternoon.

"From her days teaching deaf children in Baltimore City, to now serving as the head of America's number one public school system, Dr. Grasmick has been long-regarded as a champion for many of the progressive reforms we've implemented in Maryland," the governor said.

Continue reading "Nancy Grasmick to step down June 30" »

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: Administration
        

Taking action for the first time on the growing pile of parole commission recommendations on his desk, Gov. Martin O'Malley has declined to commute the sentences of seven inmates serving life in prison, his office announced Thursday.

The decisions came as lawmakers weigh changes to the governor's role in the parole process.

Under current law, a convict serving a life sentence may not be freed without the approval of the governor. There is no requirement that the governor act on a recommendation by the state parole commission.

On Thursday, a Senate committee voted to give the governor 180 days to object to a commission’s recommendation to release a convict before the inmate is freed automatically. The House has passed legislation that would set a 90-day deadline.

O’Malley’s fellow Democrats have criticized his inaction on 50 parole and commutation recommendations, some of which were waiting when he took office in January 2007.

On Thursday, his office announced that he had rejected commission recommendations to commute the life sentences of five Baltimore City men convicted of murder, one Baltimore man convicted of first-degree rape and one Prince George's County man convicted of murder. They range in age from 55 to 73; all have been behind bars since the 1970s.

A spokesman for O'Malley said the governor was unavailable to comment Thursday. Spokesman Shaun Adamec said O'Malley decided to deny the parole commission's recommendations after reviewing the cases. He said the other 43 cases remain under review.

The timing of the announcement was noted by several senators at Thursday’s hearing.

Continue reading "Governor denies 7 commutation requests; Senate moves to limit role" »

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Categories: 2011 legislative session, Administration, Crime & Justice
        

Maryland remains one of eight states with the highest possible credit rating, a reflection, Gov. Martin O'Malley said this morning, of "tough choices" and "fiscal responsibility."

Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch assigned the state its AAA rating in preparation for the sale of $485 million in general obligation bonds next month.

Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp said the assessment shows that Maryland's fiscal picture is "basically strong with a recovering economy." The treasurer, who is up for reappointment tomorrow by the General Assembly, praised the Democratic governor and legislature for tackling long-term debt issues like the pension system and health care. 

Republicans quickly dispatched statements saying the rating is more a measure of the agencies' belief that Marylanders are amenable to higher taxes. "All a AAA bond rating means is you are willing to raise Any tax, Anytime, on Anyone," Eastern Shore Republican Del. Michael Smigiel posted on his Twitter account.

Continue reading "Maryland retains coveted AAA bond rating" »

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Categories: Administration
        

Maryland's new Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Sam Abed will meet the press today after touring the city juvenile lockup, one of the state's most problem-plagued facilities. He began work last week, after a recent appointment to the post by Gov. Martin O'Malley, The Sun reported this morning.

Abed will take questions at 11 a.m., but some are already raising them. House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell is among the lawmakers who wonder whether five years as a deputy official in another state -- Abed's resume -- provides enough of a base of knowledge. But other lawmakers, including Sen. Bobby Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat, think Abed will be a breath of fresh air, unafraid to propose new ideas or pose questions. 

This is the second cabinet-level appointment O'Malley has made since winning a new term in November. Last month, he selected the FDA's Joshua Sharfstein, a former Baltimore health administrator, as the new leader of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley wants state officials to review the financial documents of private horse tracks in exchange for giving track owners access to millions of dollars per year in subsidies if they need the money to operate.

Sen. David Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican, praised the governor's intervention efforts but called the proposal "a Band-Aid on an arterial wound." The administration and lawmakers have wrestled for years with how to save horse racing -- and the jobs and land preservation that accompany the struggling industry.

In legislative briefings today and Wednesday, O'Malley's aides said the forthcoming proposal would look similar to the emergency deal the governor struck at the end of the year, when the Maryland Jockey Club, which owns Laurel Park in Anne Arundel County and Pimlico in Baltimore, said it did not have enough money to pay for a full, 146-day racing calendar this year.

The state gave the Jockey Club, operated by MI Developments and Penn National Gaming, $3.6 million in money generated by the fledgling slot-machine gambling program. It is supposed to be used for track improvements. Instead, it'll be used just to keep the tracks open.

