April 2007 – Page 3

Maryland’s haves and have-nots

I was doing a little reading about another dubious first for our fair state. With the passage of HB430 earlier this week, Maryland is the first state in the country to pass a so-called “living wage” statewide – at least for those who wish to do any significant amount of business with the state. At the moment, its reach is limited to those employers who work under state contracts. But, as is the case with most liberal ideas, this measure gets the camel’s nose under the tent and I wouldn’t be surprised if this bill isn’t expanded upon in next year’s session.

In reading through HB430, what I found most interesting about this soon-to-be law is the fact that the nice folks in the General Assembly let us know we deserve less on the Eastern Shore. (After all, according to William Donald Schaefer we are Maryland’s outhouse, are we not?) HB430 divides the state into two “tiers”; Tier 1 being Montgomery, Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Howard, and Baltimore counties plus Baltimore City, and Tier 2 being the rest of us hicks who voted for Governor Ehrlich. Interestingly, of the five counties who supported O’Malley over Ehrlich, four are in Tier 1, and over 2/3 of O’Malley’s votes were from these counties.

Now I realize that the cost of living is markedly higher in the Baltimore-DC metroplex; however, I doubt it’s 33% higher as these rates suggest. The Tier 1 areas had their “living wage” set to $11.30 per hour while the rest of us get $8.50. Unfortunately, I doubt that we’ll be exempted from our share of the billion-dollar plus hole that the state is going to have in next year’s budget. Those gas taxes, property taxes, and (particularly) sales taxes will hit us hard on the Eastern Shore.

I suppose in one respect this could be a boon for some of us on our side of the bay. If I’m a business who deals a lot with the state, it would be quite tempting to jump just across the bridge into Queen Anne’s County to save that 33% in labor costs. But the idea of an artificial “living wage” is ludicrous on its face. The wage increase those fortunate few who work for the state would get will quickly be eaten up as the taxation bite increases to pay for the state’s additional costs – moreover, those of us who don’t get an automatic raise every time the state feels like giving one still get hammered by the “revenue enhancements” our Democrat friends are only too happy to sponsor.

So I have an idea for the General Assembly next year – how about a “living tax” for Marylanders? Those people in the “Tier 1” areas that vote faithfully for the “D” side of the ballot can pay a taxation rate 33% more on their income dollar than us conservatives who live on the state’s edges. If the average tax rate were, say, 15% this year than the tax rate in those “Tier 1” counties should go up to 20% while ours stays at 15%.

Think that will get any traction in Annapolis next year? I think it’s only fair!

Is the new SFD building gold-lined?

In 2006, after some controversy regarding the site and the costs, Salisbury began work on its new fire station that’s slated to replace the downtown Station 16 and the training center on Isabella Street.

In recent days this issue was brought up again by Joe Albero and Salisbury News; also I recall there being talk about it on the “Robinson on the Radio” show. From my recollection, the new building is 30,000 square feet or so and will run about $9 million. This works out to roughly $300 per square foot.

I happened to be flipping through a magazine at work called Mid-Atlantic Construction and something in the Spring 2007 issue caught my eye. I actually went to their website (MAC is a McGrawHill publication, they do a lot of trade magazines in my field and also the Sweet’s Catalog) but they did not have a link I could access for the article. So I have a copy of the article in front of me.

It’s about a newly completed fire station in Roanoke, Virginia. This article is entitled “Variable Soil Conditions Don’t Stop Roanoke City Fire Station Team”, and here’s just a few of the pitfalls that affected construction of the building:

Several rock seams were present on the site (with fairly unstable soil between), so a hybrid foundation of 30″ diameter Geopier elements supporting 90 kips each and helical piers that support 50 kips each was designed and built.
Rubble from a previous building that collapsed some 50 years ago was found, including portions of the roof, foundation, HVAC system, and most importantly asbestos floor tile which needed to be remediated.
There is an adjacent building to the site, which could not have its foundation disturbed. The fire station’s building footprint and parking take up most of the site.
Because of the nature of the structural design, the strutural steel erection had to be coordinated and concurrent with the masonry erection. Generally steel goes up beforehand.

Regardless, the building, which had its groundbreaking in October 2005, took about 18 months to complete. Here’s the kicker. This 26,000 square-foot, three-story building which houses both a fire station and fire administration, ended up costing (are you ready?) – $4.8 million. By my calculator, that’s about $185 a square foot, and generally multi-story buildings on restricted sites cost more to erect than similar single-story buildings on an open site.

While I don’t have a Means Building Construction Cost Data book in front of me, (a book that breaks down construction costs by trade and material, it’s the Bible for construction cost estimators) it seems to me that $185 a square foot is pretty much within a reasonable percentile of average cost for a firehouse. I’m not sure if a link will work properly, but I went to the Means website and did a “quickie” cost estimate based on national averages.

For the building cost (assuming 30,000 s.f., 1 story, and union labor) I was given a range of $2.7 million on the low end to $3.8 million at the uppermost. Granted, I’m not assuming any administrative offices so it seems the Roanoke example is pretty much in line with expectations given that factor.

So why is the taxpayer’s bill here so expensive? It’s a question that should’ve been asked (and probably was), unfortunately the answers likely aren’t forthcoming.

