Tag: DC Examiner

Small but feisty gathering rallies against ‘doomsday session’

Editor’s note, November 2019: This is another of my posts reclaimed from the defunct Examiner.com website. It’s been somewhat adapted to include several slideshow photos.

A crowd gathers for the Rally Against the Doomsday Session sponsored by the House TEA Party Caucus.

Despite the ominous skies and threat of rain, about 150 TEA Party patriots gathered in Lawyers Mall in Annapolis yesterday evening to express their displeasure with the Maryland General Assembly special session going on nearby.

Delegate Mike Smigiel acted as the host for the event.

In the shadow of Government House, the Annapolis address where Governor Martin O’Malley resides, protest organizer Delegate Michael Smigiel led the group in shouting “No more taxes!” and presented nearly a dozen speakers who said their piece about the hastily-called legislative session Democrats felt was necessary to increase state revenue.

Many speakers pointed out the budget adopted during the regular General Assembly session was both in balance and about $700 million larger than last year. In his opening statement Smigiel characterized the state as “mov(ing) forward into a tax bayonet” and challenged attendees to be “one Maryland united against tax increases.” He also termed the budget cuts Democrats bemoaned as “entitlement math,” as overall spending increased.

Maryland State Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin.

Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin echoed Smigiel’s remarks, calling Martin O’Malley “the $2 billion governor,” for that was how much he had increased fees and taxes on an annualized basis since taking office in 2007. Pipkin also revealed that yesterday Republicans introduced what he called “the 2 percent solution.” Those assembled were told that a small 2 percent spending cut would negate the need for new revenue or the necessity of shifting teacher pension liability to the counties, as they would be under the Democrats’ plan.

Delegate Mike McDermott compared Governor O’Malley’s governing to that of a pirate ship.

Several other Republican members of the General Assembly made their points during the protest, which lasted slightly over an hour. Most forceful among them was Delegate Mike McDermott, who bellowed at the governor, “the next time you bring a budget in here, and we strike it, you strike the colors of the state of Maryland and you run up the Jolly Roger because this is nothing but a pirate ship!”

Delegate Neil Parrott spoke about how state budget priorities were harming his district.

Delegate Neil Parrott was more subdued, but spoke about seeing businesses go to nearby West Virginia or Pennsylvania, bypassing his county. “We’ve got to stop this tax and spend attitude,” Parrott added, while also saying that we can take back Maryland via the ballot box and put a check and balance on some of the more egregious things the General Assembly does by using the referendum process.

Other members of the General Assembly who made remarks were Senator Nancy Jacobs, who wondered if Martin O’Malley was living in reality, and Delegates Cathy Vitale and Gail Bates.

U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino lent his support to the effort.

But speaking parts weren’t just reserved for members of the General Assembly. U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino made the case that it wasn’t just about taxes. “I’m tired of hearing about how Republicans are the anti-tax crowd,” he said. Instead, it was about prioritizing spending toward things we need as a society and away from frivolous items like a cowboy poetry contest in Nevada or a study of shrimp running on treadmills. “How dare you ask us for more?” Bongino asked, exhorting us to “cede no more ground.”

The chair of Maryland’s Americans for Prosperity chapter, Charles Lollar added his voice to the chorus calling for fiscal conservatism.

And while AFP Maryland head Charles Lollar believed “this fight…is about our liberty,” Harford County Executive David Craig – an “unofficial official” 2014 GOP gubernatorial candidate – reminded those within hearing distance that, while keeping taxes low, “I make (Harford County) live within its means.”

“I could live with the budget that was proposed,” added Craig.

Harford County Executive David Craig told those assembled how he kept a balanced budget in his county.

Attendees also heard briefly from Fourth District Congressional candidate Faith Loudon.

And while turnout was on the light side overall, a number of people came from outlying areas to attend with the Eastern Shore quite well-represented.

Representing Wicomico County: Julie Brewington, a former candidate for Delegate from Fruitland, and Jackie Wellfonder, a Bongino volunteer from Salisbury.

There were also a number of media outlets in place to develop the story of the protest, amplifying the voice of those who attended and giving conservatives an opportunity to get their message out.

A number of media outlets came to cover the Rally Against the Doomsday Session, including me.
Delegate Mike Smigiel is interviewed by a local television station.

In particular, one young lady stole the show. Ten-year-old Emily Gray arrived at the protest with her mother, toting a handwritten sign which read “Governor O’Malley, when I graduate I have to move away. I won’t be able to pay my share of this debt.”

Ten year old Emily Gray would like to stay in Maryland after she graduates.

