Maryland House Democrats
Putting Marylanders First
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Federal Taxes lowest since 1950's
Posted May 12 at 12 PM
Tax bills lowest since '50s
By Dennis Cauchon • USA TODAY • May 11, 2010
Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found.
Some conservative political movements such as the "Tea Party" have criticized federal spending as being out of control. While spending is up, taxes have fallen to exceptionally low levels.
Federal, state and local taxes — including income, property, sales and other taxes — consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That rate is far below the historic average of 12% for the last half-century. The overall tax burden hit bottom in December at 8.8.% of income before rising slightly in the first three months of 2010.
"The idea that taxes are high right now is pretty much nuts," says Michael Ettlinger, head of economic policy at the liberal Center for American Progress. The real problem is spending,counters Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks, which organizes Tea Party groups. "The money we borrow is going to be paid back through taxation in the future," he says.
Individual tax rates vary widely based on how much a taxpayer earns, where the person lives and other factors. On average, though, the tax rate paid by all Americans — rich and poor, combined — has fallen 26% since the recession began in 2007. That means a $3,400 annual tax savings for a household paying the average national rate and earning the average national household income of $102,000.
This tax drop has boosted consumer spending and the economy, which grew at a 3.2% annual rate in the first quarter. It also has contributed to the federal debt growing to $8.4 trillion.
Taxes paid have fallen much faster than income in this recession. Personal income fell 2% last year. Taxes paid dropped 23%. The BEA classifies Social Security taxes as insurance payments and excludes them from the tax calculation.
Why the tax bite has eased:• Stimulus law. One-third of last year's $862 billion economic stimulus went for tax cuts. Biggest reduction: The Making Work Pay tax credit reduced income taxes $800 for married couples earning up to $150,000.
• Progressive tax rates. Presidents Clinton and Bush pushed through a series of tax changes — credits, lower rates, higher exemptions — that slashed income taxes for poor and middle-class families. A drop in income now can trigger big tax breaks and sharply lower rates, sometimes falling to zero.
• Sales tax. Consumers cut spending sharply in this downturn, thereby paying less in sales taxes.
A Gallup Poll last month found that 48% thought taxes were "too high" and 45% thought they were "about right." Those saying taxes are "too high" remain near a 50-year low.
The lower tax burden should last at least through 2010, says Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C. "Virtually all the stimulus tax cuts expire at the end of the year," he says. "So the key decision is whether to extend them into 2011."
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Baltimore Sun Editorial highlights Maryland's job creation
Posted Apr 27 at 11 AM
Bad for business?
Our view: Maryland gets criticized for its taxes and regulations, but it nonetheless led the nation in job gains last month
Marylanders would have every right to be confused by the most recent figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. For years they've been hearing from business groups and conservatives that the Old Line State seems hell bent on killing jobs. If it's not a complaint about environmental or labor regulations, it's a cry that excessive taxes of one kind or another would drive all businesses across the border to Virginia. The governor's feud with Constellation Energy would scare off businesses from relocating here; corporate taxes and millionaires taxes would send existing companies packing; and cigarette taxes would ensure that we have no convenience stores within an hour's drive of the state line. Maryland, naysayers are quick to note, comes in at 45th in the Tax Foundation's most recent rankings of business friendliness.
How, then, do you explain a gain of 38,000 jobs in one month? That marked the largest job gain of any state in the U.S., one-fifth of the national total, and the second largest one-month gain in the 70-year history of state employment statistics.
Clearly, there must be a catch. Some have suggested that we didn't really gain all those jobs, it's just that the snowstorms in February made it look like we had lost more jobs than we did, and this just amounted to an evening-out. Maybe, but we lost fewer than 13,000 jobs in February. Even if we assume all of that was "Snowmageddon"-related, Maryland would still have had the biggest jobs gain in the nation this month. The same cannot be said of Nos. 2 and 3 on the job gain list, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Our neighbors to the north lost 15,200 jobs in February and gained 22,600 in March, for a net gain of just 6,600 jobs on an employment base that's more than twice as large as Maryland's. Virginia lost 31,400 jobs in February but only gained back 24,500 in March.
