Saying that voters often vote by simply checking the first name listed on a ballot, state Sen. Delores G. Kelley is pushing a bill that would rotate candidates names.

Numerous studies have shown that candidates with surnames that start with letters toward the beginning of the alphabet might have an advantage. It’s a psychological theory known as “the primacy effect,” which holds that voters, especially those with limited knowledge of the candidates, may be more inclined to choose a name at or near the top of the list.

Kelley’s bill would apply when there is more than one candidate from the same political party running for office. Alexander Wright Jr., whom O’Malley recently tapped for the Court of Special Appeals, is one candidate with an end-of-the-alphabet name who should have won at the polls but didn’t, according to Kelley, a Baltimore County Democrat. He twice lost election after being appointed to the Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Meanwhile, Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, a Baltimore City Democrat, has introduced a bill that she said would fix a raft of problems that marred the 2006 election. The legislation would extend polling hours when polls open late. It also would ban certain deceptive campaign literature that’s intended to prevent someone from voting.

Gladden originally proposed broader language against campaign fliers but agreed to language suggested by the American Civil Liberties Union that narrowed the scope. Gladden said she was offended by a 2006 flier that implied she endorsed former Gov. Robert L Ehrlich, a Republican. That, she said, would never happen.

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 7:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Rep. Albert R. Wynn called today for a broad federal investigation into the bottled water industry.

“In the past decade, sales of bottled water have reportedly tripled, but no one is examining the environmental ramifications of Americans shifting their water consumption from the traditional tap to the plastic bottle,” the Prince George’s County Democrat said. “Petroleum is used in the manufacture of bottled water containers and transporting bottled water requires the use of additional fossil fuels.”

Wynn, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, asked the General Accountability Office to address several issues. Among them are the effect that increased bottled water consumption is having on municipal landfill capacity, the impact of energy use from the transportation and manufacture of bottled water, and what he describes as the failure of the EPA to update its drinking water standard for Trichloroethylene (TCE).

The EPA currently allows drinking water to contain up to five parts of TCE per billion. The standard has not been updated to reflect a 2001 EPA assessment that found it was far more likely to cause cancer than previously believed.

The Pentagon, the Department of Energy and NASA have contested the EPA assessment. Wynn has asked the GAO, the nonpartisan, investigative arm of Congress, to examine the number of Department of Defense sites contaminated with TCE and the Pentagon’s “role, if any, in delaying or interfering with EPA efforts to update a drinking water standard” for the chemical compound.

Wynn’s letter to the GAO today was co-signed by Rep. Hilda Solis, a California Democrat on the environment and hazardous materials subcommittee. His action comes less than two weeks before Maryland’s primary election; Wynn is facing a challenge from activist Donna Edwards in the Democratic vote for the Fourth Congressional District.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The Democratic party announced today that huge numbers of 17 year-olds -- who are allowed to vote in state primaries if they will turn 18 in time for the general election -- registered overwhelmingly as Democrats.

Of 15,237 newly registered 17 year-olds, 8593 are Democrats, 4,039 are Republicans and 2,605 did not pick a party affiliation, meaning they will not be eligible to vote Feb. 12th. That means the new Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one, according to the State Board of Elections. (Of course, that's about the same as the ratio for voters in the state in general.)

“We can credit inspiration, energy and the strength of Democratic Party values at a time when our state and our nation need them most. We are thrilled but not surprised to see these numbers among our newest first time voters,” said Michael Cryor, Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, in a written statement.

John Flynn, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party, said the fact that the margin was two to one instead of three to one spelled out a bright future for the Republican party, since recently a higher margin of newly registered voters were choosing to be Democrats.

"We're very excited because this is our future, the young people," he said. "Those are voters we wouldn't have had otherwise, and we're glad to have them. Certainly we're out there signing up new voters at high schools around the state...We've got a lot more work to do to reach out to young people, and we've got a lot more planned to do that. This is just the first step."

Posted by Brad Olson at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Give state Sen. Andy Harris points for audacity.

Walking into the Lowe House Office Building this morning just a short distance from the State House, the giant, yellow "Andy Harris for Congress" sign protruding from his small black pickup could hardly be missed.

But the "B-Lot" where he had parked is on state property, where political signs are apparently off limits, not to mention a potential sore spot for his colleague, Sen. E.J. Pipkin, with whom he's locked in a heated GOP primary race against nine-term incumbent Wayne Gilchrest for the first congressional district seat.

Several Department of General Services officials standing by his truck this morning said they were trying to find him to get him to either take down the sign or park somewhere else.

