Gov. Martin O'Malley said his first 14 months leading the state -- in which his time has been defined as much by Maryland's fiscal woes as any other issue -- have been "the most unpleasant" of all the time he's spent in public life.

He made this remark to a number of reporters after a Board of Public Works meeting yesterday morning, and also said he was playing an active role in efforts to repeal the computer services tax, calling lawmakers and urging them to vote for a combination of cuts, one-time funding from money earmarked for transportation and additional income taxes on those earning more than $1 million a year.

"It's not unreasonable to ask those patriotic citizens to pay an extra percentage" on their income over $1 million, he said. Another option on the table, largely favored by those who oppose his plan, is to make up for the money lost from the repeal with additional budget cuts.

The governor said he would prefer the previous option, but is most committed to repealing the tax. O'Malley even held out the possibility that the session could be extended past Monday if the General Assembly isn't able to wrap things up.

"I don't want to undermine the progress we've made in the special session," he said, referring to many of the programs passed in November that included more funding for transportation and Chesapeake Bay cleanup and an expansion of health care coverage to the uninsured. Lawmakers have already cut those programs or delayed their implementation in order to cover unexpected revenue shortfalls due to the lagging economy, and any further cuts could more definitively undermine those new programs.

O'Malley said he knew many were loathe to consider higher taxes after having raised them by $1.3 billion just a few months ago, but he felt the repeal was the right step.

"I haven't heard of anybody...offering up better alternatives," he said.

Posted by Brad Olson at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Maryland Archeology Month.

And for those attending the Board of Public Works meeting this morning, this point was driven home as Susan Langley, the State Underwater Archeologist, regaled top state officials with tales of shipwrecks and other prized findings for nearly a half hour.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp seemed especially interested in a German U-boat the state and the Navy have partnered in preserving in the past decade.

They did not seem terribly concerned about the gaggle of public officials awaiting word on state funding they had asked for, perhaps aware that as soon as they took up the concerns of those individuals, the meeting could take a decidedly less interesting turn.

Perhaps aware their curiosity had taken up a good amount of time, O'Malley made a wisecrack and the panel moved on to discuss lawsuits and other matters.

Posted by Brad Olson at 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Walking back into the Senate a few minutes ago from a photo-op on the State House steps, President Thomas V. Mike Miller expressed optimisim that a bill to repeal the computer services tax would emerge from the Budget and Taxation Committee this afternoon.

After canvassing for votes yesterday, Miller, who now backs a "tech tax" repeal, predicted a close vote on the Senate floor in coming days.

"It's going to be one or two votes either way," he said. "But I think we're OK."

Posted by Gadi Dechter at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

And on a lighter note from the Senate's attempt to censure Comptroller Peter Franchot (see earlier post), his office gave a tax refund to Edith Thompson, 62, a former teacher who lives in Baltimore City and was lucky enough to have filed the one-millionth electronic tax return.

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Continue reading "And the lucky tax filer is..." »

Posted by Brad Olson at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Scott Arceneaux, a senior adviser to Marylanders United to Stop Slots, has this to say about the decision of the Maryland Association of Counties to get behind November's slots referendum.

"The political insiders and special interests are at it again. After supporting the largest tax increase in State history and lobbying for cuts in critical state and local services, it takes a lot of nerve for the Maryland Association of Counties to advocate yet another tax increase through legalizing slot machine gambling. The national gambling industry, one of the most politically active special interests in the country, is asking voters to amend Maryland's constitution and impose a regressive tax on working families all across our State. And they are now doing so with the aid and comfort of the very people who will be left to deal with the crime, corruption and foreclosures that comes with expanded gambling."

"Maryland's Constitution is better than that."

Posted by Brad Olson at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Supporters of a referendum that would allow slot machine gambling in Maryland picked up another endorsement Wednesday from the Maryland Association of Counties.