Another couple had bright handwritten signs pleading with the government to not take her last nickel because she “needs it to eat” while her friend stated “I’m poor enough – stop putting me in the hole more!”

Dueling signs with the same basic message.

The Rally Against the Doomsday Session culminated a full day of political expression in and around the state capitol. It began with a ‘picket line’ outside manned by about 15 who stood in the rain Monday morning to solicit reaction to their cause. Inside, Republicans held a news conference condemning the proposed tax hikes and gained an unlikely ally in Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot, another eyeing the open governor’s seat in 2014. Later at noon, a second press conference was held by the Maryland chapter of Americans for Prosperity.

On the other side, a counter-protest favoring the tax increases was slated for Lawyers Mall late yesterday afternoon, but the rain threat forced the protest into a nearby union hall. A few stragglers from that event, obvious in their green AFSCME shirts, strolled by to check out the Rally Against the Doomsday Session but no incidents occurred.

Unfortunately, the immediate result of the protests is likely to be negligible. Majority Democrats have the votes to ram through any revenue enhancements they desire, with the only question being just how severely they will impact wage-earners in the state.

But politics isn’t always just about the here and now. Certainly those who oppose the laundry list of tax increases which have been proposed time and again by revenue-hungry Democrats in Annapolis are making a mental note to remind voters in two years just who voted for what.

I think I will also do a post of notable quotables from the event just for monoblogue so look for that in the next day or two.

‘Eviction notice’ symbol of Maryland Republican resurgence

Editor’s note 5/14/22: This piece, originally written for Examiner.com, has been brought home.

If Governor Martin O’Malley had chanced to take a stroll around his home at Government House Thursday morning, he would have found a bright red “Eviction Notice” taped to his fence; a document which told him “we’ve had enough of your tax and spend policies, and we’re tired of you driving our jobs away.”

But unless there’s an occurrence on an order even beyond the old political corruption saw of finding O’Malley in bed with a dead girl or a live boy – perhaps a case where the smoldering wisps of smoke emitting from the Paulette Faulkner case become a fire even majority Democrats can’t ignore – our governor will remain in office until early January of 2015. So it’s obvious the “eviction” is only symbolic.

Yet the upcoming Special Session will likely prove divisive to majority Democrats, some of whom will be forced to take a political position unpopular in their districts. If the copies of these budget reconciliation bills which were leaked to the left-wing state political blog Maryland Juice are legitimate replicas of what will be introduced tomorrow, it appears Governor O’Malley is considering both income tax increases and reduced deductions for middle- and high-income earners on the revenue side and a shift of teacher pensions to the counties on the expenditure side as the major portions of a budgetary fix.

Conversely, Republicans believe they are on the right side of the issue with Maryland GOP Executive Director David Ferguson noting,

“This Special Session is a great opportunity for Marylanders to see the difference between Democratic mismanagement and Republican leadership. It is a shame the Democrats won’t consider the Republicans’ alternate budget solution introduced this session. It doesn’t raise taxes, swell spending, or shift teacher pensions to local governments.”

Ferguson also called on Martin O’Malley to “quit focusing on the White House.”

General Assembly Republicans have produced an alternative budget for several years, but it has never been considered by the Democrat-controlled body.

Democrats and their allies in the media contend the new income tax bite isn’t going to be that great or affect a large number of taxpayers, and if the revision of rates is taken as a single issue they may be correct. But when combined with the previous tax hikes requested by Martin O’Malley and legislative Democrats in the 2007 Special Session – increases which were then supposed to solve the state’s financial problems – along with the upcoming doubling of the ‘flush tax’ for most Marylanders and higher tolls on several vital state arteries, the state’s voracious appetite for new revenue to spend becomes far more noticeable.

The Republicans’ hope that voters have long memories in 2014 may be somewhat of a stretch, but given the early campaign activity by a number of possible GOP statewide contenders it’s obvious the longtime doormats of Maryland politics believe morning in Maryland is close at hand.

Editor’s note: My plan is to be in Annapolis covering the evening’s events, although all is subject to change and there’s a significant chance of rain in that area this afternoon and evening. I suspect the show will go on, though.

Picket line and dueling rallies to punctuate Maryland Special Session

Editor’s note 5/27/2022: I have brought this home from the dead Examiner.com pages.

One participant only expects it to last two days, but the upcoming Special Session of the Maryland General Assembly may have just as much action on the outside as it will on the inside.