Maybe it was all government sector hiring? Nope. Maryland gained fewer than 5,000 government jobs in March. Virginia, for those keeping score at home, grew its government sector by about the same amount. And even if some of it was government sector hiring, so what? Those who criticize Maryland's business climate like to pooh-pooh government sector jobs, as if they don't count because we get them simply by virtue of our proximity to Washington. By this same logic, perhaps we should discount all the jobs related to Hawaii's tourism industry because of its proximity to gorgeous views of the Pacific, or Florida's agriculture industry because of its proximity to the sun. Texas has oil, and Maryland has the federal government; either of us would be fools not to take advantage of it.
And Maryland has. Successful efforts to steer the federal base realignment process will bring thousands of new military jobs to the state — and many times that in related industries and support services. The first jobs from BRAC, as the realignment is known, aren't due to arrive in Maryland until the fall, but their effect is already being felt. Robert O.C. "Rocky" Worcester, the president emeritus of Maryland Business for Responsive Government and a longtime critic of Maryland's business climate, admits to catching a bit of the BRAC fever himself. "I went to Harford County for a meeting with businesses, and I've never seen 250 people drooling all at the same time," he says. "They are definitely standing at the ready for the largesse to hit."
Kathleen T. Snyder, the president of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, says she was taken aback by the size of Maryland's job gain in March but not by the fact that things are looking up. She says small businesses in particular see a light at the end of the recession tunnel and are looking to start hiring again in the coming months. "In going around the state and talking to small businesses, there has been a different sense of some optimism," she says. "I hear my businesspeople saying Maryland is going to come out of the recession faster than others."
If you look at the world through the eyes of the Tax Foundation, that would be hard to believe. But if all it took to generate jobs was a lower tax rate, it would be hard to explain why Maryland has, throughout this recession, lost a smaller percentage of its job base than the nation as a whole or even than Virginia, the state to which we are most often unfavorably compared. If all that mattered was that Maryland's corporate tax rate is 8.25 percent and Virginia's is 6 percent, it would be hard to explain why Maryland is still in the running for the headquarters of Northrop Grumman, the aerospace firm that's looking to relocate to this region.
Our highly educated work force, generally good public schools, research universities, well-planned communities, open spaces and functional transportation network count for something, too. The Tax Foundation says we're 45th, but Forbes, which considers factors beyond tax rates, ranks our business climate 12th, ahead of Delaware and Pennsylvania (but, admittedly, behind Virginia, which comes in at No. 1).
March's stellar job figures certainly aren't enough to declare the recession in Maryland over; after all, one month a trend does not make. But the idea that Maryland could lead the nation in employment gains shouldn't be a shock, either. The gains posted last month across a wide variety of industries suggest that as the economy turns around, Maryland businesses are fully prepared to take advantage of it.
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BBJ- 6 companies apply for job creation tax credit
Posted Apr 02 at 5 PM
Six companies apply for new Maryland job creation tax credit
Baltimore Business Journal - by Gary Haber Staff
Gov. Martin O'Malley visited Web security firm Cyber Point on Friday.
View Larger Gov. Martin O’Malley visited the Inner Harbor offices of a fast-growing cybersecurity firm Friday to urge companies to apply for the state’s new job-creation tax credit.As of Friday, six companies, looking to add 30 new workers to their payrolls, have applied for the credit since the program went into effect March 25, state officials said. That was the day O’Malley signed legislation creating the $5,000-per-employee Job Creation and Recovery tax credit for companies that hire unemployed Marylanders.
The legislation sets aside $20 million in state funding for the program at a time when Maryland’s unemployment rate has been rising. It reached 7.7 percent in February.
“It’s our hope that the credit will accelerate the hiring of 4,000 people in our state off the unemployment rolls,” O’Malley said during his visit to CyberPoint International. O’Malley was joined on his tour of the company by Alexander M. Sanchez, secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and Christian S. Johansson, secretary of the Department of Business and Economic Development.
“We want to encourage companies on the verge of hiring someone to take that step now,” Johansson said of the tax credit program.
CyberPoint is an example of the kind of fast-growing employer state officials hope to be able to convince to add more workers through the jobs-creation tax credit. The company helps other firms protect their information technology and data.
CEO Karl Gumtow, said he started the company with three workers, including himself and his wife, in October, working out of his Baltimore condominium. Since then, the company has grown to 21 employees and moved to an office building overlooking the Inner Harbor, where it occupies an entire floor. Gumtow said he expects CyberPoint to grow to 100 employees within two years. A tax credit for creating new jobs could help in the company’s expansion, he said.