Chris Meekins, Harris' campaign manager, said Harris was given permission to park in that lot because his truck -- and the huge sign tied to it -- couldn't fit in the Senate parking lot. Harris wasn't aware of the regulations and was trying to reach an agreement on where to park.

Meekins, however, said this could be seen as a selective use of the rule, since numerous cars in the Senate lot -- also government property -- have bumper stickers and signs advocating for certain senators or delegates.

"If they're quoting that regulation, they would have to theoretically apply it across the board for everybody that has political signs or bumper stickers on their vehicles," he said, although he did acknowledge the slight difference between a giant sign and a bumper sticker.

Posted by Brad Olson at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

A day after Constellation Energy Group announced it would sue Maryland to recoup $386 million in credits it was forced to give utility customers as part of a legislation package passed in the wake of a 72 percent rate increase in 2006, state Sen. E.J. Pipkin announced three bills he will sponsor that seek to re-regulate Maryland's electric market and recoup nearly $1 billion from the utility conglomerate.

Here's his press release:

January 31, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Senator E. J. Pipkin (R. Upper Shore 36), fighter for the ratepayer, has introduced three pieces of legislation to return $975 million in stranded costs back to the ratepayers and move Maryland back to a re-regulated market to provide a more stable and reliable delivery of power.

“Constellation continues to threaten the people of Maryland with lawsuits and increases in cost,” said Pipkin. “This is the result of the 1999 regulatory scheme that funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to a monopoly. The Public Service Commission has given us the tools to reregulate and the time to act is now.”

The bills Senator Pipkin has introduced to reregulate and take back the stranded costs for the consumers are:

*SB278 - Maryland Energy Independence Act of 2008
*SB448 - Constellation Energy Group, Inc. and Baltimore Gas and Electric Company - Return of Transition Costs
*SB450 - Public Service Commission - Electric and Gas Consumers.

SB278 would require that 100% of the electricity used in Maryland be generated within the state by 2018. By requiring Maryland to be energy-independent, the state portfolio of power generation, such as clean burning coal and nuclear power, would put the state in a great position to take advantage of low prices. SB448 would require Constellation Energy to return $975 million in stranded costs to the ratepayers. SB450 would require that the PSC consider achieving the lowest price the commission’s top priority when setting rates.

“We now know that the 1999 deregulation scheme was a failure. Ratepayers have been paying record prices for energy while Constellation has posted record profits,” said Pipkin. “We need to fix the mess and keep our focus on achieving the lowest prices for consumers.”

This year culminates over three years worth of Senator Pipkin’s efforts to reverse the negative consequences of deregulation. In 2004 Senator Pipkin sponsored SB 739 to protect Maryland consumers from double-digit rate increases. In 2006 Senator Pipkin sponsored SB1099 to return stranded costs, projected to be $500 million, back to the ratepayers. The bill passed through the House and Senate but was vetoed by the Governor.

Senator E.J. Pipkin serves on the Finance Committee, the committee that will hear all three bills.

Posted by Brad Olson at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

In today's edition: A proposal to randomize the order of candidates' names on the ballot -- no small matter if yours comes at the end of the alphabet -- and a hearing on the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Fund.

Posted by Andy Green at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, chaired by Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Montgomery County, enjoyed its strongest fundraising year ever in 2007.

The House Democrats’ campaign fundraising operation raised $67.5 million last year while doubling its list of activists and supporters to more than 2 million, Van Hollen announced today.

“The American people are energized and inspired by Democrats’ agenda of change and the strong candidates we’ve recruited across the country,” he said.

Van Hollen said the money has enabled House Democrats to remain on offense: Looking to build on gains from 2006, the DCCC is targeting 50 more Republican seats in November.

The National Republican Congressional Committee releases its numbers later today. An NRCC spokesman expressed skepticism about the Democrats’ prospects this fall.

“All of the money in the world can’t buy the Democrat-led Congress higher approval ratings,” Ken Spain said. “Democrats will need every dollar they can get their hands in on in order to explain their abysmal record of higher taxes, runaway spending and broken borders.”

Van Hollen says the Democrats aren’t finished.

“Our strong grassroots support stems from Democrats’ continuing fight to take America in a New Direction by strengthening our economy, changing course in Iraq, and restoring the American Dream to middle class families, but there is much more work to do,” he said. “We need a Democratic president and a strong Democratic majority to move our country forward.”

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. was among the earliest endorsers of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, getting behind him all the way back in March, which seems like light years away in this most grueling of presidential primary seasons.

Back then, Giuliani led by more than 20 points in most national polls, before Sen. John McCain had even experienced the campaign implosion that later led to a comeback.