As currently scheduled, events outside begin with a “picket line” being organized by the “We the People” group of Carroll County at 9:30 a.m. That effort – complete with “union dues” which will be collected for donation to the Maryland Food Bank – will give way to a noontime press conference by the Maryland chapter of Americans for Prosperity at the State House in Annapolis.

Later on, dueling – but not simultaneous – rallies will inhabit Lawyers Mall outside the capital late Monday afternoon. First will be a “Last Chance Rally for Tax Fairness” hosted by Progressive Maryland, beginning at 5:30 and lasting about an hour. They will be urging the General Assembly to pass the tax hikes necessary to forestall the so-called “doomsday budget” which only increases spending by $700 million over last year’s expenditures, as opposed to the $1.2 billion spending hike originally envisioned by Governor Martin O’Malley. Along with a significant increase in tax rates on high-income earners progressives would also like an increased tax on non-cigarette tobacco products, a toll which was included in the budget reconciliation bill which died along with the regular session at midnight April 9.

After the liberal side yields the field, once again those who oppose the prospect of tax hikes and believe the state can do more with less will begin their affair, the Rally Against the Doomsday Session. The event is scheduled for two hours, and is slated to start at 7 p.m. Obviously there could be a few counter-protestors at each event who stand in opposition to the side then holding court at Lawyers Mall.

While it was expected the legislature would reconvene at some point in the wake of the confusion of the Maryland General Assembly’s last regular session day, Governor O’Malley presented his case in his announcement regarding the Special Session: “There is too much at stake not to move forward. I’m confident we can…complete this most important work for the people of our State,” claimed the governor.

But other voices beg to differ. Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin, a Republican, criticized O’Malley as having “shown a breathtaking inability to manage the fiscal matters of state” in his six years as governor. He also complained that legislators won’t have time to review new spending bills before their hearing, noting “there is no legislator in the world capable of reading and analyzing this mass of material in a few hours.” Said Pipkin,“The unheard speed with which this legislation is being forced to passage makes it clear the powers-that-be do not really want to give legislators time to study the proposals,” adding this was a “cruel mockery” of the normal legislative process.

Even some Democrats dislike the idea. State Comptroller Peter Franchot, a likely 2014 candidate for Governor, called the Special Session a “black eye” that takes the state “100 miles per hour in the wrong direction.”

Most who will attend the latter rally Monday night would tend to agree with Pipkin and Franchot. This sentiment was also echoed in remarks made by Delegate Mike McDermott at a Wednesday meeting in Wicomico County, where he stated the belief Democrats “have already cut the deal” on a tax increase in closed-door meetings last week, making the Special Session perfunctory.

A prospective 2014 GOP gubernatorial candidate also questioned the need for an income tax increase, pointing out the state already has a high reliance on its income tax. Larry Hogan, speaking on behalf of the group Change Maryland, said that the state’s Department of Legislative Services reported the news at length prior to the 2012 session. “One has to wonder if the Governor, Senate President, and House Speaker are reading the reports provided for them,” said Hogan.“This report raises red flags about Maryland’s over-reliance on the income tax to support state spending.”

Polling also suggests those who oppose the “doomsday session” may have the public on their side. In January House of Delegates freshman Republicans commissioned a Gonzales Poll, a survey which found 63% of Maryland respondents believed their taxes were too high, with an additional one-third describing them as just enough. (The specific poll questions and results are not available online.) Those who responded in the negative regarding taxes weren’t given options as to what spending would need to be trimmed in order to match any revenue shortfalls, though.

But it’s likely the hundreds who show up from around the state on Monday for the Lawyers Mall events will have their own sets of solutions for the General Assembly to consider.

Resign yourself to paying more taxes, Maryland

Editor’s note, July 2019: This was originally an article intended for Examiner.com, but since that site no longer exists I have taken the liberty to update this post.

The original slideshow will be at the bottom, although captions are updated.

On Wednesday night the Wicomico Society of Patriots met under dire circumstances, at least in their point of view. Once Dr. Greg Belcher, a local chiropractor who conducted the WSOP meeting, led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer he turned the meeting over to political activist G.A. Harrison.

Harrison welcomed the forty or so who comfortably filled the room at a local eatery to Wicomico County, the “former home of the revenue cap.” After declaring it “effectively dead,” Harrison pointed the blame to two local members of the Maryland House of Delegates: Rudy Cane and Norm Conway. They were the only two from the Eastern Shore who voted in favor of Senate Bill 848, a bill which allowed the state to trump locally-imposed taxation limits like Wicomico’s revenue cap, provided the funds went to education.