O’Malley also addressed briefly the status of the Maryland’s effort to attract the corporate headquarters of Northrop Grumman. The governor, in response to a reporter’s question, said the aerospace and defense contractor has narrowed its search to two sites, one in Maryland and one in Virginia. O’Malley declined to identify the sites although he described the Maryland location as a "nice campus site."
Maryland has been putting on a full-court press in its effort to lure Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) and its 300 headquarters employees from Los Angeles. That effort has included enlisting Constellation Energy Group Inc. CEO Mayo A. Shattuck III and other prominent members of Maryland’s business community to contact Northrop Grumman officials to pitch the state.
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Daily Times Sex Offender Editorial
Posted Mar 26 at 3 PM
Our View: Stronger laws to protect kids
Momentum building as Senate considers sex
offender bills
March 26, 2010
Maryland's House of Delegates did good work this past week in passing no fewer than eight pieces of
legislation that are designed to protect children from convicted sexual offenders. The bills now before the state Senate include measures that more clearly define offenses that present a danger to the community as well as more stringent sentencing guidelines or mandates. The need for better state laws that deal with child sex offenders was made abundantly clear during the Christmas holiday, when 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell was abducted from her bedroom and murdered by a convicted sexual offender who was not at the time incarcerated.
It is now up to the Maryland Senate to approve these measures. They need to be enacted as a passage -- although certainly not without discussion, debate and full understanding on the part of lawmakers --because provisions in some bills may be significantly weakened if certain companion bills are also enacted.
One of the bills, House Bill 1046, sponsored by Delegate Norm Conway, D-38B, Wicomico, would require a judge, not a District Court commissioner, be responsible for authorizing or denying pretrial release of a registered sex offender. But without companion legislation to make pertinent information about the defendant available, some offenders who pose a threat to the community could be erroneously released pending trial. Therefore, under this bill, someone accused --but not convicted -- of sexually assaulting a minor child could be held until trial if deemed by a judge to pose a threat to the community.
Eight bills have moved from House to Senate; they include provisions to disallow time off for "good behavior" on the part of inmates convicted of specific sexual crimes against children. Thus, someone convicted of molesting children under a certain age would no longer be able to earn an early release. Other provisions provide a longer period of monitoring for certain offenders, as well as adding restrictions on where they may work, live or loiter.
Provisions of the various bills include more clearly defining criminal acts that indicate a true threat, as opposed to offenses that, while clearly in violation of the law, do not necessarily pose a threat to innocent children (such as consensual acts between teenagers of certain ages).
We hope the Senate will continue the good work started by the House of Delegates, with a goal of better protecting our children. -
House Judiciary Committee passes tougher sex offender laws
Posted Mar 15 at 12 PM
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE PASSES
PACKAGE OF TOUGHER SEX OFFENDER LAWSANNAPOLIS, MD – The House Judiciary Committee passed bills incorporating over a dozen pieces of legislation to strengthen Maryland laws against sex offenders today. With each bill receiving unanimous, bipartisan approval from the Committee, seven sex offender bills will now go to the floor of the House of Delegates for approval.
“Our top priority in Annapolis is to protect Maryland children and families from predators,” said Speaker Michael E. Busch. “As a father of two daughters, I am pleased that the legislature continues to take a tough stance against child molesters and sex offenders. I applaud the Judiciary Committee for their substantive stand against these criminals.”
Over the past four years, the legislature has provided several new tools to help law enforcement prosecute violent sex offenders. During the 2006 special session, the legislature passed Jessica’s Law, which requires a 25 year mandatory minimum sentence for first degree rape and sex offenses. In 2007, the legislature eliminated the possibility of parole for Jessica’s Law offenders. That same year, the legislature passed a law requiring court-ordered mental health assessments of sex offenders convicted of sexual abuse against a minor. In 2008, Governor Martin O’Malley and the legislature followed implementation of Jessica’s Law with a bill requiring the collection of DNA on arrest for any crime of violence or felony burglary. Over 24,000 DNA samples have been eliminated from the State’s backlog and, as a result, over 100 sex offenders have been arrested.
“Over the past four years, this Committee has worked to strengthen laws to protect the most vulnerable Marylanders – our children,” said Judiciary Chairman Joseph F. Vallario, Jr. “Today’s work represents a strong bipartisan effort to crack down on people who prey on our children and hopefully avoid tragedies like that which occurred on the Eastern Shore last year.”