A 50 year plan: Military and veterans’ affairs

The Cabinet-level Department of Veterans’ Affairs is a relatively recent creation, authorized by President Reagan in 1988. What I’m going to touch on in this installment of the 50 year plan is more aligned with the direction and function of that Department than the actual global military strategy necessary during those times. Some of that I discussed in my chapter of the 50 year plan about the Long War. Insofar as the rest of military strategy goes, I subscribe to the Reagan-era doctrine of “peace through strength” with an emphasis on forward deployment. This is why I advocate not completely retreating from Iraq when our job there is through (assuming the permission of the Iraqi government of course.)

What has placed this particular facet of veterans’ affairs at the forefront is the continuing saga at the Walter Reed veterans medical complex. Building 18, a moldy, rat-infested firetrap slated to be closed in a few years, has become yet another avenue for Congressional Democrats to continue their mantra of “it’s Bush’s fault” when problems occur and need to be addressed. Yes, there are problems in the veterans’ healthcare system – but they go far beyond the bricks and mortar of decrepit facilities and even beyond the lack of oversight and maintenance that placed Building 18 in such atrocious condition. Like most Americans, I feel that veterans deserve better.

In many areas of life, veterans get preferential treatment. This dates back to Revolutionary War days when pensions for war veterans and land grants were established. Sponsored medical care for disabled veterans also dates back close to two centuries. Outside the realm of financial and medical care, the original GI Bill enabled World War II veterans to buy homes and helped pave the way toward the postwar prosperity of the 1950’s. The neighborhood I live in is among the thousands that were created during this era, with reasonably-sized homes built for newly financially empowered veterans and their young families.

As things stand now, there are a great number of benefits to joining the military, including recruitment bonuses and college assistance. Beyond service years, veterans get assistance in job training, finding housing, preference for civil service work, and many other benefits not generally available to those who chose not to serve in the military. (Obviously there’s a risk factor involved which makes the perks necessary.) In most cases I don’t have a problem with these and they actually benefit and supplement things available to the public at-large. Anyone can train for a different job, buy a house, or apply for a civil service job whether they served in the military or not. But only veterans, their surviving spouses, and dependents are eligible for VA medical assistance.

To me, there’s a solution that can help eliminate a lot of the government red tape that has bogged down the veterans’ health care system and created situations that allowed problems like Building 18 to fester. This solution is a two-part solution.

The first portion is to allow choice for current veterans as to the location where they’ll receive their health care. Many veterans (particularly the few WW2 and Korean War vets remaining) would probably feel most comfortable with continuing to deal with the VA health care system as it is now. But I think newer veterans should be given a choice whether they wish to continue in the VA or be given vouchers by the federal government that can be used in one of two areas:

Payment for care at a hospital not affiliated with the VA when required, and/or;
Establishing a Health Savings Account, with the high-deductable insurance policy required as part of that through a qualified private insurer.

Meanwhile, future military personnel would be given the vouchers and allowed to choose the method and delivery of health care services.

Eventually this would lead to the closing of VA facilities, but what would likely happen is that existing non-VA facilities would begin to cater to the needs of the veteran population in an effort to secure their voucher dollars. It would eliminate a situation where services are (more or less) duplicated for two separate but comingled populations: the 60 million or so people eligible for VA services of some sort and the rest of us.

Taking care of veterans through pensions, benefits, and the like is one of the few areas not specifically addressed in the Constitution where I feel the federal government has a legitimate stake in regulating day-to-day needs. It is because these men and women have sacrified in service to our country that this is so. But as Rush Limbaugh has noted, the purpose of the military is to “kill people and break things”, so having the military running a health-care system doesn’t meld well with that particular skill set.

By allowing the private sector to bring better competition to the market, it gives veterans opportunities to select the health care they feel is best for their needs, rather than the one-size-fits-all solution government bureaucracy seems to come up with.

Just as an aside, if and when Hillary Clinton tries to introduce the single-payer health system she favors, think of being housed in Building 18 – because that’s the sort of treatment we’ll all get if we put the federal government solely in charge of our health care.

Carnival of Maryland #4 is up…

Once again, a day late but hopefully not a dollar short. Late last night Wade at Politics, Hon put up our newest installment. This time there’s an even dozen articles featured (including my Saturday article on the Maryland General Assembly, one of the last submitted); 9 from my fellows at the MBA and two from non-members.

I’d encourage some of my fellow local bloggers to submit. I feel lonely being the only Eastern Shore blogger to contribute regularly.

The next installment will be April 22, and I’m thinking sometime this week we’ll have a host selected. If you keep an eye on the left-hand column I keep a C of M box there for updates.

More radio days

I suppose this qualifies as breaking news.

Since John Robinson (Robinson on the Radio, if you don’t know) was off today because of the Orioles game, he was lining up guests for the coming days. My turn will come Friday, in other words Friday the 13th. So instead of just 20 minutes with Bill Reddish that’s compacted by commercial breaks into about 12-14 minutes of airtime, I’ll have an hour to expound on whatever subjects come up. That will be this Friday at 3 p.m. after Rush’s guest host.

Another radio debut (insofar as I know it is) comes up more quickly. If you tune to Ocean 98 at 6 p.m. this evening (98.1 FM) you can catch my musical friends collectively known as Semiblind on their “Live Lixx” show. Or if you’re outside the broadcast area you can watch and listen to them perform here. They were nice enough to play my favorite original song of theirs when I saw them last Friday at Max’s Dugout; the least I can do is plug this appearance.