(continued at Examiner.com, including a slideshow…)

By the way, if you had subscribed to my old Examiner sites you need to switch over to the new one. If you didn’t subscribe before, now is the perfect opportunity. Just click the “subscribe” button at the top and follow the prompt.

Yet even Harrison admitted the county wouldn’t dare raise property taxes the staggering 19.9 cents per $100 of valuation to fully fund maintenance of effort, better known as MOE. It would be “our doomsday” if that occurred.

But while Wicomico will be forced to raise property taxes to the maximum extent allowed, G.A. declared the county’s FY2013 budget was a “fiction…premised on the hope the General Assembly will reverse Senate Bill 848” in the upcoming Special Session. Nor would the county get a MOE waiver, continued Harrison, without the approval of both the county’s Board of Education and teachers’ union. Both have denied the county’s waiver request, with the proviso that they may change their mind if $2 million more is allocated toward educational needs. The word “extortion” crossed the lips of several attending upon hearing that news nugget.

With that initial salvo, Harrison critiqued the entire Wicomico budgetary process. What’s available to the public “doesn’t tell you a whole lot,” said the presenter, adding “you are not allowed to see the budget detail.” Even County Council is only allowed to make cuts to nonspecific “pots of money,” with the County Executive who sets the budget under no obligation to make the specific cut the Council may desire. Meanwhile, other counties which have revenue caps are more prepared for any eventuality than Wicomico is, contended Harrison.

To address this in the short term, Harrison suggested demanding a more detailed line-item budget be made available and using it to request specific cuts. We also should ask that the county auditor perform an audit of the educational budget, which makes up 46% of county general fund expenditures, G.A. added.

In the long term, Harrison believed County Executive Rick Pollitt “needs to accept there’s a new paradigm,” one which includes persuading him to support the adoption of an elected school board. Wicomico County is one of just a handful of counties where the local school board is still appointed by the governor. Most distressingly, though, G.A. conceded that we need to resign ourselves to the fact we will pay higher taxes, particularly as legislators on the Western Shore are “convinced we are undertaxed.”

“Annapolis is gonna lay a big whoopin’ on us,” concluded Harrison.

Among the audience of about 40 were a number of local politicians and candidates. But the one who stole the show was Delegate Mike McDermott.

Due to redistricting, McDermott no longer represents Wicomico County. But in response to a question from a fellow attendee, the Worcester County-based Delegate and gifted extemporaneous speaker devoted a lengthy monologue to the entire set of issues county governments need to come to grips with: the usurpation of their power by the state government in Annapolis. “The real problem is why do we have a state dictating to us,” said McDermott.

He also blasted fellow Delegate Norm Conway, stating that Conway is always “ticked off about the failure of Wicomico County to raise taxes and increase spending on their own,” hence, Conway’s support of Senate Bill 848. McDermott also believed “(Democrats) have already cut the deal (on a tax package),” said Mike, predicting a brief two-day Special Session.

But Mike also felt the General Assembly “let the state of Maryland down” and deserved to be “thrown under the bus.”

“It’s going to get bloody and ugly in Maryland,” McDermott concluded.

Also in attendance was Libertarian First District Congressional candidate Muir Boda, who added that “it’s a shame that (government has) come to robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

There’s no question the news at the meeting wasn’t what those who came wanted to hear; however, these activists have become accustomed to bad news coming from both Annapolis and Washington. Yet they continue to speak out, with many spending the post-meeting time discussing how to maximize their numbers in Annapolis and making carpool arrangements for a planned protest rally there next Monday evening.

The tax and spend die has apparently already been cast, though, as the state will throw out the previously approved and balanced budget in favor of something bigger – but not necessarily better.

An audience of about 40 looks on at the Wicomico Society of Patriots meeting on May 9, 2012. The subject was the state’s effect on the Wicomico County budget.

Local blogger and political expert G.A. Harrison narrated a presentation on the ‘fiction’ that is the FY2013 Wicomico County budget as it currently stands.

Local chiropractor Dr. Greg Belcher moderated the Wicomico Society of Patriots meeting in Salisbury, May 9, 2012.

Delegate Mike McDermott was an outspoken critic of Annapolis policies, and was warmly welcomed by the Wicomico Society of Patriots audience.

Bowing out gracefully

Editor’s note 5/27/2022: I have brought this home from the dead Examiner.com pages.

In 2010 Brendan Madigan was one of the youngest statewide candidates in the country, making headlines as the first Republican to file in the race for Comptroller. While he didn’t win the nomination, he still garnered 25% of the vote in a three-way primary and finished second.