Through his spokesman, Ehrlich declined yesterday to get behind any of the remaining Republican candidates after "Hizzoner" dropped out of the race yesterday (Giuliani went 0-7 in the early voting contests, including in Florida on Tuesday, which he had turned into his last stand).

"Mayor Giuliani deserves credit for running a strong race," Ehrlich said in a statement. "I respect his decision to withdraw. I count him as a great personal friend who has an incredibly bright future in national politics. I look forward to working with him in the future on the important challenges facing our country. The presidential campaign entered a new phase today. The Republican Party has three strong candidates remaining, each of whom would be a nominee that we can be proud of."

Posted by Brad Olson at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The "red-headed Eskimo" is legendary in Annapolis. Its twin cousin was sighted today in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, a Baltimore city Democrat, asked the committee to bless a bill she had introduced that would exempt "certain homeowners" in the Hillsdale Heights neighborhood from the filling deadline to get a property tax credit for newly constructed dwellings.

Now, a red-headed Eskimo is a bill that appears to be drawn broadly, but upon closer examination applies only to a single special interest or even one individual. Red-headed Eskimos are supposedly rare, but such bills turn up occasionally in the blizzard of legislation that's produced every year in the State House.

Gladden's bill, it turns out, would ride to the rescue of two homeowners - making it a red-headed Eskimo twin? Seems that the two were unaware that the new homes they built in the HIllsdale Heights golf course community could qualify for the five-year tax credit.

Charlene Dukes, one of the two, told the committee that the contractor building her home went bankrupt, so she had to hire someone else to finish it. After she moved in, she learned from a neighbor about the opportunity to shave her hefty city property tax, but the 90-day deadline to apply had already passed.

Baltimore city officials "strongly opposed" the bill, arguing that it would open the floodgates for dozens of others who've also missed the deadline to demand another chance to apply for tax credits they missed out on.

The city has given out nearly $5 million in tax credits to buyers of newly constructed buildings, said Helene Grady, deputy finance director. The break shaves a property tax bill in half the first year, but the benefit phases out over five years. Grady pointed out that the state law authorizing such tax credits leaves it up to each locality how to set them up, and the city's law allows for no exceptions to its application deadline.

But Vera Hall, a former City Council member and former president of the neighborhood association, told lawmakers that the two deserve special consideration because their homes were caught in litigation over completion of the neighborhood. That may have prevented them from learning about the tax credits in time to apply for them, since such credits are normally used by developers and real estate agents to help sell new homes in the city.

Senators on the committee seemed sympathetic about the homeowners' plight but skittish about passing such a narrowly drawn bill. Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, a member of the committee and chairman of the city's legislative delegation, joined Gladden in telling city officials to work something out with the Eskimo pair - or risk bad publicity and more legislation. Demaune Millard, the city's lobbyist, said they'd take a look at the situation.

"Red-headed Eskimos have rights, too," Hall said after the hearing.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Frustrated by the inability of Republicans to have anti-illegal-immigration proposals debated in both chambers of the General Assembly in recent years, Del. Patrick L. McDonough said that top Democratic leaders in the state could very well find themselves named in another lawsuit this year.

McDonough, who has proposed legislation that would allow citizen complaints to remove public officials from office for "violating the federal immigration act," said a lawsuit may be likely if the legislature again ignores his bill and that of other Republicans seeking to deny certain public benefits to illegal immigrants.

He said attorneys funded by "various non-profit groups" that prefer not to be named were already working on the potential lawsuit, which would likely be filed on July 4. (What court house will be open on July 4 remains to be seen.) McDonough noted that numerous other suits around the country have dealt with local or state proposals on how to deal with illegal immigration, but that this lawsuit would be "an offensive lawsuit" filed against Gov. Martin O'Malley and the entire General Assembly.

If the suit does materialize, it would be the second time a Republican legislator has sought relief in court against the actions of the legislature. Maryland's highest court agreed yesterday to hear a Republican-backed lawsuit seeking to invalidate tax increases passed during last year's special legislative session. The hearing is scheduled before the Court of Appeals on March 11.

"A lot of people might dismiss this lawsuit as just another tactic, but if they do, they're going to be in for a surprise," said McDonough, who said he was scheduled to discuss the bill on TV with CNN's anti-illegal-immigrant crusader Lou Dobbs next week.

"We are fighting to enforce the rule of law and fighting to promote the rules of citizenship in this country...When you allow rule of law to be violated, you are attacking our citizenship rights."