I’ve never dreamt of a white Easter, and other adventures

But I thought that was the Easter I was going to get when I woke up this morning to see a coating of snow on the ground. Now I moved down here to get away from this kind of stuff – while the Cleveland Indians had to postpone their home opener yesterday due to snow, for me April has become my new May. May had always been my favorite month because the weather gets warm and you still have 3-4 months of summer weather to look forward to, yet down here April weather is like May weather in northwest Ohio.

And watching the Weather Channel for a bit this morning I never heard a word breathed about “global warming”. Imagine that. Now I’ll not deny that the earth could be in a warming trend. My problem with the global warming fanatics can be summed up in a few sentences.

I just have a difficult time believing that even a nation of 300 million Joe Sixpacks who go out on Saturday afternoon and fire up the charcoal grill after jumping in their SUV and driving a ten mile round trip to Wal-Mart to buy the lighter fluid they forgot has the same impact on the global climate than either the Mount Tambora volcanic eruptions of 1815 (which led to the “year without a summer” in 1816) or the Chinese bulding a new coal-fired power plant every week. Granted, the Chinese are building these mainly because of American consumerism but no one questions their motives.

Even the state of Maryland has jumped into the fray with a “global warming” bill (HB890/SB409). And that provides a nice segue into my last main Maryland legislative checkup for this session. With sine die less than 72 hours away, the time for hearings is just about past and the time for either voting on or dooming a measure is nigh. What I’ll do is go through the status of main bills of interest in this installment (bills I’ve noted in previous installments and tax bills kindly forwarded to me by the Maryland GOP – in other words, useful information) and in my final installment check on how my local District 37 and 38 Delegates and Senators did, and figure out the “king (or queen) of taxation” for the state of Maryland.

So here is a list of how my bills of interest fared. They’re listed in numerical order so HB1 would be first.

HB130/SB101 (from GOP report): This bill would assess a temporary (through mid-2012) fee to certain nursing homes that’s given to the state in order to pay well-performing nursing homes based on certain performance standards, and the federal government provides funds to match the state’s revenue. Personally, I don’t think the federal government should be involved in the health care industry but the bill passed the House 137-0. It awaits Senate approval.

HB131/SB103: The Maryland Clean Cars Act passed the House 122-16 and Senate 38-9. Local Delegates Eckardt and Haddaway properly voted no, the remaining four (Democrats Cane, Conway, and Mathias and Republican Page Elmore) voted aye. District 37 Senator Rich Colburn voted no while my Senator Lowell Stoltzfus voted yes.

HB148/SB634: This is the subvert the Founders’ intent act, or as it’s known locally, the National Popular Vote Act. When it passed the House 85-54, all of the local Delegates voted no except Rudy Cane (who voted yes) and Norm Conway (absent.) So a good vote by Delegate Mathias to buck the Democrat trend. The bill made it through a Senate committee vote yesterday.

HB225/SB211: The death penalty repeal died in committee.

HB273: This bill to restore voting rights to certain felons also died in committee. Maryland already has a law allowing this which I feel is relatively fair.

HB288/SB207: One of several bills that would increase the cigarette tax, the “Healthy Maryland Initiative” has not progressed beyond the hearing stage.

HB289: A bill of local interest, it would’ve allocated $2.5 million in state funds to fix up the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center if the county matched it. This bill was withdrawn.

HB312/SB373: Similarly, if passed the state would match $500,000 raised locally by the Salisbury Zoo Commission for an animal health facility. This bill had a hearing but hasn’t progressed since.

HB359/SB91: The Clean Indoor Air Act passed the House 98-40 and the Senate 33-13, but the bills differ enough that a conference committee had to be convened. On the House vote, Delegates Eckardt and Haddaway voted the way I would have (no) while Delegate Elmore crossed over to join the majority Democrats (including my Delegates Conway and Mathias) in voting yes. Delegate Cane was absent and did not vote. Surprisingly, both of the local Senators also voted aye in their ballot. While I have a controlled case of asthma and don’t mind smoke-free venues (like Delaware has) I still think it should be up to the bar owners.

HB365: This bill sets criteria on when an absentee ballot is received in a “timely” manner. It passed the House 135-0 and was introduced in the Senate.

HB393 (from GOP report): This bill would’ve increased the sales tax from 5% to 6%, with the proceeds placed in a “Mass Transit Account”. So the Eastern Shore would get even more of a competitive disadvantage against Delaware retailers to pay for buses and trains in the DC and Baltimore metro areas. It had a hearing in February but no action taken otherwise.

HB399 (from GOP report): This item has created quite the controversy here in Wicomico County. We have a revenue cap in place here (via voter initiative in 2002) and this bill would allow the County Council to overturn it. The furor arose when the County Council did not vote for asking the state to exempt the county from the bill. Fortunately, it hasn’t progressed beyond the hearing stage.

HB400: The Maryland Universal Health Care Plan (shudder) has not made it out of committee after its hearing. Like a bad penny, I’m sure it will return next session.

HB409 (from GOP report): A change in the recordation tax, it eliminates a loophole where limited liability corporations are exempted from paying this tax. It had a hearing but no further action.

HB414/SB521 (from GOP report): Allows municipalities to tax bars and restaurants 1% of gross receipts. According to the accompanying fiscal note, Ocean City has a temporary tax like this to retire debt on their convention center; this would allow any municipality statewide to do so. It was heard, but no other action has followed.

HB430: The “living wage” bill passed the House of Delegates 88-50 (the vote breakdown is not on the MGA site yet) and the Senate has taken up the bill.

HB434 (from GOP report): Similar to HB393, but only a 1/2% sales tax increase; it was defeated in committee.