Now a student at the University of North Carolina, Brendan has remained active in politics – enough so that he felt it “appropriate” to release a statement on his political future given the early entry of 2010 GOP Comptroller nominee William Campbell into the 2014 fray.

“After taking a realistic look at the race over several months, I made the decision not to seek the office of Maryland Comptroller in 2014,” said Madigan. “While I will not be seeking the office of Comptroller of Maryland, I remain interested in pursuing lower office in 2014, namely the Delegate seat in my home district of 5B where Delegate (Wade) Kach has made a number of anti-family votes.”

Madigan reserved a formal announcement for later in 2013, but given some of the rumors around Annapolis that Kach switched his original vote against same-sex marriage with the expectation of securing a state position, it’s quite possible the veteran Baltimore County legislator may not run again, opening the seat to new contenders in a reconfigured district. Kach’s former District 5B has been reconstituted into District 42B, taking in a smaller portion of Baltimore County.

At a time when most college graduates are out looking for a job Madigan could be in the final stages of a primary battle, perhaps against a Delegate who’s been in office for Madigan’s entire lifetime. Brendan has established himself as a young Republican to watch.

The state takes over

Editor’s note 5/27/2022: I have brought this home from the dead Examiner.com pages.

Tonight the Wicomico Society of Patriots (WSOP) will hold an “emergency meeting” to discuss impending state action on the county’s budget, making the claim that “your property tax cap is dead!” One may ask why the budgetary woes of a comparatively small county on the Eastern Shore are relevant to both the functions of the state and to those reading this piece. To answer that question, a little bit of history is required.

In 2000 the Wicomico County Council, which at the time held both the legislative and executive functions of county government, enacted a huge property tax increase – a whopping 46 cents per $100 of assessed valuation – on county homeowners. Angered by the surge in both taxation and spending, county residents enacted a revenue cap later that year at the 2000 election. This cap limited the revenue from property taxes to an amount no more than 2 percent over the previous year’s take.

Four years later, Wicomico County voted in an executive form of government and reduced County Council to a strictly legislative body. In 2006 Wicomico County voters elected Democrat Rick Pollitt as the first County Executive. Pollitt was no fan of the revenue cap, and for the first few years of his initial term created a shadow budget illustrating how he would have spent the additional revenue he would have liked to use had the cap not been in place. However, by tempering his opposition to the revenue cap and deciding it wasn’t a fight worth having during difficult economic times, Pollitt was re-elected in 2010. While several other local politicians have expressed frustration with the restrictions on property tax revenue put in place by county voters, no serious bid to change or remove the cap has occurred in the eleven years since it was enacted – at least not locally.

The bill which the WSOP is fretting about passed in the 2012 Maryland General Assembly session as Senate Bill 848, which has the innocuous title “Education – Maintenance of Effort.” Its function, however, is to allow the state to withhold general fund money from each nonconforming county and instead send it directly to a county’s Board of Education if an MOE waiver isn’t approved by the state. More importantly, the bill waives any voter-enacted revenue cap and allows county governments to increase property tax rates in excess of those limitations, provided the proceeds go to the county’s Board of Education.

The passage of this bill, essentially on a party-line vote with most Republicans voting no, placed a gun to the head of the seven counties which did not fully fund their MOE for education. By the numbers, the most significant shortage occurs in Montgomery County, which fell $127.2 million under its target number. Based on their local education budget of nearly $1.5 billion, though, Montgomery County is less than 10 percent short of its target amount. (This is according to the fiscal statement for SB848.)

But Wicomico County finds itself in a much more drastic situation, as it’s nearly $14 million short of the $50.1 million the state says the county should provide. Prior to the passage of SB848 Wicomico could have taken advantage of state law to eventually bring their MOE to a more realistic portion of a general fund budget which is just $113 million for FY2012. As a comparison, the county’s educational budget for the same period (from all sources) is just over $180 million. In the past, Annapolis-based critics of the Wicomico revenue cap have expressed their frustration with the county’s lack of willingness (or revenue) to more completely fund education, leaving the state to fill in the gaps. Delegate Norm Conway, a Democrat representing Wicomico County, was a co-sponsor of a House bill similar to SB848.

Because of the passage of SB848, though, the Wicomico County Council – which is dominated by Republicans, 6-1 – will find itself in the unpalatable position of having to pass at least one tax increase as the county’s income tax will have to rise to the state’s maximum of 3.2% in order to reduce the shortfall. They’ve also conceded the property tax rate will have to rise by the full extent allowed under the current revenue cap. 