McDonough said he hoped his effort would refocus the debate, and compared his efforts to that of those who fought for civil rights in the 1960s.

"I feel the way a civil rights legislator might have felt in the 1960s introducing bills in Mississippi," he said. "They knew they were right, but those in power ignored them."

Posted by Brad Olson at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Eager to turn the tide of anti-illegal-immigration fervor sweeping the country and, increasingly, Maryland's General Assembly, a group of about a dozen lawmakers -- many of whom are immigrants themselves -- formed the New Americans Caucus today.

They plan to counter bills they see as "divisive" and "hate-filled" and promote initiatives to help legal immigrants become citizens and increase their civic involvement. The group includes Delegates Ana Sol Gutierrez, who was born in El Salvador, Saqib Ali, originally from Pakistan, and others with roots in Jamaica, the Ukraine, India and other countries, said Gutierrez.

"We recognize that the United States is a land of immigrants," she said in an interview. "I don't think that the anti-immigrant rhetoric is producing positive legislation. ... But we don't just want to focus on fighting bad bills. We want to make sure that there's an acknowledgment of the positive issues that are being proposed."

Posted by Brad Olson at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Lawmakers are again looking to increase the tax on tobacco products after doubling the cigarette tax to $2 per pack last year. This time, Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden and Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg, both Baltimore Democrats, want to raise the tax on cigars, snuff and chewing tobacco from 15 percent to 25 percent.

The lawmakers would devote the tax revenue to smoking cessation and other tobacco use prevention programs, which they say are under-funded in Maryland at about $18 million. Under a bill announced today, McFadden and Rosenberg also would direct additional money that Maryland is expected to receive from a settlement with tobacco companies to the programs. In total, they would allocate more than $63 million, the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the legislation’s advocates, tobacco use is the top cause of preventable death in Maryland, resulting in more than 6,800 deaths each year, and costs Maryland more than $2 billion a year in health care bills.

It is unclear what kind of reception any tax proposals will get after November’s special session during which the General Assembly approved $1.3 billion in tax hikes. “In a tight fiscal year, this might seem foolhardy,” said Bonita Pennino of the American Cancer Society acknowledged. “But it’s necessary.”

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

So what does Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller do in his spare time? Well, he admitted while presiding over today’s session, he spends a lot of time surfing eBay.com. “I’m an eBay freak,” he confessed.

Miller, also a Maryland history buff, informed fellow senators that he found a gem last night while perusing the Web site — a brass door plaque for former Senate President and Rockville Mayor Spencer C. Jones from the early 1900s. He said he found the item by typing “Maryland Senate” into the search function.

(Miller, a Democrat, did not mention another piece of Maryland political memorabilia one could find through such a search — a campaign pin for Republican Michael S. Steele from his failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 2006.)

The pin is going for $4. Bidding on the brass plaque is up to $9.99. Miller vowed to bid up the price of the plaque.

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Dozens of state lawmakers have signed on to legislation to repeal a sales tax on computer services, but there is no consensus around how to fill an estimated $200 million budget gap that would create. Today, Republicans trotted out their idea: Spending cuts.

The Republican House Caucus compiled a list of proposed budget reductions that they contend would not burden state government or important constituencies. They would eliminate 500 vacant positions on top of 500 cut under Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget plan, slow the rate of increase for community college funding, and take $23 million in unused funding for stem cell research. In total, the reductions add up to $203 million.

Some lawmakers are floating an increase to the gas tax or alcohol tax to replace the revenue that would be raised by a computer services sales tax, but Republicans said those proposals were non-starters with them. “You don’t need additional taxes to replace this one,” said Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the minority leader from Southern Maryland.

The generally anti-tax Republicans also balked at other tax increases pushed by O’Malley during the special session. But the computer sales tax was the “most unfair” because it was considered with little public input, O’Donnell said. He also noted that the computer tax repeal is one that could generate bipartisan support.

David Fraser-Hidalgo, part owner of Sandglass, a Web site developer in Kensington, said he didn’t know about the sales tax being imposed on computer services until days after the special session ended. He said it reminded him of another blindside that has roiled Marylanders for years: The departure of the Baltimore Colts football team in the middle of the night back in 1984.

“The legislature just slapped this together,” he said. “No one knew anything about it.”

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Posted by Andy Green at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Gov. Martin O’Malley and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer joined leaders from Virginia and the District of Columbia to announce plans to develop the “Chesapeake Crescent.”

“The Greater Washington region is home to a tremendous number of resources: first-rate institutions of higher learning, prominent businesses, an incredibly well educated populace, a diverse economy and the federal government and its multitude of world-class science and research facilities,” Hoyer said in a statement. “To maximize these assets, capitalize on obvious synergies and effectively compete in the global economy, the region’s public and private sector leaders must work together.”