HB441: I brought this up a few days ago, it’s also on the GOP report. This bill is the infamous “assault weapon tax”. It was heard March 14, no other action has followed.

HB448 (from GOP report): Expands the areas where sales tax can be collected to a number of services, with the curious exception of the “sale of a parking facility or service by a political subdivision of the state.” Heard but not seen since.

HB475 (from GOP report): While this bill is called the “Public School Construction Assistance Act of 2007” it’s just another recordation tax. Also, there’s $5 million in this for the Maryland Park Service – not sure they construct many schools. The 101-35 House of Delegates vote saw my local Delegates split on party lines – Democrats for, GOP against. It’s stalled in the Senate at the moment.

HB486/SB644 (from GOP report): Another “fund”, this one being the “Maryland Affordable Housing Investment Fund”. And how do we pay for it? An additional 2 cents per $100 tax on property values (utilities would pay 5 cents per $100.) In other words, this would raise property taxes 17.9% overnight. Luckily it’s bottled up in committee.

HB488 (from GOP report): There is a computer recycling pilot program in place, this expands it to other electronic devices and double the fee manufacturers pay the state to sell goods here. It passed the House of Delegates 132-4, with all six of my local Delegates in favor. The Senate has passed this through the second reading.

HB510 (from GOP report): Prince George’s County will get a larger property tax so the state may buy Dimensions Healthcare Systems, Inc. Not being from PG County, I’m uncertain of what troubles DHS is undergoing but the taxpayers will be stuck with the bill regardless. This emergency bill passed the House of Delegates 139-1.

Editor’s note: From fellow MBA member P. Kenneth Burns (Maryland Politics Today) here’s a bit of background on this particular bill.

HB518/SB402 (from GOP report): This allows municipalities to establish and collect a 1% tax on sleeping accomodations (lowered from 3% via amendment.) A 99-37 vote in the House of Delegates passed this along, the Senate is still working on it. Our local Delegates voted on this along party lines with Democrats for and Republicans against.

HB523/SB591 (from GOP report): The fiscal report says it all. “Enabling municipalities to impose a building excise tax in addition to the county building excise tax could significantly affect the cost of housing in Maryland, which is already unaffordable for many families.” But the Democrats in the House of Delegates went right along and voted for it anyway, 102-35. Sadly, local Delegate Page Elmore joined the Democrats in this chicanery, while GOP Delegates Eckardt and Haddaway stayed strong. The Senate hasn’t pushed this through yet.

HB537: A GOP-sponsored measure tightening documentation required to acquire drivers’ licenses died in committee as expected. While I’m not crazy about the federal Real ID Act, this would’ve brought Maryland into compliance.

HB553 (from GOP report): Anytime Democrats introduce “tax reform”, it’s surely another way to increase taxes on whoever is unfortunate enough to be tarred with their brush. This would “reform” corporate taxes on unitary groups. It had a hearing but no further action.

HB572 (from GOP report): Originally, this bill would’ve been a tax surcharge of $1,000 for an individual or $2,000 for a couple if they didn’t carry some sort of health insurance; as amended this bill compels the Maryland Health Care Commission to study the subject. As amended this passed the House of Delegates 137-3, all local Delegates in favor.

HB581 (from GOP report): This would’ve allowed state property that is leased for use as student housing to be taxed by municipalities. Actually to me this isn’t such a bad idea, but it died in committee anyway.

HB620/SB494: This would have required homeowners insurance companies to provide coverage in certain coastal areas, the House bill was withdrawn after a Senate committee turned thumbs-down on the prospect.

HB659/SB594 (from GOP report): Yes, another fund: the “Maryland Biomedical Product Development Fund.” In realspeak, it’s another 15 cents of cigarette tax. Had a hearing but didn’t get any farther than that.

HB724/SB307 (from GOP report): Allows a county to assess an impact fee on liquified natural gas (LNG) storage facilities. Tailored to a proposed facility in Baltimore County, it does set a precedent for any of Maryland’s 23 counties or Baltimore City to do the same. This had a hearing but no further action.

HB754: If you put the word “children” in a proposed law, it’s sure tough to vote against it. This bill is the “Children and Working Families Health Care Act of 2007.” And how is the health care paid for? By doubling the cigarette tax from $1 a pack to $2! Now I don’t smoke, but my question on cigarette taxes always remains: why tell people to quit on one hand yet raise money from taxation on the other? So the House of Delegates passed this 102-37 in an interesting vote. Locally, voting for the higher tax were Delegates Cane, Conway, and Elmore while against it were Eckardt, Haddaway, and Mathias. The Senate has heard this but has taken no further action.

HB757/SB422 (from GOP report): Doubles the tax on alcohol for yet another fund dealing with addiction and treatment services. I have the same question on this as I do about cigarette taxes, with the exception that I do partake in adult beverages from time to time. Another bill that had its hearing and has quietly disappeared (for this session, anyway.)

HB761 (from GOP report): This would change the vehicle excise tax rate from 5% to 6%. Had its hearing in March and lost momentum afterward.

HB821: This is in the GOP report as well, but I think I alluded to this proposed 10 cent hike in the gasoline tax in a previous post too. Not only would the gas tax go up, this would also end the exemption motor fuel has from the sales tax (double taxation). Again, a bill that got a hearing but advanced no farther.