The House Judiciary Committee today approved:
• House Bill 936 (sponsored by the O’Malley Administration) brings Maryland into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act. The bill was amended to also requires homeless sex offenders, sex offenders convicted of indecent exposure and possessors of child pornography offenders who repeatedly abuse children under the age of 14 to register on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry. The bill expands information posted on the Maryland Sex Offender registry to include places of employment, other residences and a plain language description of the crime. The legislation now includes individual bills sponsored by Delegates Simmons, McConkey, Mathias, Conway, Frank and Hecht.
• House Bill 473 (sponsored by the O’Malley Administration) Requires lifetime supervision of serious and repeat sex offenders after completing their original sentence. Lifetime supervision could include GPS monitoring, requiring ongoing polygraphs, restricting an offender’s movement to their place of work and home etc. The bill was amended to also subject juvenile sexual offenders to extended supervision, a separate bill sponsored by Delegate Dumais.
• House Bill 931 (sponsored by the O’Malley Administration) reconstitutes the Sex Offender Advisory Board in order to make recommendations on how to best manage sex offenders and protect the public from them.
• House Bill 289 (sponsored by Delegate Smigiel) eliminates diminution credits for an offender convicted of first and second degree rape and first and second degree sex offense against a child under the age of consent (16 years old). HB 864, sponsored by Delegate McDonough, Jessica’s Law Part II – Truth In Sentencing, is included in this amended bill.
• House Bill 599 (sponsored by Delegate Olszewski) eliminates diminution credits for repeat third degree sex offenders, whose victims are children under the age of consent (16 years old).
• House Bill 1046 (sponsored by Delegate Conway) requires a judge, instead of a district court commissioner, to determine whether a registered sex offender arrested for any crime is entitled to pretrial release and creates a rebuttable presumption that the registered sex offender poses a danger to the community. The legislation also requires that a criminal rap sheet include documentation that someone is a registered sex offender or if they have had extended supervision.
• House Bill 1053 (sponsored by Delegates Simmons and Stifler) further strengthens the State’s prohibition against possessing or promoting child pornography.The bills will be on the floor of the House of Delegates for debate Tuesday, March 16th and a final vote is expected on Thursday, March 18, 2010.
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Baltimore Sun Applauds Speaker's Gang Legislation
Posted Mar 05 at 5 PM
The Baltimore Sun editorial page has offered a ringing endorsement of Speaker's Busch's Safe Schools Act of 2010 to prevent gang violence and recruitment in our schools.
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Speaker Busch, Police & Prosecutors urge tougher gang laws
Posted Mar 04 at 1 PM
The link above is to a Baltimore Sun article detailing the General Assembly's efforts to crack down on gangs in Maryland and provide intervention and assistance to kids who are at risk of joining a gang. Speaker Busch, along with prosecutors, educators and police from across the state of Maryland testified on the Speaker's Safe Schools Act of 2010 and other anti-gang legislation yesterday in the General Assembly.
There are 600 active gangs with about 11,400 members in Maryland and they have a presence in every county in the State.
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Republican Budget Cuts
Posted Feb 25 at 3 PM
The link above is to a Baltimore Sun article by Annie Linsky about the recent Republican proposed budget cuts.
The Maryland House Republican Caucus and two Maryland Republican Senators brought their plan for budget cuts to a joint hearing of the House Appropriations and Senate Budget and Taxation Committees. They were asked to bring the roughly $2.5 billion in cuts that they had so passionately advocated for at the Spending Affordability Commission in the fall.
The House Republicans came up with $829.6 million in cuts that included drastic reductions in education spending, a $100 million cut to Baltimore City's Highway User funds, the elimination of the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Fund and cutting 1500 more state jobs.
The House Appropriations Committee will continue to examine these cuts and others and will continue to work with the Republican Minority to again craft a balanced budget that protects our priorities.
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Maryland retains it's AAA bond rating
Posted Feb 18 at 2 PM
somd.com/news/headlines/2010/11279.shtml
Maryland has again retained it's Triple A bond rating from all three bond rating agencies. Maryland is one of only 7 states in the nation to hold a AAA bond rating. This is a nod to our continued fiscal responsibility and reflects the rating agencies confidence that Maryland will continue to be a well managed and responsible with our taxpayers' dollars.
An immediate advantage of this continued rating will be the ability to refund bonds to refinance higher cost debt with lower interest rates. Current projections call for about $6 million in savings from the refunding.
