As the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee wrestled with its decision yesterday to raise income taxes on millionaires, Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden complained that the O'Malley administration and lawmakers haven't gotten enough credit for reining in spending before voting to increase taxes.

Warren G. Deschenaux Jr., the legislature's chief budget analyst, told committee members that the governor and the General Assembly have trimmed more than $1 billion in spending overall since last year. Deschenaux said they had exerted "significant downward pressure" on spending.

McFadden, a Baltimore Democrat, jumped on the statement, saying the news media never mention that. He challenged reporters in the crowded committee room to report the spending cuts.

Challenge accepted - consider it reported here.

For the record, though, The Sun has reported before that the governor and lawmakers have cut spending in addition to raising taxes by $1.3 billion.

The $1 billion total Deschenaux cited yesterday hasn't been specifically mentioned, but news stories have repeatedly reported that the governor and lawmakers agreed in last fall's special session to cut more than $500 million from the fiscal 2009 budget. We've also reported on the spending reductions lawmakers made in this session to offset the $300 million in revenue "writedowns" projected by the state comptroller.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

This session has welcomed some of the symbolic legislation, such as making Smith Island Cake the State Dessert or Walking the State Exercise, but here's one such measure that may not sail through as the others have: a joint resolution from Sen. Alex X. Mooney advocating a tough on Castro (Raul Castro, that is) policy now that Fidel has given up power.

The "Viva Cuba Libre" resolution -- which more or less means "Freedom for Cuba" -- should not come as a surprise for those who know Mooney, whose mother was imprisoned by Castro before fleeing Cuba in 1961.

It calls on President Bush and Congress not to change the current U.S. policy toward Cuba, which, according to the resolution's fiscal note, "sets forth U.S. policy with respect to Cuba with the aim of promoting a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba through the application of appropriate pressures on the Cuban government." About 8,000 Cuban-Americans live in Maryland, the legislative analysis says.

But whether the measure will pass in Maryland, given the sentiments of some lawmakers that the U.S. should revise its Cuba policy -- is an open question.

Stay tuned for an update on its progress from Sen. Mooney, if he calls us back at The Session. 

Posted by Brad Olson at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Speaking in Dundalk about community grants the state gives for revitalization programs that have worked wonders in the small, Baltimore County municipality, Gov. Martin O'Malley asked reporters gathered amid the audience for the event in Veterans' Park whether they had any questions about the "Community Legacy" grant program.

When one reporter began to ask about the computer services tax, O'Malley said he would address it after the event "in a gaggle" with reporters (details on that here), and then offered this quip:

"We'll keep the hope here," he said, gesturing toward those who had discussed the grants and the audience who came to the event. "And then we're going to do the reality over there." 

Posted by Brad Olson at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Kim Propeack, a lobbyist for CASA of Maryland who went to Tuesday's hearings in the House Judiciary Committee to testify against several bills seeking to crack down on illegal immigration, had a very different account than others about what led to the disarray discussed here. 

She said Del. Joseph Vallario did not cut off Susan Payne, who was testifying in support of the "crackdown" bills, but only urged her to focus her testimony on the legislation being considered, rather than on remarks Vallario made at a rally organized by CASA, an Latino and immigrant-rights advocacy group.

At that point, she said, Payne became upset and "started yelling at Vallario" and was approached by the Maryland State Trooper in the room.

Please post any further discussion about what went on in the committee room in our comments section below.

Posted by Brad Olson at 6:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Del. Pat McDonough, who spoke on behalf of two bills in the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday before the hearing broke out into chaos, confirmed the account of Susan Payne discussed here, saying that the applause in the room was coming on her behalf from other people who came to support the legislation of McDonough and other delegates.

"The people who were in the audience were mainly supporters of the legislation that we had presented," he said in an interview. "They came from various groups around the state. It was very clear they were applauding after her comments."

McDonough said he was pleased that the committee got a sampling of what he said many Marylanders believe, which is that bills such as the ones he is proposing to crack down on illegal immigration should get more serious consideration in the General Assembly. 

Posted by Brad Olson at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Advocates for bills that would extend the State's public pre-K program to children of active duty military service members have put out an alert that the bills will get a hearing March 18.

Local school districts in the state now provide public pre-K to low income children, and the bills (HB 1319 and SB 912) would expand access for military kids.

Proposals to help out the troops usually fare well, but the fate of this one could depend on how much it will cost in a year that the General Assembly is battling over budget cuts. The fiscal note, which often describes what policy impact legislation will have and how much it will cost, is not out yet.

Read on for a press release on the bills from the Maryland Committee for Children 

Continue reading "Pre-school for military kids" »

Posted by Brad Olson at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. used a labor rally at the State House last night to plug the slot-machine gambling referendum on the ballot this fall.