That means in one month, the pro-slots folks have lined up support from two of the state's major power centers -- MACO and the Maryland State Teachers' Association, the second of which stirred controversy because of the subtle urgings of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.

The MACO endorsement has not come as a surprise to many in the anti-slots camp, who note that the association is run by none other than Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, who happens to be a close ally of Gov. Martin O'Malley. 

And further, as we've written, the pro-slots folks have yet to win over another potentially powerful group: the operators of race tracks who stand to reap a windfall if voters approve of slots.

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Posted by Brad Olson at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Sensing failure, the Maryland Sweatfree Campaign withdrew legislation that would have stopped state expenditures on uniforms "manufactured by companies that exploit women and children," according to a statement the group released this morning.

In the waning days of the legislative session, many groups and lawmakers prefer to keep a bill from being voted upon rather than see it killed, since once legislators cast their vote one way it is usually an uphill battle to get them to change their minds. Many bills eventually meet this fate, including one recently withdrawn by Del. Curt Anderson that would have taken a step back from the get-tough policies of the drug war.

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Posted by Brad Olson at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Perhaps aware that Comptroller Peter Franchot had managed to spend a few days out of the news, his office sent out notice that the state's top 50 "tax scofflaws" had been posted on the tax collector's Web site.

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Posted by Brad Olson at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Senate advanced legislation today -- which has largely moved through the General Assembly outside the spotlight -- that would require insurers authorized to do business in Maryland to provide the state with a report about each "slaveholder insurance policy" it issued during the antebellum period.

This follows last year's vote to apologize for slavery, and in an interesting twist, was almost delayed on the Senate floor as lawmakers attempted to have the bill amended so they could be added as sponsors.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, ever the advocate of the speedy passage of laws, hinted that they didn't need to be a co-sponsor. Their support was enough.

"As a historian, I'm very supportive of the bill, but I'm not going to sponsor it," he said. 

Posted by Brad Olson at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Senate failed twice today to pass a bill calling for a constitutional amendment that would raise the minimum amount of damages sought in order to convene a jury trial in a civil lawsuit.

Under current law, people suing or being sued for $10,000 or more in district court can request a jury trial in the circuit division. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat, would have raised that minimum to $15,000.

Supporters of the legislation argued that raising the minimum — last adjusted a decade ago — would reflect inflation and that it is a pro-consumer measure designed to prevent deep-pocketed insurance companies from dragging out lawsuits in prolonged circuit court proceedings.

Opponents, including both Democrats and Republicans, argued that even in relatively small lawsuits plaintiffs and defendants should have the right to be judged by a jury of their peers.

“Just because you’re mad at insurance companies, don’t take it out on the little person,” said Sen. Allan H. Kittleman, a Carroll County Republican.

Sen. Delores G. Kelley, a Baltimore County Democrat, agreed.

”We need to preserve the right of a jury trial for poor people,” she said.

The law can only be changed by an amendment to the Maryland Constitution. Lawmakers today voted in favor of a regular bill that would increase the limits but could not find enough votes to pass the companion constitutional amendment bill, which would bring the matter to the general public in a referendum. Constitutional amendments require a three-fifths supermajority.

After the first vote, Sen. Bobby Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat, requested a second vote. But the constitutional amendment bill got just 28 votes on both tries. It needed 29 votes to pass. The measure has not yet received a vote in the House of Delegates.

Posted by Gadi Dechter at 1:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Senate gave preliminary approval today to a bill that would allow businesses to receive $5 million in tax credits for sponsoring scholarships at private schools.

In about 30 minutes of often-contentious debate on the chamber floor, lawmakers struck down multiple attempts to water down or limit the bill, which opponents say amounts to a public subsidy of private schools.

Calling the bill a “sham” that will “chip away at public education in Maryland,” Sen. Delores G. Kelley, a Baltimore County Democrat, urged her colleagues to defeat the measure.

But Baltimore Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, a Democrat, said the proposal would benefit working class parents who struggle to send their children to religious and other non-public schools. “If you call that a sham, I’m shamming for children today,” he said.