HB846 (from GOP report): These Democrats, I swear they want to kill Eastern Shore retailing. This is yet another proposal to jack the sales tax up to 6%, this time for an “Education Trust Fund.” Again, this got its hearing but wasn’t acted on further yet.

HB890/SB409: Ah yes, Maryland’s huge impact on global warming. Had they saved the hot air expounded to discuss this idiocy, we may have made more of an impact with less cost to taxapyers. They held House and Senate hearings but the proposal has not moved since.

HB909/SB674: Better known as the “Maryland Energy Efficiency Standards Act of 2007”, the bill cleared committee yesterday. It adds various products to the list of those already covered under existing legislation.

HB930/SB413: A rare victory for a GOP-sponsored bill, this bill (better known as “Jessica’s Law”) makes those convicted of certain sexual offenses on children serve their mandatory minimum sentence without the opportunity for parole. Passed the House of Delegates 138-0 and the Senate 43-4.

HB994/SB475: If the teachers’ unions don’t want accountability, pass this bill. This creates a “Task Force on the Policy and Funding Implications of Requiring Passage of the High School Assessment for Graduation.” The Senate did pass this 43-3, with Senator Colburn voting “aye” and Senator Stoltzfus being one of the three voting no. The House just had a hearing on the Senate version last week.

HB1022 (from GOP report): Yet another expansion of the sales tax to certain services. This bill had its hearing but sits awaiting action.

HB1080 (from GOP report): The infamous “gift card” revenue enhancement, where unused gift card revenues don’t accrue back to the issuer but to the state of Maryland. It was referred back to study by the Economic Matters subcommittee.

HB1144/SB404 (from GOP report): Another tobacco tax, this time on moist snuff. Interestingly, while this starts as a net gain to the state according to the fiscal note, in five years it becomes a net loser of revenue. The Senate bill was killed in committee, thus the House one was withdrawn.

HB1218 (from GOP report): This would’ve eliminated a cap on air quality emissions-based permit fees. It was withdrawn March 23rd.

HB1220/SB901: Also noted in the GOP report, I alluded to this one previously as well. This is called the “Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Green Fund”. And of course, the money doesn’t magically appear for this fund, it’s a fee based on new impervious surface square footage. Being in the architectural field, that hits me where I live. Alas, the bill passed the House of Delegates 96-41. On the side of hitting homeowners and other builders with additional fees were Conway, Elmore, and Mathias; standing up for us were Eckardt and Haddaway. Rudy Cane was absent from this vote.

HB1275/SB908 (from GOP report): If you rent a car in Anne Arundel County as a short-term rental (not for vehicle replacement while your car is being repaired), this would be an additional tax on you. Sort of parochial but it’s more of your money for government use. And this is stuck in neutral after its hearing.

HB1282 (from GOP report): Yet another fund, the “Driver Education Program Deaf and Hard of Hearing Access Fund”. Paid for by those who complete drivers’ ed training, the extra dollar would go to this fund. Not a big fee, but it’s a fee nonetheless. The bill was heard but no subsequent action taken.

HB1293 (from GOP report): Would extend the sunset date for an assessment on equine feed from June 30, 2007 to June 30, 2016. Withdrawn.

HB1350 (from GOP report): It’s shocking to see, but here’s yet another tax to pay into a “fund”, this time it would be fees on lawn fertilizer application and wetlands impact. Had a first reading and disappeared without even a hearing.

HB1358: Locally, the Holly Center wanted this bill for allowing state institutions to be in the group of choices allowed for housing a person with profound mental disabilities; unfortunately for them the bill died in committee.

HB1359/SB920: The Holly Center is doing better with its other pet bill, the repeal of the sunset provision allowing them to provide respite care for families who house their developmentally disabled children. It passed the House of Delegates 138-0. The Senate version, however, was amended to only extend the life of respite care through September 30, 2009, so there will have to be a conference on this bill.

HB1393: The Maryland GOP also noticed the ammunition tax, but regardless the bill had its first reading and didn’t even merit a hearing.

HB1420 (from GOP report): This changes the state’s income tax brackets, resulting in a net revenue increase to the state. Yes, another soak the rich provision. A modest drop in taxes for lower- and middle-class individuals of $191 (at most) is outweighed by punishing achievers with tax increases up to $17,870 for a joint return on income of $250,000 (all according to the fiscal note.) They expect about $30 million in increased revenue, but forget that these kinds of policies drive capital outside the state. This had a hearing March 21, and don’t be surprised if this bill doesn’t move quickly – or come up in a later special session.

SB564: A GOP-sponsored bill to allow the voters to decide whether marriage in the state should be between one man and one woman. It would amend the Maryland Constitution so that no court could come back and declare current law unconstitutional. Had a hearing but is bottled up otherwise. Are you kidding? Do you honestly think Democrats want anything sure to drive social conservatives to the polls? Please.

SB597: Another GOP-sponsored bill that would require voters to show photo ID at the polls. Because it’s common-sense protection against voter fraud, the Democrats have no desire to see this bill go forward after begrudgingly allowing it a hearing.

SB598: After all of the complaints about political phone calls being placed to people who have their numbers on a do-not-call registry (I know a lot of Republicans complained about the number of calls they got) you would think this is a no-brainer. Well, I guess the Democrats figured they needed something for their unionista toadies to do at campaign time so they killed this in committee.

SB761: Changes the self-defense rules so a person doesn’t have to show they retreated or attempted to escape before claiming self-defense (the threat itself is enough.) This GOP-sponsored bill had its hearing but has had no action since.