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Speaker Busch introduces bill to keep gangs out of schools
Posted Feb 17 at 9 AM
Yesterday, Speaker Busch introduced legislation to increase the communication between school administrators and police to curb gang violence, intimidation and recruitment in our schools. Below is an excerpt from the article:
Busch (D) said the bill is aimed at preventing a repeat of the kind of violence between school-age gang members that culminated in May's beating death of a 14-year-old Crofton boy, the son of a Prince George's County sheriff's deputy.
"We have got to break down these barriers," Busch said Monday, noting that in hearings after the Crofton killing he was disturbed to learn that gangs are active in every county in the state and that state privacy laws prevent police and school officials from sharing all the knowledge they have about gangs in classrooms.
The bill already has bi-partisan support and continues our efforts to keep our children safe while providing them with a world class education.
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Democrats encourage bi-partisan budget discussions
Posted Feb 16 at 6 PM
Baltimore Sun’s “Budget by Bluster” Op-Ed
Today’s Baltimore Sun features an editorial that discusses our desire to continue to bridge the partisan divide and again make the tough decisions to balance Maryland’s budget.
To date, this has been a difficult process. “Republicans like to claim all that's needed is to reduce the growth of government over time. But when Mr. O'Malley actually does that -- and it means closing an Eastern Shore mental health facility, for example -- the hue and cry from the GOP side of the aisle is as loud as from anywhere.”
Of course, no elected officials want to cut programs serving their constituents, but as the Baltimore Sun notes, “Democrats are tired of Republicans taking pot-shots (and making gross misrepresentations) about the budget from the sidelines.” Instead, it is time for political courage and constructive debate. “No good idea for balancing the budget should be overlooked, no matter where or when it's expressed.”
In this spirit, the House and Senate Budget Chairs have invited GOP members to an open forum meeting on Feb. 23rd to discuss possible budget cuts. With this opportunity to engage and offer solutions, we hope to construct a bi-partisan budgetary plan.
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Maryland #1 in AP scores again!
Posted Feb 12 at 9 AM
The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland again ranks first in the nation in the percentages of high school seniors taking and passing Advanced Placement exams.
Our investments in education continue to pay off and we continue to make headway in improving scores and participation amongst traditionally underrepresented students.
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Wa Times exposes spending hypocrisy
Posted Feb 11 at 2 PM
The Washington Times recently exposed Senate Republican efforts to dismiss the job creation from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act while requesting the ARRA funding to create jobs in their own states. Their letters to administration officials often reference specific numbers of jobs that would be created with ARRA funding.
This is their standard operating procedure, decry stimulus spending as wasteful and ineffective while requesting as much of it as you can in your own state or district because it actually creates jobs. -
Maryland Republicans can't make the cut...
Posted Feb 03 at 5 PM
While Republicans have been publicly clamoring for more than $3 billion in cuts, Republican Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman can't answer the call when given the opportunity to present their best ideas to reduce spending even further. Despite having a staff of over 50 non-partisan analysts at their disposal, Senator Kittleman chooses sound bites over solutions and partisan rhetoric over meaningful public debate.
Washington Post reporter Aaron Davis has Senator Kittleman's excuses in today's First Click-Maryland.
Washington Post
02/03/10
Republicans unlikely to play along in budget spectacle
Senate Republican leader Allan H. Kittleman (R-Howard) said on Tuesday that the Democrats' ultimatum to present a counter offer to Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget proposal at a hearing scheduled for later this month appears disingenuous and that the minority party lacks the resources to match the administration's 2,769-proposal. "I said give me your budget staff for a month, and I'll get you a proposal," Kittleman said. He and other state Republicans have blasted O'Malley's budget for relying on over $1 billion in budget maneuvers to close a projected shortfall, but Democrats are betting Republicans will never put in print the cuts to education or other state services that would be needed to close the gap without them -- or, if they do, that the list of cuts will amount to great campaign fodder come November. Kittleman equated the Democrats' budget problem to the party being "down by 10 in the bottom of the ninth" and calling on Republicans to come in and "save the day." He said a month was not an adequate amount of time to ready such a widespread budget overhaul and that he suspects that Democrats would not seriously consider any proposal Republicans deliver. -- Aaron C. Davis -
Governor O'Malley delivers State of the State
Posted Feb 02 at 4 PM
February 2, 2010
Annapolis, MD
Governor Martin O’Malley presented his annual State of the State address this afternoon before a joint session of the Maryland General Assembly, describing the year’s accomplishments and remaining hurdles.
