Political dreams smacking the pavement of reality

No, this is not a post about John Kerry.

Actually, a couple little news items from the world of Annapolis politics came to my attention and I thought they deserved some comment.

First of all, I came across this news story where State Senator Allen Kittleman (Republican and Minority Whip) wants to assure that all bills that are introduced in the Maryland General Assembly and get to the Senate at least receive a committee vote. Apparently these things are at the discretion of the committee chair. Kittleman’s point is that the people who testify on behalf of a bill’s passage deserve to have the item they testified on receive an up-or-down vote.

But that’s silly. There’s a lot of what the Democrats don’t want to happen in government that gets introduced. Here’s an example of an actual bill that might be affected. GOP Senator E.J. Pipkin (from the Eastern Shore) introduced Senate Bill 40, which would temporarily suspend toll collection on the Bay Bridge if the traffic backup grows to 30 minutes or more. In general, anything that denies the state government money is a no-go with the General Assembly (except that when it comes to land slated to be developed, the state is happy to buy that and take it off the tax rolls.) However, SB 40 appears to be a common-sense bill that one would be foolish to vote against.

As things stand now, it’s solely up to Sen. Ulysses Currie of PG County whether that bill gets voted on in commitee, and for all I know, he may not like the idea (particularly because it has a GOP sponsor.) By right as committee chair, he can sit on the bill and kill it by bottling it up in his Budget and Taxation Committee without a vote. No recorded vote against the bill – no ammunition for an opponent when election time rolls around again.

Now Kittleman’s measure has a “promise” to be “considered” when the Senate takes up rules changes later this month. But I can hear the “splat!” now as that idea bites the dust.

The other dream is where Governor O’Malley’s budget will be at least somewhat frugal. I got this press release from the Maryland Republican Party today. I suppose I’m not surprised (after all, the last Democrat governor did put the state in a $4 billion hole) but O’Malley’s first budget blows through just under 60% of the state’s current “rainy day fund” to the tune of almost $1 billion (in a $30 billion total budget.) Included in this spending spree are an additional 1,100 government jobs, which I’m betting will either be unionized (as a payback to his Big Labor toadies) or contract jobs (where the state doesn’t pay benefits.)

Remember, the governor won’t have that large rainy-day cushion anymore for FY 2008 but I’m certain he will want to increase spending even further. Even the cigarette tax pushed by radicals like Delegate James Hubbard (he of the ill-fated Wal-Mart bill) is only slated to raise $200 million in its first year – that plus the remainder of the rainy-day fund would still leave a big hole for next year’s budget.

At least Hubbard is honest about his intentions. Quoted from the Sun: “I know (O’Malley) said he’s not going to initiate any new taxes. That’s fine. He’s not going to initiate this. We’re going to initiate this and put it on his desk.”

Now I know a dream I have would drop and splatter like a water balloon, but why doesn’t the General Assembly consider (gasp!) spending cuts? Or find other ways to raise revenue?

Right off the top of my head, I have one idea. Why doesn’t the Chesapeake Bay Foundation – which was so proud about the state buying the bulk of the land slated for the Blackwater development in my link above – buy that land from the state government for the $10 million the state paid for it and place it back on the tax rolls (which would help Dorchester County as well)? Put your money where your mouth is, CBF. $10 million isn’t pocket change yet in this state, that’s half a month’s worth of the supposed revenue from the buck-a-pack additional cigarette tax.

Unfortunately, this sort of common sense that seems to occupy the Eastern Shore gets lost somewhere along Route 50 and just doesn’t exist anymore in Government House.

 

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

4 thoughts on “Political dreams smacking the pavement of reality”

  1. You should check out the rules of the Seante… You state them incorrectly… There can be a vote if a majority of Senators on the Committee request it in writing….

  2. I think the idea of Kittleman’s bill was to assure that each bill gets a vote. You know as well as I do that since the D’s are the majority in all the committees, very few major Republican bills stand a chance. A less controversial bill like SB 62 (from my Senator, Lowell Stotzfus) would not be seen as a problem but it’s possible SB 40 could. Or maybe not, I just used Pipkin’s example to illustrate my point and thoughts about the Kittleman bill.

    (Just so you know, SB 62 is a simple bill to give raises to certain Somerset County officials. There’s dozens of similar bills passed every year, sponsored by legislators of both parties.)

  3. Sen.Pipkin’s Bay Bridge toll waiver bill (SB40) may sound like “common sense” (especially to his Stevensville commuter constituents), but like most ideas from the “free lunch” school of economics this one is another wooden nickel! Good toll policy needs to supress peak traffic demand–not pander to constituent pocketbooks. New Jersey shows the way with its numerous high-speed overhead E-ZPass scanners. Put a couple those on dedicated lanes that start a couple of miles back from the toll booths and the change will be dramatic. Of course, when enough folks get E-ZPass, we’ll find out its the bridge capacity–not the toll booths–that are the peak load problem. Face it–Maryland needs another bridge! Oh, but Senator Pipkin opposes a new northern bay span! Looks like we’re all going to be backed up on RT 50 for a long long time, toll or no toll.

  4. They already have E-Z Pass – granted it doesn’t start a couple miles back, but that would take some road work to accomplish adding another lane or two for that. Otherwise, look for accidents when people who accidentally merge into an E-Z Pass lane try to get back out.

    Personally, I don’t really want another northern crossing either. I’d rather see one around Cambridge or else possibly the Crisfield-Reedsville ferry idea that’s been kicked around these parts.

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