With hundreds of building trade union members in Annapolis to press their lawmakers for legislation on prevailing wages, health care and other labor priorities, Miller, an advocate for slots, told the crowd they should support that as well. He argued that slots will stimulate construction and economic activity around the state.

"You get the slots referendum passed, and it's going to be jobs, jobs, jobs!" he roared to the crowd, to applause.

Miller also spoke up for Gov. Martin O'Malley, saying that despite any differences union members may have had with him when he was Baltimore's mayor, or may still have with him, his focus in Annapolis has been on "jobs, jobs, jobs."

And Miller closed with a pitch for union members to remember Democrats' traditional ties to labor in the presidential election this fall.

"You gave us the State House (in November 2006)," Miller said. Give us the White House in 2008!"

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Ubiquitous health care lobbyist/advocate Vinnie DeMarco has sent letters to the winners of all the state's congressional primaries urging them to support federal legislation that would allow the state to provide residents with major prescription drug discounts.

In 2005, the General Assembly unanimously passed legislation that would have provided up to 50 percent discounts on prescription drug prices for thousands of low income residents, according to a press release from DeMarco's Maryland Citizens' Health Care Initiative.

State Sen. Andy Harris, one of Maryland's most conservative lawmakers who is running to represent the state's 1st Congressional District, voted for the bill, and it was signed into law by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.

Problem is, the reason the federal legislation is necessary is because the Bush Administration has blocked the law from taking effect, DeMarco says.

So the question is: Would Harris back legislation that would defy the Republican president? DeMarco has asked the congressional candidates to respond by March 31.

FULL PRESS RELEASE BELOW

Continue reading "Will Andy Harris defy Bush?" »

Posted by Brad Olson at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

A little rat-a-tat over a fundraiser provided a few guffaws on the Senate floor and even a line from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller that could have tangled with the rhetoric of one Vito Corleone.

Miller was reprimanding Senators for planning a fundraiser in the Senate office building, which was written about in this morning's Gazette, when he offered this quip:

"You have to be aware of your enemies, but you have to be more aware of what your friends are doing without your knowledge," he said, offering a word of consolation to some of the Baltimore County folks who had planned it. 

A dispute broke out about whether it was actually a fundraiser or if the money would just be enough to cover costs. Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley, sensing a good one-liner, stood:

"If you all want to have a caucus meeting, we'll be happy to vacate the room," he said, as laughter broke out and a few oohs.

Going a little below the belt with a line that fell flat, Miller said that whatever Democrats have done, they would never resort to "your tactics," mentioning a movie being made and super-lobbyist/felon Jack Abramoff. Thanks a lot, Mike.

Still, before they adjourned, he brought in someone they could all welcome: The Cat in the Hat. Monday is Dr. Seuss's birthday, and the state teachers' association had brought him in to take some pix with lawmakers. Sen. Ulysses Currie was particularly charmed.

Posted by Brad Olson at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Let's face it: proposals in the General Assembly don't always seem like the best fodder for a party.

And among all of them, it's possible that one of the least likely to inspire great revelry is public campaign financing, a subject many voters know little to nothing about and one that requires more than a little explanation about the arcana of campaign finance law.

Yet advocates for the measure are betting they will prove that supposition wrong with a "Dance For Democracy" event March 7, complete with not only several musical acts, but with, wait for it, presentations on why public financing is a good idea.

FULL RELEASE BELOW 

Continue reading "Public campaign finance: let's party" »

Posted by Brad Olson at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Advocates for using public money to finance political campaigns in Maryland (our coverage here and here) released poll data yesterday which they said definitively shows support for this measure among the general public and among many top campaign contributors.

The data, part of a larger poll from Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies of more than 800 registered voters across the state conducted in October, indicate strong public support for the measure, according to folks at Progressive Maryland, who commissioned the poll and strongly support public financing.

Advocates also believe the bill has the support of frequent campaign contributors. A poll of more than 100 frequent donors to Democrats in Maryland conducted for the Public Campaign Action Fund, a national organization that promotes campaign finance reform, found that nearly two thirds said they would support the bill.

While the poll does not have enough respondents to comprise a solid statistical sample, David Donnelly, national campaigns director for the Fund, said it was enough to show that at least many would prefer not to give if public financing were available. 

Posted by Brad Olson at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Posted by Brad Olson at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Supporters of immigrants and foes of illegal aliens may be squaring off again at the State House, but Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller says he doesn't expect anything much to come of it this year.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Miller said he didn't think there were sufficient votes to pass the bill to grant in-state tuition to some children of illegal immigrants or any of the various measures to deny undocumented aliens government aid.