Under the bill, businesses would receive an income tax credit for 75 percent of their contributions to nonprofit organizations that provide scholarships to students and teachers at private secondary schools.

The tax credit, which would be capped at $5 million a year, would also apply to donations made to certain public school programs, such as those that subsidize the cost of teachers’ graduate schooling.

Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, an Eastern Shore Republican and parochial school principal, said the “little tax credit” would save the state money by allowing more students to afford private schools. “There are 136,000 students in Maryland who attend private schools,” Stoltzfus said. “It would cost an extra $1.5 billion to educate those students” in the public system.

McFadden noted that the state already spends millions of dollars a year on higher education grants to private colleges and universities.

Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a Montgomery County Democrat who opposes the bill, argued that if the state wants to increase subsidies to public elementary and secondary schools — it already buys books for some private campuses — it should do so explicitly. “If we want to do vouchers, let’s just do vouchers,” said Madaleno.

Lawmakers voted down three amendments proposed by Madaleno. They would have placed a 3-year sunset on the bill, reduced the tax credit amount, and restricted the tax credit to scholarship programs at schools with a minimum threshold of poor students.

Senators also rejected an amendment by Sen. Jamie Raskin, a Mongtomery County Democrat, that would require the beneficiaries of the scholarships to be subject to the same state testing regimen as public school students.

The House of Delegates has not voted on the bill.

Posted by Gadi Dechter at 1:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Sen. Richard Madaleno, who opposed a bill that would classify such drinks as Mike's Hard Lemonade as beer, writes in to pass along a fact sheet prepared by a researcher for the Center for the Study of Law and Enforcement Policy.

Read on for the fact sheet. 

Continue reading "Liquor or beer, part deux" »

Posted by Brad Olson at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Posted by Andy Green at 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

A bill that has so far moved through the Senate under the media radar (read: we missed it) got some serious debate today on the floor before advancing to a final stage in the legislative process.

Senators voted to classify such beverages as Mike's Hard Lemonade and other examples of what the alcoholic beverage industry calls "flavored beer" as beer, meaning they will be taxed at the rate of beer and sold throughout the state in a manner much like beer.

This possibility rankles Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, who testified against the legislation in a hearing, as well as several county health departments in Maryland, all of whom believe the bill's passage would give "young people" easier access to this type of alcohol.

And by young people, opponents of the measure mean teenagers, to whom critics say these drinks are marketed.

"These beverages are gateway drinks," said Sen. Richard Madaleno, who urged his fellow lawmakers to kill the bill. "We need to listen to the public health advocates in our state who say this is a bad idea."

After Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller weighed in briefly and showed that he favors the bill, Sen. Richard Colburn, the bill's sponsor, rattled off a number of points in rebuttal. Colburn said, for example, the average consumer of the drinks is a 35 year-old female.

The legislation would put Maryland in line with 47 other states and the District of Columbia, as well as the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. If it fails, it would amount to a 1,666 percent tax increase on the beverages.

The bill advanced to the final stage before passage by a vote of 34 in favor and 9 against. 

Posted by Brad Olson at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

State Sen. Andy Harris held up the advancement of a bill that would ban the use of cell phones and other hand-held devices because he thought, in short, that the ban wasn't a real ban, but would cause "age profiling."

This is how the law would work: drivers caught speeding or otherwise disobeying traffic laws could also be written up for using cell phones. In the peculiar parlance of the law, it's a "secondary offense," which means police could not pull you over just for using your phone.

But for drivers under the age of 18, it is a "primary offense," meaning these drivers could be ticketed solely for using their cell phones.

So, Harris asked on the Senate floor this morning, would this mean police will just enforce it "by stopping young-looking people?" He then joked the ticket could be written for "driving while looking young."

Sen. Brian Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat who chairs the Judicial Proceedings Committee, which had just sent the bill to the whole Senate, shot back:

"At my age, I'd love to be pulled over for looking young," he said before getting serious: "We don't think kids 16-18 should be talking on a cell phone while driving."