Foremost in the Governor’s speech was the need for Maryland politicians to look past partisan divides in order to guide the state through the difficult economic climate. In order to accomplish this, the Democratic focus this session will be on continued fiscal responsibility, jobs, and public safety.
Because of strong efforts put forward during previous legislative sessions, Maryland’s unemployment rate is 25 percent lower than the national average. Additionally, Maryland is one of only seven states to maintain a coveted AAA bond rating, an acknowledgment of Maryland’s status as one of the most fiscally responsible states in the Union. Continuing this trend, for the first time in at least 39 years, spending during fiscal year 2011 is less than the year before.
Fiscal responsibility alone cannot help Marylanders weather this recession, however. “To rebuild and restore our economy, we must help our businesses create and save jobs,” the Governor said. Demonstrating this commitment, he described the public/private partnership at the Port of Baltimore that will create 5,700 new jobs in construction and port operations. In Baltimore County, approximately 200 new green manufacturing jobs will be created to accommodate a new generation of electric hybrid engines from General Motors. And in 2009, 58 new business enterprises decided to locate in Maryland, while an additional 240 expanded their existing business, creating or saving about 6,465 jobs. In total, according to the state’s capital budget, 44,913 new jobs have been created in Maryland since last year.
While working towards a more stable economy, Maryland Democrats have also helped create a more stable society by enacting several important public safety changes. Notably, violent crime in Maryland is now at its lowest level since 1987, including a 43 percent reduction in juvenile homicides in the past 3 years. But one of the most significant improvements was the strengthening of child predator laws, establishing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years for the most violent predators and eliminating the possibility of parole. As a result of this policy focus, Maryland is now a much safer place for all its citizens.
In his closing, the Governor acknowledged that the state’s greatest resource is its people. Because of this, state Democrats have continued to invest in the people, making Maryland the best state for K-12 public education, one of the leaders in supporting Veterans, and the only state to make college more affordable by going the last four years without any increase in tuition for Maryland residents.
“This recession will end,” the Governor said. “Our journey is not over. And our best days are still in front of us.”A complete text of the Governor's address, as prepared for delivery, is available here
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Can Maryland Republicans find $3 billion in cuts?
Posted Feb 01 at 1 PM
Last week, Senator Ulysses Currie and Delegate Norm Conway sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Kittleman and House Minority Leader O’Donnell, asking them to propose $3 billion in cuts to a joint hearing of the Budget and Appropriations Committees without using transfers. Chairman Currie and Conway noted that their GOP legislators had voted for $2.5 billion in spending cuts in the Spending Affordability Committee and would like to see their specific cuts to reach those numbers. As Maryland Politics Watch intelligently points out, can they find $3 billion in cuts without making drastic reductions to education, healthcare and public safety? Stay tuned...
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Play the Maryland Budget Game!
Posted Jan 29 at 10 PM
The above link will take you to the Maryland Budget Map Game, a project of the University of Baltimore and Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute. You get to try your hand at balancing the budget and seeing it's effects on the citizens of Maryland. You can make a myriad of choices to balance the budget and get feedback from interest groups on how each of your decisions affects Marylanders. Give it a try and get a glimpse of the budgeting process!
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The Herald-Mail challenges lawmakers to suggest their own cuts
Posted Jan 29 at 5 PM
A Herald-Mail editorial challenges Delegate Shank and others to come up with their own cuts to close the State's $2 Billion deficit during this global economic recession.
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House & Senate to post committee votes online
Posted Jan 26 at 11 AM
http://tinyurl.com/ykrvc7v
Miller: Senate to post committee votes within days
By John Wagner | January 26, 2010; 11:02 AM ET
Miller: Senate to post committee votes within days
The Maryland Senate soon will post committee votes online within days after they occur, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said Tuesday morning.The announcement was the latest in a flurry of rule changes and proposed legislation this session designed to make state government more open.
Miller said that no one had brought the issue of committee votes to his attention until this year. The Senate's current practice is to print the votes in a journal that is not published until well after the fact. Miller said that can be changed in his chamber without legislation.
"We're going to find a way to get them online ... as quickly as possible," he said, suggesting a time frame of two to three days after the vote takes place.
The goal, Miller said, would be for the committee votes to be accessible to the public before bills come to the floor of the Senate.
In a letter to other House leaders last week, House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said he had instructed legislative staff to put committee votes from his chamber online before bills come to the floor.