But Wicomico’s problem is indicative of a larger intrusion, showing the lengths the state of Maryland is willing to take in butting into county affairs. In another area of government, the enactment of PlanMaryland angered local officials by taking away much of the leeway they were allowed in making planning and zoning decisions. SB848 similarly reduces the jurisdiction of county governments, with the ultimate goal of Annapolis seemingly one of making the individual counties and Baltimore City little more than lines on a map.

Obviously the state is concerned about public education, and they provide billions of dollars to the state’s 24 local jurisdictions to achieve their goal of a well-educated workforce. Yet when the state unilaterally decides that the will of the people, expressed at the ballot box, is invalid because a county isn’t providing the funding which the state’s opinion believes is necessary – that’s a frightening line for them to cross. The Wicomico Society of Patriots has ample reason to believe this is a step too far, and I plan on covering the meeting. Look for a report Thursday.

Rage against the machine

Editor’s note 5/27/2022: I have brought this home from the dead Examiner.com pages.

As I wrote Sunday, the Maryland General Assembly holds a Special Session beginning next Monday to address what Martin O’Malley and majority Democrats consider a revenue shortfall in the FY2013 budget. Despite the fact a budget was passed during the regular session, the $700 million increase wasn’t to the liking of educators, unions, and others who were expecting another $500 million or so in the budget to address their wish list.

While Republicans won’t have the votes needed to stop any tax proposal put forth by O’Malley and his Democratic allies, they can use the occasion as a cudgel to spread their message of fiscal responsibility. On Monday evening a planned rally will give voice to the opposition message that increasing taxes is the wrong solution to a budgetary problem that doesn’t even exist.

Sponsored by the House of Delegates’ TEA Party Caucus, the ‘Rally Against the Doomsday Session’ at Lawyers Mall will commence at 7 p.m. and last about two hours. Presumably several members of the Caucus will rally the troops against the proposed tax increases, which will begin to take shape that day once the Special Session gets underway.

Conventional wisdom holds that the leading new revenue stream will be an increase in the income tax for wealthy Maryland residents, but O’Malley and General Assembly Democrats have also floated the ideas of an increased gasoline tax, raising the sales tax, and expanding sales taxes to more services as possibilities, too. Any or all of these could be in play next Monday, along with unfinished business from the regular session on how to spend any additional revenue. It’s worth recalling that while the 2007 Special Session called by Martin O’Malley in his first term led to the largest tax increase in Maryland history, millions in new spending was also enacted during that meeting of the General Assembly.

It’s more than likely the TEA Party rally won’t be as large as the 2011 union-led rally encouraging the state to spend more money, but those who show won’t be getting the free meals or other incentives Big Labor passed out for attendees. Instead, their payoff will likely come in two years as TEA Partiers create a campaign issue of the “tax and spend” attitude pervasive in Annapolis.

What to expect from next week’s Special Session

Editor’s note 5/27/2022: I have brought this home from the dead Examiner.com pages.

On Friday Governor O’Malley made it official: the Maryland General Assembly will be called in beginning May 14 for a Special Session to deal with the state’s budget. While the Maryland legislature passed a budget prior to the close of the regular session April 9, O’Malley and majority Democrats complained the so-called “doomsday budget” didn’t fund all the items on their wish list – this despite being $700 billion higher than the budget for fiscal 2012, which ends June 30. The one measure which will be scheduled for consideration will be along the lines of legislation Annapolis regularly passes each spring to adjust the ongoing budget year, a bill called the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, or BRFA.

It’s worth noting, however, that there is no restriction on bills which can be introduced in a Special Session. Last fall, at a gathering called to deal with Congressional redistricting, over 50 bills were introduced between the House of Delegates and Senate – a roster which included bills addressing tolls, environmental issues, and taxes. While few of these bills ever progressed beyond first reading, there’s always the chance that something could come in under the radar.

Republicans and conservative groups like Americans for Prosperity, however, feel the Special Sessions – a second one dealing with gaming issues is proposed for later this summer – are not necessary because the General Assembly did its appointed job and passed a state budget, even if it’s one not to the Governor’s liking. AFP claims that thousands have signed an online petition which expressed the desire of Maryland taxpayers to leave well enough alone.

Conversely, the Maryland State Education Association teacher’s union posted a ‘doomsday clock’ on its website, claiming dire consequences from $200 million in budget cuts, including a $100 cut in per-pupil aid. Law enforcement could also be affected in certain jurisdictions as the state grants local governments have grown dependent on are on the chopping block under the budget that passed.