Joseph Bryce, O'Malley's top legislative aide, said the administration is crafting bills that would give track owners ongoing access to slots money for operations -- a proposal that would last "a couple of years."

Continue reading "Governor to seek horse racing subsidies, oversight" »

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Categories: 2011 legislative session, Administration, Slots
        

Almost 1,400 state workers have asked for the buyout offered by Gov. Martin O'Malley as a way to shed personnel costs. The number, shy of the 1,500 he was seeking, is likely to drop further in the coming days.

Employees have until Friday to rescind their offer. And not all who applied will be granted the buyout. Some employees have grumbled that their superiors have told them they can not participate.

Under the terms of the Voluntary Separation Program, employees who agree to retire by the end of this month would receive a $15,000 payout plus $200 for each year of service. The buyout program is designed to help avoid layoffs in a year in which the state faces a $1.6 billion deficit.

Continue reading "State to begin assessing buyout applicants" »

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Categories: Administration
        

A man who identified himself as “Hank,” the state employee who opened a package addressed to Gov. Martin O’Malley containing an incendiary device Thursday afternoon, was back at work today in the Jeffery Building – handling packages and in good spirits.

O’Malley identified the employee as Hank on Thursday. When a Baltimore Sun reporter caught up to him today, he declined to give his last name. He was in the lobby of the Jeffrey Building at 1 p.m. carrying a U.S. Postal Service box in his hands.

“Everything’s fine,” said the Eastern Shore native. “I’m fine.”

Wearing a number five Baltimore Ravens jersey, he proclaimed with a smile, “It’s purple Friday!” But the mailroom employee, who has worked there for “a couple of years” said although the governor’s office had given him the go-ahead to talk to the news media, he wanted to stay “private.”

“That’s OK, thanks,” he said, quickening his pace as he walked from the Jeffrey Building onto State Circle with another mail room employee. “I know I can talk. I just don’t want to.”

His gloveless fingers, which the state police said had been “singed” by the flash of fire that ignited when he opened the package, appeared undamaged as he held tight to the postal box.

“I’m fine,” Hank repeated.

-Nicole Fuller

Posted by Andy Rosen at 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Administration
        

The number two official at the Food and Drug Administration will join the O'Malley administration.

Josh Sharfstein, the agency's Principal Deputy Commissioner would lead the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, according to a source familiar with the transition. That bureaucracy is now headed by Secretary John M. Colmers. The news was first reported by CQ's John Reichard.

A spokesman for Colmers referred calls to the governor's office, as did Sharfstein. O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec said O'Malley is planning a press conference concerning DHMH in Annapolis Wednesday morning.

The state's health secretary oversees a $9 billion budget which includes the sprawling Medicaid program. The new secretary will have a significant role in implementing the Obama health care overhaul, an issue that O'Malley is prioritizing.

The change would bring Sharfstein much closer to home: The 41-year-old is a resident of Baltimore's Mount Washington neighborhood. Plus he's  familiar with Maryland politics -- before President Barack Obama tapped him for the FDA, Sharfstein was Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's health commissioner.

Most recently Sharfstein was the FDA's front man in its efforts to ban alcohol infused energy drinks like Four Loko. His name is frequently mentioned in the national press, where he's been closely associated with with the federal agency's new tougher stance on enforcement including recalls of pediatric medications and pistachios.

Posted by Annie Linskey at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Administration, People, Washington
        

Update: Hanah Cho is now reporting that there's a deal in the horse racing standoff.

"Gov. Martin O'Malley brokered this morning a last-minute deal between the owners of Maryland's two major thoroughbred tracks and the horsemen and breeders to guarantee live races next year — less than 24 hours after a state commission rejected a proposed schedule.

The owners of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course and representatives of horse owners and breeders — who traded some contentious words on Tuesday night at a Maryland Racing Commission meeting — agreed after a meeting at the State House this morning to a framework that would allow the tracks to at least break even financially and run 146 days in 2011, the same as this year's schedule.

The agreement, which would need the racing commission's approval, calls for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association to contribute $1.7 million and the state to transfer $3 million to $4 million from the state's slot-machine program to help pay for the Maryland Jockey Club's operations. The slots revenue had been earmarked for a track improvements."