Busch said the House is also testing a new software system "to video stream committee hearings during the 2010 legislative session, in anticipation of providing full video streaming of committee hearings to the public during the 2011 legislative session."
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Textbook affordability law is saving students and parents money already
Posted Jan 26 at 11 AM
Law aimed at lower textbook costs in state is working
Posted: 6:46 pm Mon, January 25, 2010
By marylandreporter.com
University officials are reporting that the textbook affordability law passed last year has lowered costs for students on their campuses.
Eight months ago, Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-Prince George’s, pushed a bill aimed at creating competition for textbook sales. It required online posting of course materials for the benefit of students and competing booksellers, and promoted alternatives to bundles of multiple books often pushed by publishers.
Textbook publishers and Maryland schools lobbied against the measure, but university officials and store representatives have changed their tune.
Many reported that textbook costs for students have begun to drop, sales of used book have increased, and faculty members have become more aware and engaged in getting students the best overall value for course materials.
P.J. Hogan, associate vice chancellor for government relations for the University System of Maryland and a former senator, described this change in the faculty’s mindset as “cultural.”
“Now the faculty has to think about, ‘Is this the best thing at the best price to deliver the content of the course?’” Hogan said last week. “Students now have a lot more options, and are getting more options as time goes on.”
Student complaints have been scant since the changes mandated by the law went into effect, Hogan said. The few problems that people brought up with him were quickly rectified.
Private colleges have not been as quick in implementing the changes, said Tina Bjarekull, president of the Maryland Independent College and University Association. But they are “making a good faith effort to fall in line.” Bjarekull said the act is “working,” despite lower textbook revenues.
“[The law] has worked much more smoothly than we had thought,” she said.
These colleges are pushing their faculty to post textbooks for their courses by the first day of class registration. McDaniel College in Westminster has implemented a system where students can see the required textbooks and their prices as they sign up for classes, Bjarekull said.
The only major hiccup that university representatives reported was with textbook publishers. Although they have agreed to provide individual components of bundled textbooks, they have increased the price of the components substantially, said Kathleen Carey-Fletcher, director of auxiliary services for Montgomery College. “One bundle was priced at $118, and the three individual components were all over $80,” Carey-Fletcher said.
The briefing also included reports on an emerging trend of textbook rental services in Maryland. Such programs provide books to students for roughly 40 percent of the list price. Students must return them at the end of the semester, or the rest of the list price is charged to their credit card.
Marcy Gannon, store manager at the College of Southern Maryland, said her school was in the process of greatly expanding its pilot rental program. The bookstore at the University of Maryland, College Park, which is run by Barnes and Noble, is beginning its own textbook rental pilot program. -
Sustainability & Jobs top the Agenda
Posted Jan 26 at 11 AM
Here is the Baltimore Business Journal's quick breakdown of the Governor's legislative agenda that focuses on job creation, continued fiscal responsibility and sustainability.
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Creating and Saving Jobs is Priority #1
Posted Jan 19 at 3 PM
http://tinyurl.com/yagdonv
The Baltimore Business Journal discusses Governor O'Malley's #1 priority this session, putting Marylanders back to work while balancing a budget without raising revenues. -
Stimulus Funds Expand Juvenile Offender Program
Posted Jan 19 at 3 PM
Thanks to an allocation of federal stimulus funds, a program aimed to keep juvenile criminal offenders out of the Anne Arundel County prison system and in treatment – called the Juvenile Intervention & Family Independence Program (JIFI) – will be expanded into Baltimore City. The 10 year old program currently employs 2 social workers, who review the cases of more than 100 juvenile offenders. Considering the program’s success in the community, only between 13 percent and 20 percent of the program’s participants re-offend, law makers and public defenders were pleased to see it maintained.
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Maryland economy shows signs of stabilizing
Posted Jan 18 at 1 PM
Jay Hancock details cautious optimism that 2010 could bring economic stabilization and modest economic growth.
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Spending Panel Recommends Zero Growth Budget
Posted Jan 18 at 1 PM
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Robert Lang and Associated PressFor the first time, a panel of Maryland lawmakers on Thursday recommended that the state's budget not contain any growth in the next fiscal year.
The Spending Affordability Committee has made recommendations to the executive branch since 1982. All had contained some growth to account for inflationary costs, even during times of budget deficits.
Delegate John Bohanan, who co-chairs the panel, said the recommendation was pragmatic without damaging state government too badly. He also said the panel's decision was a historic low in recommended spending.