The hue and cry from various special interest groups has become so loud that it’s presumed the budget holes will be patched with still further tax increases which will affect Maryland’s working families. If they’re not tagged by income tax hikes, it’s still likely Free Staters will be hit with a gas tax increase or new fees on services. Democrats in probable 2014 swing districts will likely join Republicans in opposition to tax hikes, but most of the majority party hails from areas which have become used to state government largesse and will feel they can safely vote yes to higher taxes.

Thus, these proposed new revenue streams will receive a handful more than the requisite 71 votes in the House of Delegates and 24 Senate votes to advance to Governor O’Malley’s desk, where he will be waiting with bated breath to sign another round of tax hikes as he did in 2007.

In all honesty, the only three questions about next week’s session are these:

  • How many majority Democrats will be allowed to take a pass and stand against tax increases? Look for those who represent more conservative areas of Maryland like the western panhandle, Southern Maryland, and the Eastern Shore to be among the few who say “no.”
  • Which tax hikes will take effect, and who will be the winners and losers? The smart money says it will be wealthy taxpayers taking the bullet, but a recent decline in gas prices may make an increase in the gas tax more palatable – particularly if the General Assembly can push its enactment back to this fall, after tourist season and the 2012 elections.
  • If the tax hikes are placed into effect, will the promise of a second Special Session to address gaming be reneged upon? Senate President Mike Miller was adamant that the prospect of a sixth casino in Prince George’s County be addressed as part of solving the budget crisis, but promising a Special Session this summer when the immediate issues will be resolved next week may mean his proposal is now on the back burner.

Since it costs Maryland taxpayers upwards of $20,000 per day to host a Special Session, it’s thought this rendition will be a brief one, perhaps two to three days. But the final cost to already overburdened Maryland taxpayers may be far greater once they are finished.

Senate hopeful Bongino calls incumbent Cardin Maryland’s ‘blind date’

Editor’s note 5/14/2022: I have brought this home from the dead Examiner.com pages.

A time-tested political approach for opponents of an entrenched incumbent politician is to question his record, and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino is doing just that.

In a statement to supporters, Bongino claimed incumbent Ben Cardin “has maintained political office for an astounding 45 years by taking Marylanders on an endless series of blind dates.” This was part of a bid to have a series of monthly debates between the two during the remaining six months before the November 6 elections. However, incumbent politicians up for re-election will rarely give opponents the time of day, let alone take the chance on committing a verbal faux pas on a statewide stage.

And Bongino is aware of this. “Given Ben Cardin’s history of being asleep at the wheel I would not be surprised if he ignores my debate request,” said the Republican contender,”but I am relentlessly pursuing real change to our government and will not be ignored.”

While the pre-prinary Washington Post endorsement of Cardin called him a “substantive, responsive, and doggedly effective public official,” the average Marylander would be hard-pressed to name one significant legislative accomplishment Ben has achieved over his six years in the Senate. Part of that comes from being in the shadow of Maryland’s other U.S. Senator, the popular Barbara Mikulski, but Cardin has also developed a reputation for being such a reliable liberal vote that it’s rarely questioned which side of an issue he’ll be on. As an example, there was no need for giving Ben a “Louisiana Purchase” or “Cornhusker Kickback” on Obamacare, as was the case with wavering Democratic Senators Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson, respectively. Whether the vote was in the best interests of Marylanders or not, Democratic leadership knew they could put Cardin’s vote in their column.

And while Cardin managed to poll just under 75 percent in a primary victory over a host of underfunded opponents in last month’s primary, his original 2006 election to the Senate was by just 10 points over former Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele. Moreover, Ben barely won the 2006 primary over Kweisi Mfume, sliding through with a three-point plurality over the onetime NAACP head. Although they may vote for him out of party loyalty, minority voters haven’t necessarily warmed up to Cardin.

In an attempt to exploit this perceived weakness, Bongino believes education may be a key wedge issue for minority and working-class voters. Instead, he contends that Ben Cardin has given “staunch support of special interests over parents’ rights in the struggle for educational opportunity.” Supporting that argument is the fact that, before the ink on Ben’s 2012 filing papers had a chance to dry, he already had the endorsement of a leading teachers’ union in his pocket.

But unless he upsets conventional political wisdom and agrees to the series of debates proposed by Bongino, the incumbent Senator seems content to use his current vast financial advantage to pepper the airwaves with 30-second feelgood spots later this fall rather than defend a voting record which rarely strays from the most liberal of Democratic lines. To his campaign it appears an uninformed voter can be a Cardin voter.

Campbell first 2010 GOP hopeful to try again

Editor’s note 5/14/2022: I have brought this home from the dead Examiner.com pages.