Continue reading "O'Malley brokers deal to save horse racing" »

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley today offered state workers $15,000 a piece if they resign by the end of January, the latest effort by the administration to cut costs as they look ahead to another massive budget hole next year.

Not all of the state's 79,000 employees will qualify for the plan. Those who do will also receive $200 for each year of state employment.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, O'Malley said Maryland continues to "face significant budget challenges" and told workers "we all need to do more to cut costs."

He also said the plan will help avoid layoffs, a goal he has repeatedly mentioned. Already state workers have seen their pay reduced three years in a row via furloughs, with employees giving up between five and 10 days of pay depending on their salary.

Posted by Annie Linskey at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Administration
        

James E. Lyons Sr., the state's secretary of Maryland's Higher Education Commission, is also leaving the O'Malley administration, we just learned.

That makes two high level departures in one day, and three in the past week. Lyons is retiring and will leave his post as of January 1.

In a statement, Gov. Martin O'Malley thanked Lyons for his "remarkable service" and called him "an effective leader."

Posted by Annie Linskey at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Administration
        

Maryland’s Secretary of the Environment, Shari T. Wilson, is leaving her post in two weeks, making her the second cabinet-level official to leave the O’Malley Administration since the election.

Gov. Martin O’Malley offered praise in a statement announcing her departure, complimenting her work on new storm water management regulations and climate change rules. "Shari brought an in-depth knowledge of environmental and public health issues to MDE," O'Malley said. "Her expertise will be missed.”

Wilson did not seek re-appointment for a "personal" reason, according to a news release from the agency.

Wilson was the target of intense criticism during the recent gubernatorial campaign, with small business-owners and developers frequently complaining that the agency took too long to reply to requests and unevenly implemented the law.

On the campaign trail Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich would call MDE alternatively the “most broken” or “second most broken” state agency.

The agency is charged with overseeing environmental regulations including compliance with new tougher federal rules, but remains chronically underfunded and understaffed. A recent fiscal analysis showed that the agency’s roughly $264 million budget needs an additional $3 million a year to keep up with personnel costs and additional state and federal mandates.

Robert Summers, a Deputy Secretary at MDE, will take over on an interim basis, the agency announced.

O'Malley's embattled Juvenile Services secretary, Don DeVore, also announced last week that he would not stay on for a second term.

Posted by Annie Linskey at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley spent the weekend in Denver for a meeting of the National Governors Association, a group that grew redder with Republicans on Nov. 2. There, the incumbent Democrat told a Bloomberg reporter that Maryland's budget will be balanced entirely with cuts.

From the Bloomberg piece: 

“We’re going to be on a constant diet of deep and painful cuts,” he said. The trick, he said, will be preserving the state’s economic resiliency, he said.

"There are certain priorities that we must protect in order to continue to come out of this recession,” he said. O’Malley said he hoped to spare college affordability and tax credits for research-job creation from the deepest reductions.

Areas that may be cut, he said, are corrections, employee costs, pensions and Medicaid, the federal-state health-care program for the poor.

Analysts for the Maryland General Assembly say that the state faces a $1.6 billion gap next fiscal year, created in part by flagging revenues and growing costs of health care and other state services. O'Malley's deficit estimate is slightly lower.   

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Administration
        

Comptroller Peter Franchot blasted the state Department of Juvenile Services for "administrative sloppiness" that led to a request this morning for the approval of $171 million in no-bid contracts for which work has already been performed.

DJS Secretary Donald W. DeVore said he has made personnel changes and warned his agency officials of "dire consequences" if they continue to circumvent state procurement procedure. He also said he is implementing better contract tracking tools, included a color-coded "dashboard."  

"I'm fed up with it," Franchot said, adding that DeVore has "no credible explanation for why it happened." The multi-year contracts date to July 2008, though some were entered as recently as August of this year, and were uncovered by state auditors.

The exchange at the Board of Public Works followed an audit released last month that described procurement problems and other bureaucratic disorganization in Juvenile Services. The agency oversees juveniles charged with and found responsible for crimes and has an annual budget of about $275 million.