"We have positioned ourselves well by not decimating, not cutting into those programs that are important," Bohanan said, noting that the state already is spending less in this fiscal year than in 2007...
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Galen Clagett Seeks 3rd Term
Posted Jan 15 at 10 AM
FrederickNewsPost.com
Clagett to seek third term
Originally published January 12, 2010
By Meg Tully
Delegate Galen Clagett will make attracting new businesses to the area a top priority in his re-election campaign.
Clagett, a Democrat who represents Frederick and surrounding areas, is seeking his third term.
"We'll not come out of this quagmire we're in unless we do create jobs," Clagett said. "We'll need an educated workforce. That's going to be paramount."
He announced his re-election bid Monday evening at a crowded event at Mick's New American Bistro in Frederick.
In addition to several Frederick County Democratic Central Committee members and city aldermen, several prominent Republicans were in the audience.
Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and Mayor Randy McClement, for example, said they respect Clagett for his business experience and votes.
"I have a broad base," Clagett said. "It's good to have, it means we can get things accomplished."
Clagett wants to review and eliminate rules and regulations that make it difficult to locate or expand businesses in Frederick.
He also said he brings a personal touch and relationships of trust to business leaders considering a move to the city.
"My goal is always to put Frederick first, and to promote both our city and county in the state," Clagett said.
Clagett is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of its public safety and administration subcommittee.
Those positions enable him to get phone calls returned and pleas answered, he said.
"I have constant and direct access to Gov. O'Malley, to Speaker of the House Mike Busch, to many other office holders in the state of Maryland," Clagett said. "I believe that access helps me to provide real opportunities for the City of Frederick and Frederick County."
Clagett's district is shared with Delegate Sue Hecht, a Democrat who is expected to seek re-election.
Dave Schmidt, a Frederick Republican, is the only other announced candidate in the race. An Iraq War veteran, he said in April he would seek the office.
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Daily Record article looks into the difficulties of being both a lawyer and a legislator.
Posted Jul 20 at 3 PM
The lives of Maryland legislators are often put on hold during the three month legislative session from January to April. This article looks at the challenges of being both a state legislator as well as a lawyer. Senators Frosh, Gladden, and Rosenberg as well as Delegate Vallario discuss how they balance their legal work with their legislative work. It is a very interesting article that gives some insight into the life of a Maryland elected official.
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Balt. Sun editorial applauds the expansion of Maryland Medicaid
Posted Jul 01 at 11 PM
This June marks the one-year anniversary of a program that brought taxpayer-financed medical assistance to 40,000 previously uninsured low-income parents. This program according to the Sun not only helps to provide insurance coverage to the poor but also helps to cut down on health care costs in general. This article shows how the important pieces of legislation that pass through Annapolis each year can make a real impact on Maryland families.
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Balt Sun gives praise to Md. Stimulus Spending
Posted Jun 30 at 9 PM
Environmental and smart growth advocates gave praise to Maryland's spending of stimulus funds. The article which can be found here discusses how the stimulus funds are being used to preserve existing infrastructure instead of adding new capacity. Maryland which had the first stimulus project going in the country has put more people back to work by starting smaller projects where the money would flow to faster.
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WaPo editorial destroys the fleeing Maryland Millionaire Myth
Posted Jun 21 at 2 AM
WaPo's editorial last week detailed the facts that Maryland's millionaires aren't moving to a different state, they're moving to a lower tax bracket with the global economic downturn to blame. We'll hear more about this in the months ahead. It's important to wait and see how many of them late file their state and federal taxes. If you didn't get a chance to read the editorial, it's here. It's a good read and dispels the Right's mythlogical millionaire migration.
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Maryland House of Delegates continues to Go Green!
Posted Jun 19 at 1 PM
The hard work of the Maryland House of Delegates was acknowledged yesterday when the Maryland League of Conservation Voters published their 2009 scorecard and noted that a lot was accomplished last session to protect our natural resources, clean up the bay and decrease our carbon output. The Baltimore Sun has a great article about it, you can find it here.
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O'Malley & Busch tout a safer Annapolis
Posted Jun 05 at 2 PM
www.wbaltv.com/news/19638351/detail.html
Governor Martin O’Malley today joined House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer, public safety officials and community leaders to celebrate the successes of the Capital City Safe Streets (CCSS) program, launched one year ago as a first-of-its-kind state and local partnership to reduce crime in Annapolis.
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News & Commentary
Posted Jun 05 at 2 PM