SB762: The same fate has befallen this bill, another common-sense idea for “shall-issue” handgun permits. In other words, if this passed, there wouldn’t have to be a “compelling reason” given to receive a handgun permit.

This is a synopsis of just some of the 2,496 bills and resolutions introduced in this 2007 General Assembly session. I covered 82 bills and it took me about 5 hours to write all of this. When I do my local folks that will be another several hours, but I enjoy the research anyway. I encourage people to scope out the General Assembly website and find out what the people you helped to elect are up to – you will certainly be shocked, amazed, surprised, and angered depending on how you feel about things.

Shorebird of the week 4-5-2007

In this photo from May of 2006, Brandon Snyder models some items he'll not be wearing much this season - catcher's equipment.

Do the names Wade Townsend, Beau Hale, Rick Elder, Mike Paradis, and Jayson Werth ring a bell? If you really follow the Orioles, they should. These five players were all among the first Oriole picks in the amateur draft over the last ten years. More familiar names like Chris Smith, Adam Loewen, and 2003 first rounder Nick Markakis also join that list.

This year’s edition of the Shorebirds was slated to have two number one picks on the infield – alas, 2006 top pick Billy Rowell is injured and not on the Shorebirds’ opening roster. But my initial pick for Shorebird of the Week Brandon Snyder is healthy enough to play and is slated to man first base this season.

After a great rookie campaign in 2005, Brandon hit a serious speed bump in 2006. He only batted .213 across two levels (Delmarva and Aberdeen) and a shoulder injury compacted his season to just 72 games played. Because of this injury, first base is now Brandon’s home.

Because of the injury and learning a new position, the 2007 campaign will go a long way to determining whether Snyder will be a member of the first group of five first-round busts I opened this post with, or a solid big leaguer like Nick Markakis is becoming.

One source of wallet vacuuming

A week or two ago, I did a post called “Time to quit playing.” While it may be just a happy coincidence or something they track too (like it’s hard to find Democrats who support tax increases), the Maryland GOP has placed on its website EVERY proposed tax and fee increase that the Democrats in Annapolis are helping to pass. Now, some of these won’t see the light of day again in this session, but I have two words for you – September surprise.

By their count, the toll that possibly can be exacted out of everyone in this so-called “Free State” would be at least $3 billion. That’s over $500 for every resident! And the GOP only counts bills that have a fiscal note attached.

Also, for those of you who follow monoblogue, you know that I occasionally track progress of certain bills periodically throughout the session. With just a few days to go, I’ll do another one this weekend and see what’s left for the General Assembly to take care of before they declare sine die Monday night. Included in this will be a tracking of all the bills the GOP mentions and an updated list of the Democrats most likely to sponsor these tax hikes and other freedom-curtailing measures.

Dust bunnies in the corner

I don’t want to belabor the point too much, but a lot of what I said was actually borne out by the election results. Indeed, I was right on the money with my prediction of a 3-2 split on Debbie Campbell’s anti-TIF side. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to override a certain mayoral veto so the TIF is going to stand. This means that Louise Smith and Terry Cohen are going to have to help Debbie find every possible non-public safety budget cut there is in order to start the process of saving the city enough money to hold up their end of the millions the Old Mall TIF will cost the taxpayers of Salisbury.

On the other hand, the odds-on favorite to get hold of the City Council gavel would have to be Debbie Campbell. I would have to assume that given the choice between Gary Comegys and Debbie Campbell, both Cohen and Smith would vote for Debbie (although I see Louise as the swing vote.) Personally I think Campbell would be the proper choice despite having less seniority than Gary Comegys. Gary wouldn’t be a bad choice but not the best choice, because Debbie does her homework on the issues.

I was having a discussion at work yesterday with a cohort of mine who was squarely behind the Comegys/Atkins/Ewalt ticket. His biggest problem with Tim Spies was his bugging out of the now-infamous SWAC forum, and I wonder if that action cost him enough votes to miss out. It certainly didn’t help Tim in his effort to move out of fourth place, nor was I surprised at all that Gary moved up to second. I’m going to go under the assumption that Gary has enough absentees to stay in the number 2 slot.

But I have to extend my congratulations to Louise Smith. She ran a tireless campaign and, even though I didn’t think she came across as well at the forums, obviously did very well in her door-to-door campaigning. I guess maybe she’ll have time for John Robinson now that she won!

And with that, the elections are now all over but the final counting, if only for about 10 months. I know I’m a little burnt on politics, and with the General Assembly coming to a halt in a week, I can write about more issues in a general sense and now quite be so politicentric (if that’s a word.) I’ve got a couple GA posts I’m planning on, but other than that the focus will go onto national and presidential politics this spring and summer, with the other regular summer feature being my picks for Shorebird of the Week.

So Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman will still run the city of Salisbury, and the bloggers end up with probably half a loaf. However, we in the blogging scene have managed to make ourselves a force to be reckoned with. That’s part of the story that will continue to be written about the Salisbury City Council election of 2007.

Clean sweep for a “clean sweep”

As expected, the local blogosphere (at least the four “major” blogs) seem to be united behind a Spies/Cohen/Smith ticket for tomorrow – in essence, a Crisfield-style “clean sweep”.

But there needs to be some notes of caution here. While the Salisbury blogging world is very optimistic about the outcome tomorrow, there’s some facts that can’t be ignored.