"I don’t see any major changes in terms of immigration laws in the state of Maryland,'' he said.

Miller said lawmakers also would have to take a hard look in a tight budget year at how to pay for Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to carry out the federal REAL ID program for Maryland driver's licenses. That initiative, which would require all license applicants to produce proof of legal residence, is hailed by foes of illegal immigration and hated by immigrants's upporters and civil rights advocates.

The only immigration measure Miller gave much chance to is the study commission proposed by Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a Montgomery County Democrat, "so that people can understand the advantages and disadvantages of certain types of legislation and how it affects the state fiscally."

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

So, you're browsing around internet Web sites at work, looking to procrastinate, and you think, I know, why don't I check out StopSlotsMaryland for a little entertainment, right?

Well, perhaps not. Perhaps bearing that in mind, the folks over at StopSlots have created a nifty animated slot machine feature that you can play over and over again.

When you lose, and you will always lose, you get one of a series of anti-gambling messages urging a vote against a referendum legalizing slot machine gambling in November.

As the slot machine spins, a player must click a red button three times to stop each of the wheels. Understandably, most of the pictures on the spinning wheels are dire: skull and crossbones, apple with a worm coming out. But there are cherries, too, although this reporter was unable to land one despite many tries.

Rigged!

Posted by Brad Olson at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The Maryland Republican Party debuted a radio ad this morning hitting Gov. Martin O'Malley for his leadership role in raising taxes over the special legislative session in November.

You might notice something unusual, or perhaps, put another way, convenient, when you click on the link, which is that the radio ad plays while you're connected to a Web page soliciting donations. As a matter of fact, all the links in their e-mail to supporters will take you to the same page.

The note ends with this post script, one that may not be surprising given Sen. John McCain's fundraising take after the New York Times published a story questioning his ties to a lobbyist 10 years ago:

"P.S. Please act today to keep this ad on the radio - the liberal media have not been telling the people of Maryland the truth about Martin O'Malley's policies, it is up to us to fight back!" 

Posted by Brad Olson at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Continue reading "Are we in for another immigration rumble?" »

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Posted by Andy Green at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Kim Propeack, an organizer and lobbyist for CASA of Maryland, the state's largest Latino and immigrant advocacy group, told me today that a bill to allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition has enough votes to pass both in the House of Delegates and the Senate.

Last year, a nearly identical bill passed the House but did not make it out of a Senate committee after Republicans opposed to the measure threatened to filibuster if it reached the House floor.

Senate Bill 591 elicited heated debate in a hearing today in the same committee that failed to pass it last year. The bill would also allow other legal immigrants a chance to pay in-state tuition as well as students who graduated from a Maryland high school but may have moved away before applying to a state school.

More to come in a story tomorrow.

Posted by Brad Olson at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
                    

Don't look now, but another slots bills is about to drop.  

Annapolis watchers hoping that the legislature was done with the question of legalizing slot machine gambling -- a perennial bogeyman finally settled by the passage of a voter referendum in November's special legislative session -- could be disappointed yet again.

Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley plans to file a bill he called a hybrid of what the Senate passed in 2005 and the one from the special session, minus the referendum, as a contingency in the event that the Court of Appeals throws out the entirety of the bills passed in November after an ongoing legal dispute (read this Sun story about GOP lawsuit).

"We need to have something ready," he said, adding that he expected some Republicans would support his bill and some would not.  

Posted by Brad Olson at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

In the early days of any legislative session, members of the General Assembly spend perhaps as much time introducing constituents and honoring various groups around the state as they do debating legislation.

Today was no exception, as Senate Pres. Thomas V. Mike Miller recognized the girl scouts and begged "for those peanut-buttery kind" of cookies, as well as Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, a non-profit that helps employ the blind throughout the state that was created 100 years ago by the General Assembly.

One of the people being honored was from Emmitsburg, which prompted Miller to note that an interesting historical knick-knack from Emmitsburg happens to be available right now on eBay, although he can't afford it. Miller, a history buff, is big on eBay.

What drew the loudest applause? Sen. Alex X. Mooney, a Frederick County Republican, drew great laughter and whoops, as well as two rounds of clapping, when he urged everyone to recognize Candy O. Greenway, whom he beat in his 2006 reelection bid.

Posted by Brad Olson at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Today was the 9th anniversary of Tiger Pride Day in the General Assembly, and House Speaker Michael E. Busch called all Towson University (formerly Towson State) graduates in the House of Delegates to stand with him on the dais and sing their school's fight song.

They smiled for pictures, but declined to sing. Go tigers!

Posted by Brad Olson at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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