Sen. Thomas "Mac" Middleton also defended it, admitted that what Harris said was essentially true, but that it would be an important deterrent for high school students whose driver's license is one of their most "precious" possessions. He said police could monitor them at schools to make sure they obeyed the law and be reasonably assured the ban in that instance would apply to everyone.

Harris said this would amount to "age profiling" and asked for the bill to be tabled until tomorrow, so he can "work on it." 

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

The Senate voted this morning to approve a bill that would increase air pollution fees on power plants and other agencies. The vote was 32 to 14.

The legislation has not been heard in the House of Delegates, but Gov. Martin O'Malley is in favor of it. Here's how Sun reporter and environmento-legislato guru Tim Wheeler summarized debate over the bill the other day after it received preliminary approval in the Senate:

Under the bill, the annual fees that companies must pay for permits to release air pollution would increase from $42 per ton of pollutants to $50 per ton. Environmental officials say they have just 18 inspectors now to keep tabs on more than 11,000 different sources of air pollution, and budget cuts have forced them to leave 26 positions vacant.

The fee increase would enable the department to raise $1.3 million in the next year, said Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, a Prince George's County Democrat. Reductions in federal aid have left the state environmental agency facing up to a $1 million deficit in its program to monitor and enforce federal and state air pollution laws, Pinsky said.

But critics have complained that the fee increases would hurt manufacturers already struggling financially and could force electric rates still higher.

"We're piling on our businesses," said Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, a Republican representing the lower Eastern Shore. He warned that the fees might drive some companies under or out of state.

Posted by Gadi Dechter at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

Posted by Andy Green at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
                    

With budget problems threatening to burgeon in Annapolis, state lawmakers are considering holding the line on any new initiatives projected to cost more than $250,000.

The fiscally restrained stance comes as the General Assembly braces for updated revenue estimates that are expected to be released Thursday. Those figures could show that lawmakers need to cut $300 million or more from the governor’s proposed budget.

While O’Malley’s proposals might be exempt from the quarter-million dollar limit, some of his initiatives -- which are projected to cost tens of millions of dollars -- could be pared back substantially. Possible initiatives on the chopping block: A Chesapeake Bay cleanup fund and programs intended to expand access to health insurance.

Posted by Laura Smitherman at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Check out the details of the GOP's budget proposal here. The gist of it is:

The GOP legislators would accept all the cuts proposed by the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services, defer saving for state employee retirement benefits, put off funding a portion of the state's landmark education funding program designed to help districts where costs are high, eliminate vacant positions, reduce transportation funding by $100 million and pay for some capital projects with bonds instead of operating funds. In all, the GOP says its proposals would save $429 million in state taxpayer funds and $642 million overall.

Posted by Brad Olson at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Posted by Andy Green at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

David Simon, the former Sun reporter made good as writer/producer of The Wire, submitted written testimony for a bill that would cut down on mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders. As should not be shocking to viewers of his show, he's not so keen on the drug war. He writes in his letter of support:

I am convinced ... that zero-tolerance drug prohibition policies and efforts, while achieving nothing in terms of making Baltimore a safer city, have proven incredibly destructive to law enforcement itself, so much so that I do not think it hyperbolic to suggest that the drug war, as it is currently being pursued, is slowly eviscerating urban police work.

However, he holds out little hope that it will pass:

I confess I do not expect this bill to pass the legislature and be signed by the executive. I am of the opinion that the courage required of political leaders to speak openly, honestly and pragmatically about the dead-end logic of zero tolerance drug enforcement to be entirely non-existent at this time. It is that absence of such courageous and honest leadership that has led this nation to a moment -- achieved this very year -- in which one out of every 100 Americans is behind bars, a rate of arrest and incarceration that dramatically exceeds every other country on the globe, civilized or otherwise.

Posted by Andy Green at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)