Most people get their news from the Daily Times. In some ways, Sunday’s article about the difficulty being re-elected from District 2 makes Gary Comegys a sympathetic figure, particularly in the way it cited the local blogs as a divisive issue. And where have most of the negative comments and news come from regarding Comegys? You guessed it.
A good point was made by one of the StoryChat commenters on the DT piece, noting that for all of the hullabaloo over the write-in candidacy of Charles Jannace (particularly at its inception in September and carrying into early October), it garnered only a few hundred votes, just a low-single digit percentage.
The local blogosphere is still fairly parochial and there’s not a whole lot of readers who actually live in District 2 and can vote in the race. In fact, I believe Cato at Delmarva Dealings is the only one of us four who can actually vote. While 6% of people actually read the blogs (according to the Fox poll I cited the other day), we have to remember that not all are unified behind the trio we selected.
Also, unlike the primary where many of the voters only voted for three candidates when they were allowed six, there’s only three allowed choices in the general election. So the “bullet voting” that occurred in the primary will be diluted somewhat.
Last and certainly not least, those who remember the primary night results also recall that Gary Comegys was fourth in the primary originally, but moved up to third after the absentees were counted. So it must be assumed that the absentee ballots, which are generally cast by older voters who have never heard of a weblog and wouldn’t believe one if they had, are going to make a difference in this race.

I suppose one other question I have is a hypothetical one. Despite the primary election results, what if SAPOA bullies their renters into voting for a Atkins/Ewalt/Comegys ticket en masse and those three carry the day? Does Debbie Campbell have the stomach to go through another two years of being on the losing side of 4-1 margins? Knowing her, I think she would stay on regardless, but it is interesting food for thought as we turn in tonight and await the tallying of the ballots tomorrow evening.

My prediction for the whole thing is that Debbie won’t be in a 4-1 margin either way after all is said and done. It will be good to see her on the winning side for a change, but it won’t be good enough to override what may become a constant stream of mayoral vetoes.

Weekend of local rock volume 4

If you’re looking for political stuff, check out the next post. This one was more fun to compile!

Wekend of local rock? Well, sort of. Unfortunately, my friends from Semiblind has some transportation problems and had to cancel Saturday’s show. So I made the trip to “slower lower” for nothing; however, I did get back in time to catch a trio from songs from Lennex as they closed out a “Battle of the Bands” at Bennett High School.

But on Friday night at the Monkey Barrel I did get to see four bands, one local and three from the mid-Atlantic region. What I’m going to do is post the pictures tonight and, because this is a very busy week for me and the focus is on the upcoming Salisbury City Council election, later this week I’ll review the Friday show on my companion Myspace site.

As always in these photo posts, the captions tell the story. Just hold your cursor over the pics, they’ll come up.

Baltimore-based guitarist Gene Gregory opened up the show at the Monkey Barrel, March 30, 2007. Normally I'm not a big acoustic fan, but he played up a storm.

The one local product in this diverse show, Aaron D. Howell wears a heavy influence on his sleeve, or in this case his shirt featuring blues legend B.B. King.

Aaron D. Howell and his band played a good assortment of blues, classic rock, and some original tunes.

If a band has a drum kit that looks like this - you know they'll be heavy.

Virginia-based Property didn't disappoint, with a ferociously heavy three-guitar attack. They played almost all originals, with Metallica's 'Creeping Death' and a supercharged version of A Flock of Seagulls 'I Ran' thrown in for good measure.

Property lead singer and guitarist Justin Earven.

Wrapping up the show was another Virginia-based band, Funksion. It's unfortunate that I have just a still photo, lead singer Josh Asble is quite the enegetic guy on stage. If you ever see me in a shirt that just has (f.) that's their shirt.

This shot was the one picture I took at Lennex's show on Saturday night. Had I known that my Semiblind show had been called off, I would've made it over here. By the way, I've corrected the oversight of not linking to the OC-based band!

So that was my weekend. Now back to the political stuff…

2007 Salisbury City Council wrapup

As promised, today I’m going through some of the basics for each candidate. It’s one final chance for the readers to compare and contrast. Since my name’s always toward the bottom of any alphabetical list, I’m going to be contrarian and stand up for us “bottom of the ballot” folks – thus, Tim Spies goes first. The information is exerpted from campaign literature supplied by each candidate.

But first, I noticed in the Daily Times last week that Keith Wright, an also-ran in the primary, is running again as a write-in candidate. As the candidate himself wrote in a letter to the editor about his experience and qualifications:

“I was a volunteer at the Holly Center and received an award for more than 2,500 hours volunteering. At this time, I was also volunteering at Peninsula Regional Medical Center.

I have been involved with numerous clubs and organizations, including a youth association for retarded citizens and children with special learning disabilities. I assisted the Baltimore Opera while it performed at Parkside High School. I am certified as an emergency medical technician and CPR instructor.

I received the Rotary Club Award and the year prior, the Soroptimist Club award while a student at Parkside High School. I attended summer classes at University of Maryland Eastern Shore, then attended Salisbury University with a major in psychology. I went on to be employed by numerous group homes and state agencies, working mainly with children, and have worked as buyer for an organization with responsibility for approximately $50,000 of the budget.

I have been employed by several agencies as a police officer and process server; I have been a private process server for more than 25 years.”

Also, there is another write-in candidate, Ashley Oakley.

Now, the candidates on the ballot Tuesday:

Tim Spies

Slogan: Seeing Through The Citizens’ Eyes

Background: Area resident for 25 years, lived in Salisbury the last 13. Combined 27 years active and reserve service in the Navy, holds a Bachelor in Science degree from SU in Nursing. Also is current president of the Camden Neighborhood Association. Retired.