Continue reading "Franchot 'fed up' with 'sloppiness' at DJS" »

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley put the kitchen table adorned with stickers from the campaign trail in the center of the room for his first post-election cabinet meeting in Annapolis this morning.

"The kitchen table was dragged all over our great state," he told the officials. "This is going to be the symbol for the next four years."

Only the first part of the cabinet meeting was open to the press ... but as reporters were leaving Budget Secretary T. Eloise Foster began her briefing with an ominous note. "It's going to be a tough year," she told the agency heads.

Over the summer, while the political world has been in campaign mode, the agencies had been given reduction targets to fill a General Assembly mandate to cut 500 positions. Most -- if not all -- can come from erasing vacant positions. But, she said repeatedly, it is "too early to tell" what jobs go.

This morning, we looked ahead to what O'Malley might do to kick off his second term. Among the options: overhauling the cabinet.

Posted by Annie Linskey at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Administration
        

Updated
Less than 24 hours after headlining a re-election rally for Gov. Martin O'Malley in Prince George's County, President Barack Obama was back in Maryland (and P.G.) delivering a brief statement on the latest jobless figures.

Obama's destination was Bladensburg, which he's previously used as a handy real-world backdrop. It's minutes from the White House but outside the evil capital city, if only barely (the entire event--door-to-door--took less than an hour of the president's day).

After touring Ernest Maier, Inc, a block and masonry company, Obama called economic recovery "the moral and national challenge of our time."

The president attempted to put a positive spin on the economy's very slow pull out of the worst downturn since the Depression. But as he stood behind a microphone on the shop floor, he acknowledged that "the damage (has been) so deep that it's going to take a long time to get out."

Trying to look the part of a chief executive working to turn things around, he addressed a live cable TV audience coatless, with shirtsleeves rolled (though his tie remained tightly knotted).

Obama touted provisions of a small business jobs law that he recently signed, including one designed to bolster state lending programs.

"Maryland, for example, will be able to support $250 million in new lending for businesses that are expanding and creating jobs in communities like this one," he said.

The latest jobs report, the final one before next month's midterm election, was more bad news for the administration and for Democratic candidates who--unlike Obama--are facing voters at a time of discontent and unease spurred by persistently high unemployment and slow economic growth.

Non-farm payrolls dropped by 95,000 nationwide, a result not only of the end of temporary Census jobs but also a reduction in employment by hard-hit state and local governments. The White House chose to highlight what little positive news there was in the latest figures.

Austan Goolsbee, the president's chief economic adviser, said in a statement: "Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 64,000 in September, continuing nine consecutive months of private sector job growth. This growth provides more evidence that the economy continues to recover, but we must do more to put the economy on a path of robust economic growth. At the same time, the rate of job growth is not as large as needed to bring the unemployment rate down quickly, as the unemployment rate remained at 9.6%."

Brendan Quinn,who bought the masonry block company from the Maier family in 2001, lives in Washington, DC. The chief operating officer, Frank Keeney, lives in Fallston, Maryland.

The lightning visit was Obama's 60th to Maryland since taking office.

Posted by Paul West at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Administration
        

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown has been elected leader of the National Lieutenant Governors Association.

A Prince George's County Democrat and the nation’s highest-ranking elected official to have served a tour of duty in Iraq, Brown takes the reins Virginia Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, a Republican. Brown has been lieutenant governor for four years under Gov. Martin O'Malley and is his running mate again this year.

Brown said in a statement that he is looking forward to "working more closely with my colleagues from across the nation to share ideas and best practices that will help Governor O’Malley and me fight for Maryland’s families and small businesses.”

The National Lieutenant Governors Association organized in 1962. Brown was elected today at its annual meeting, held this year in Biloxi, Miss. He had been its vice-chairman.

The lieutenant governor assumes leadership of the state if the governor becomes incapacitated. O'Malley-Brown have changed what was "once largely a ceremonial, ticket-balancing office into a position of influence and substance," according to a statement from Brown's office.

No lieutenant governor in Maryland has gone on to be elected governor. Brown's predecessor, Michael Steele who was Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s partner, unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ben Cardin. Steele is now chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Administration
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act yesterday by highlighting his administration's strides in that arena and presenting citations to advocates of the issue.