Organizers described plans “to create a sustainable framework of regulatory and investment actions” that would focus on four areas: Regional Collaboration, Environment/Energy; Innovation/Economy and Secure and Sustainable Development.

“By pooling our resources, we hope to be able to find long-term solutions to some of the pressing environmental, transportation and economic challenges that we all face separately every day,” O’Malley said.

Also appearing at the announcement in Washington were Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Rep. Tom Davis and District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 6:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Parents of Maryland servicemen killed in Iraq struck an emotional chord today as they asked legislators to outlaw commercial use of their deceased childrens' names without permission. The source of their anguish and anger is an Arizona man who's been selling anti-war T-shirts and bumper stickers online featuring the names of all 3,734 U.S. troops killed in Iraq from March 2003 through August of last year.

"My son's name has been used in a derogatory fashion," Michael Watts of Bel Air said of his stepson, Lance Cpl. Patrick Ryan Adle, who was killed in Baghdad in 2004 during his second tour in Iraq. "Think about your children," he urged members of the House Economic Matters Committee, "and what you would do if this was laid on your doorstep."

Bills have been introduced in both House and Senate that would make it a misdemeanor to use the name, picture or image of a soldier killed in the line of duty to advertise or sell a product or service without first getting permission from surviving family. Six other states have adopted similar laws, proponents say. A federal judge in Arizona, though, issued a preliminary injunction last year barring enforcement of that state's law, saying it would violate the First Amendment rights to free speech of the T-shirt marketer, Dan Frazier of Flagstaff.

Del. Nicholaus R. Kipke, an Anne Arundel County Republican, the House bill's sponsor, said the state attorney general's office has suggested some wording changes to the bill that should avoid the First Amendment concerns raised by the Arizona law, making it clear the prohibition would apply only to commercial uses of the names.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the Arizona law on Frazier's behalf, likewise opposes the Maryland bill. Cindy Boersma, legislative director for the ACLU of Maryland, said she had not seen the proposed amendments, but warned lawmakers to be careful about "criminalizing" speech, no matter how repugnant.

"Every soldier deserves the highest honor," said Boersma, adding, "That honor is diminished if it comes at the expense of the Constitution."

She also warned that banning the naming of fallen soldiers without permission might snare for-profit news organizations, which have aired or published lists of the war dead. She noted that Mike Luckovich, Pulitzer prizewinning cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, had drawn a cartoon in which the names of the fallen soldiers were grouped to form the word "Why?"

Committee members openly sided with the fallen soldiers' families, though. Del. Ruth M. Kirk, a Baltimore city Democrat, who said she'd lost two brothers, pressed the ACLU representative about what she would do if she had family members killed in the line of duty and suggested Boersma was taking the position she did because she was paid to. Boersma replied that her father had served in the military for 30 years, as did other relatives, but that the issue was about more than the pride she and others take in their families' service.

"You've got a job to do, and we've got a job to do," Kirk shot back.

Go here to read SB3 or HB64

To see the Web site of the antiwar T-shirt marketer in Arizona, go here.

The issue has drawn national media attention, including this article in Reason and this one in Utne Reader.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Posted by Andy Green at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Comptroller Peter Franchot is no shrinking violet, something his former colleages in the General Assembly can't resist joshing about.

Del. Sheila E. Hixson, chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee, took a poke at Franchot's penchant for drawing publicity this morning. Hixson - who's been representing Montgomery County for 32 years, a dozen longer than Franchot did before moving on - announced that the comptroller's office would brief her panel later in the day on tax issues.

"There won't be any press there. The comptroller isn't coming - only his staff," Hixson said, drawing laughter and scattered applause from other legislators.

No snub intended, apparently. A spokesman for Franchot said that briefing normally is handled by one of his deputies.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Without fanfare, the state Senate's Executive Nominations Committee voted this evening to recommend Joseph F. Murphy to the full Senate for confirmation as a justice on the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. Until recently, Murphy chief judge of Maryland's second-highest court, the Court of Special Appeals.

"There isn't a person here who doesn't know the good work you've done on the appellate bench," said Sen. Delores G. Kelley, the Baltimore County Democrat who chairs the committee.

Murphy got no questions about issues he might face on the Court of Appeals or about his previous work.

Nominated last month by Gov. Marting O'Malley in one of several appointments that many observers say will allow him to remake the state's highest court, Murphy has been praised for his scholarly demeanor