Key issues: Public safety, strong neighborhoods, adequate police pay, growth and development, respect for citizens.

Louise Smith

Slogan: none.

Background: Educator in Maryland and Florida, grew up in the area (Wi-Hi graduate) and returned after finishing her teaching and administrative career in the Sunshine State. Associates degree in Art Education (Southern Seminary Junior College), Bachelors degree in Fine Arts (Maryland Institute of Art), and Master’s degree in Education (University of South Florida). Also is current president of Canal Woods II Condominium Association, and former member of the Wicomico County Republican Central Committee. (Her WCRCC involvement is not noted on her literature, I’m adding that as a current member.) Retired.

Key issues: Accountability and fiscal responsibility, public safety.

Don Ewalt

Slogan: For a future you can be proud of vote for Don Ewalt.

Background: Coast Guard veteran, Bachelors Degree from the University of Baltimore, former member of the Wicomico County Board of Education. Retired pharmaceutical salesman, currently a real estate agent part-time.

Key issues: Inclusive government, effective delivery of services, focus on planning.

Gary Comegys

Slogan: Commitment, Community, Caring

Background: Member of City Council since 2003, only incumbent seeking another term. Works as an Area Engineer for Construction, Maryland State Highway Administration, and represents Salisbury in the Maryland Municipal League. Gary is also currently a board member for Habitat for Humanity. A former volunteer fireman (now a Life Member) in Salisbury, Gary also was the President of the Board of Directors for the local Humane Society for five years.

Key issues: His record on City Council. Among his accomplishments, he states that he started the first program to convert rental housing to owner-occupied, instituted the first capacity fees for water and sewer service, and managed to increase starting salaries for police officers and fund additional paramedics and fire facilities and equipment without raising taxes.

Terry Cohen

Slogan: Putting Citizens First

Background: Area resident since childhood, Salisbury resident since 2003. B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania. Businesswoman, she’s a member and onetime president of the Salisbury Business and Professional Women organization, and was honored by the group with their “Young Careerist” award in 1981. Terry is also active in the Salisbury Independent Neighborhood Alliance, We Care About Wicomico County, Girl Scouts, and her child’s school. Partner in a software development company.

Key issues: Crime, pay for first responders, growth, affordable housing, quality of life, open government.

John Atkins

Slogan: none.

Background: Longtime area resident, attended the University of Maryland and graduated from Wesley College, where he was selected Alumni of the Year this year. Worked as a facility engineer, and teaches Industrial Trades at Wor-Wic Community College. John is Certified as a Plant Engineer and Energy Manager. Active in the Lions Club and St. Peter’s Church.

Key issues: As John states on his literature, his goal is, “As a city council person to continue to help the city grow and partner with the outstanding organizations of Wor-Wic, Salisbury University, Peninsula Regional Medical Center, and the Community Foundation.”

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As far as candidate endorsements go, the situation has developed where there are two teams being endorsed, with a few prominent locals throwing explicit support behind the incumbent Gary Comegys. Supporting Terry Cohen, Louise Smith, and Tim Spies are the main local bloggers (including monoblogue), the Salisbury Career Firefighters Association, 2007 candidate Neil Bayne, and former Council members Bob Caldwell and Carolyn Hall.

On the side of John Atkins, Gary Comegys, and Don Ewalt are Mayor Tilghman and 2007 candidate John Harris. Also, while Richard Insley and SAPOA haven’t officially endorsed any officeseekers, Insley made it plain in a recent letter that he’s supporting candidates Atkins, Comegys, and Ewalt.

Also as mentioned above, a few current and former officeholders have taken the time to explicitly endorse the re-election of Gary Comegys. In the last week, this group has included current councilman Mike Dunn, former Salisbury City Councilman Michael Day, and Fruitland City Council president Greg Olinde. Two others on the current council, Lynn Cathcart and Shanie Shields, have been seen indicating their backing of Comegys as well.

And I think someone has gotten my point about the total blog readership. A commenter to today’s Daily Times article on the election noted:

There are so few people who even bother to read all of the drivel on the blogs (emphasis mine) that it cannot possibly make a difference in the election. And even those that do read them understand that posting personal attacks and exposure of a candidate’s private problems are rooted in personal vendettas and hidden agendas of the Web Loggers.

Using the term “alternative media” to describe the local web logs is a crime against the King’s English. The local web logs are read by so few people that it is ludicrous to think that they could effect (sic) an election, the people that write that tripe already know how they are going to vote.

Well, I have news for you, my skeptical friend. You obviously don’t read monoblogue (as you should!) Please tell me where there has been an attack on any candidate here that wasn’t part of an overall issue. Being against the giveaway of $15 million in tax dollars and noting that some candidates support that is not a personal attack. To extend the point to certain revelations about some candidates, those are fair game too. I’m on record as not being wild about some of what’s said as not germaine to the election, but much of what’s written in the “mainstream” media in letters to the editor and biased articles – well, the same may be said about that.

I noted in my last post that 6% of people read blogs daily. Given that turnout in the primary was just 13% and people who read these blogs tend to be on the more motivated side (which explains why far more Republicans than Democrats read these, in my opinion), we’re talking about potentially 1/4 to 1/3 of the electorate here for this election (assuming 20-25% turnout.) That, my dismissive friend, is quite a voting bloc to be contended with.