Candidates are still nearly a year away from being able to officially file for the 2014 state elections, but 2010 candidate for state Comptroller William Campbell revealed his intention to make another bid for the office. Campbell received 39% of the vote in 2010 against incumbent Comptroller Peter Franchot, but Franchot is among several Democrats hinted as making a bid for the brass ring of Government House as Governor Martin O’Malley cannot run for a third term.

In a statement on his personal Facebook page Campbell noted it was his intention to file “as soon as it is allowed” and will go about the business of setting up a campaign website and fundraising. He pointed out that he got his 39 percent of the vote in 2010 “with no money and no organization,” adding to this reporter that at this stage he’s “looking for volunteers to help me put together a winning team.”

Assuming Campbell finds the support he desires, the statewide Republican dance card is already beginning to fill out nicely. A gubernatorial run for Harford County Executive David Craig is probably one of Maryland’s worst-kept secrets; also in the mix is Larry Hogan, who ran briefly in 2010 before yielding to the candidacy of former Governor Bob Ehrlich. Hogan’s Change Maryland group recently celebrated its 12,000th member, which in Facebook terms put him ahead of both the Maryland Democratic and Republican parties combined.

Unlike the 2010 election, where Senator Barbara Mikulski retained her seat over Republican Eric Wargotz, and this year’s contest where Senator Ben Cardin faces a spirited campaign from GOP nominee Dan Bongino, the 2014 election won’t have a statewide federal race. Republicans are hoping for a repeat of the last time this scenario occurred, which was the 2002 election. Depending on how Mitt Romney fares in Maryland and nationwide, the table could be set for a similar success in two years and Campbell apparently wants to get an early start.

A redistricting contrarian

Editor’s note 5/14/2022: I have brought this home from the dead Examiner.com pages.

My debut article as the Eastern Shore Political Buzz Examiner…

While most state Republicans were dead-set against the Congressional redistricting perpetrated by Governor Martin O’Malley and a hand-selected group of appointees last fall, the new lines still went into effect for this year’s elections. Key among the changes was an effort to make the Sixth Congressional District into a Democratic seat by realigning it southward into Montgomery County and excising Frederick and Carroll counties from the district, which once straddled the border with Pennsylvania. Those voters were divided among a number of other districts, primarily the First and Eighth Congressional districts.

Because of this blatant political posturing by the majority party, the MDPetitions group decided to feature a petition against the redistricting law, which passed in a Special Session last year, along with another drive to overturn the same-sex marriage law signed by Governor O’Malley earlier this year.

A Central Committee member from Montgomery County maintains the redistricting petition takes away from “expending our energies and resources to re-elect Congressman (Roscoe) Bartlett in the new 6th District and to elect Ken Timmerman in the new 8th District.”

More importantly, the letter John Midlen circulated at the recent state GOP Convention reveals Timmerman is against the redistricting petition, which puts him at odds with the state party.

According to Midlen’s letter, Timmerman points out that the revised 8th District is only barely a Democratic district, with just more than 50 percent registered Democrats and the remainder Republicans and unaffiliated voters. It’s a departure from the previous Eighth District, which stemmed from the attempt by majority Democrats a decade ago to pack the bulk of Maryland’s Republican voters into two Congressional districts, then represented by Bartlett and former Congressman Wayne Gilchrest of the Eastern Shore.

That strategy changed a 4-4 delegation split as recently as the 2000 election to a 6-2 Democratic edge in 2002 and a 7-1 bulge from 2008 to 2010, a term when Democrat Frank Kratovil won the First District after a bitter GOP primary.

Midlen also points out that, even if the petition drive is successful and district lines are changed, it’s likely that Democrats will come up with a system just as devious for 2014. One piece of evidence which suggests this would be the case was the manner in which several GOP Delegates were lumped together in new House of Delegates districts for the 2014 election – unlike the Congressional districts, the state legislative districts aren’t subject to referendum because no action was taken by the General Assembly. By law, the Governor’s lines became valid if a different map wasn’t passed by the General Assembly within the session’s first 45 days.

Obviously a lot can change in 10 years’ time, but the significance of the 2000 redistricting and the immediate gain of two Congressional seats by Democrats in 2002 – an election where Republicans gained eight seats nationwide – shows Maryland Democrats are trying to stack the deck even more in their favor in a state where they only enjoy about a 2:1 registration advantage over Republicans.

The question answered in November will be whether they overreached by weakening a number of other Democrat-friendly districts in order to gain the Bartlett seat.