O'Malley told hundreds of disabled people and their families and caregivers, who'd gathered at Camden Yards, that "there's no such thing as a spare individual" and "God loves even partial victories."

The Democratic governor, who is seeking reelection this fall, echoed themes of his stump speeches, saying jobs are key to protecting Maryland families and even leading the group on a "we move forward, not back," chant.

Continue reading "Gov. notes strides on anniversary of disabilities act" »

Posted by Julie Bykowicz at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Administration, People
        

Touting a favorite program, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown said Thursday the state’s health department has found $26 million in fraud and waste in the state Medicaid program.

The extra cash will not close the roughly $1.5 billion deficit that awaits the winner of November's gubernatorial election, but Brown argued the extra money will help.

Brown also used the occasion to remind folks that he lobbied to strengthen the state’s Medicaid False Claims Act during the legislative session (he’s photographed here testifying on that bill). The new bill created a civil penalty for Medicaid fraud, which lets the state collect damages and allows Maryland to piggyback on the larger and lucrative federal investigations.

Remarkably, state health and budget analysts believe that anywhere from 5 to 10 percent of the billions spent annually on Medicaid is lost to waste, fraud and abuse. Schemes include doctors billing the state for phantom patients and pharmaceutical companies wildly overbilling for drugs or devices.

Posted by Annie Linskey at 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Administration
        

Vice President Joe Biden heaped praise on Gov. Martin O’Malley at a Baltimore fundraiser Monday evening, Baltimore Sun colleague Annie Linskey reports, telling a room of 200 supporters that the governor can be trusted to lead in part because he “feels” the pain of ordinary Marylanders “in the gut.”

Speaking for half an hour at the private event at the Baltimore Hilton Convention Center, Biden highlighted some of the themes O’Malley regularly hits while on the stump: keeping jobs in Maryland and pushing a tax credit for small businesses.

Tickets to the event, intended to raise money for O’Malley’s reelection campaign, ranged from $250 to hear the Biden’s remarks to $1,000 for a brief private reception with the vice president. Members of the host committee paid $4,000.

Biden is the first big-name Democrat to stump for O’Malley, who is locked in a tight re-election race with his predecessor, Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. O’Malley has already spent more than his opponent, airing two radio commercials and a TV spot. Fundraising reports will not be public until August.

Biden said that he’s known the governor since O’Malley was mayor of Baltimore. “This is a man whose passion for Maryland starts in the gut and moves to the heart,” the vice president told the audience.

The economy and fiscal management was the theme of the day Monday. Hours before Biden arrived in Baltimore, The state Republican party issued a statement calling him “the Administration’s chiefspokesman for the failed stimulus bill” and saying that the legislation had failed to create as many positions as promised – a subject of continuing debate.

Continue reading "Biden in Baltimore to boost O'Malley" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Administration, Candidate Watch 2010, Money and Business, People, Washington
        

A state home for intellectually disabled adults improperly kept nearly $80,000 that it should have returned to the state general fund at the end of fiscal year 2009, the Office of Legislative Audits reported Friday.

The state Department of Mental Health and Human Hygiene, which operates the Potomac Center in Hagerstown, has agreed to return the $79,800 to the general fund, according to a letter signed by Secretary John M. Colmers and included in the OLA report.

Auditors for OLA, an agency of Department of Legislative Services, found that the Potomac Center did not have adequate records to susbtantiate general fund expenditures it had accrued on June 30,2009, the last day of the fiscal year.

Under the comptroller’s State Policy on Accounts Payable, Accrued Expenditures and Encumbrances, expenditures should be accrued only when goods or services have been received before the end of the fiscal year but not paid. State law requires that any funds remaining at the end of the fiscal year be reverted to the state’s general fund.

The auditors said the Potomac Center is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control of financial records, but acknowledged that errors or fraud might still occur and not be detected.

They said their audit “did not disclose any conditions that we consider to be significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal control that could adversely affect the Center’s ability to maintain reliable financial records, operate effectively and efficiently, and/or complyu with applicable laws, rules, and regulations.”

Continue reading "Auditors: Center must return $79,800 to state" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Administration, Money and Business