Maryland General Assembly – Page 25

A case of ‘told you so’

Last week the state of Maryland, on less than 24 hours’ notice, approved a contract to purchase around 1,000 slot machines for a casino presently under construction in Cecil County. The contract works out to over $46,000 per machine, a figure one industry analyst considered 4 times too high according to a Baltimore Sun article by Annie Linskey.

By participating in an “incredible windfall” for the industry (in the words of Comptroller Peter Franchot) the state has put itself in the business better considered by companies which actually make their fortunes in the gaming industry.

The problems I had with the issue of slots when it came up on the ballot two years ago were many.

It didn’t need to be a constitutional amendment because doing things that way made adjustments difficult. Prior to the vote, the General Assembly considered slots several years in a row but could never pass the issue the normal way – had they done so we could’ve adapted to the market.
By restricting the state to video slots and taking such a long time to get them to market, we’ve allowed neighboring states to leapfrog into additional casinos close to the border, adoption of table games, and limited sports betting. To adopt table games would presumably require yet another vote of the people in two years and by that time it will be established in at least Delaware and West Virginia.
Since the state’s take is higher than in many other locales, the interest in opening slot casinos in a recession is not great. Out of five approved locations for casinos we only have slots on the drawing board for two – the Cecil County location and Ocean Downs. A location on the western fringe of Maryland drew no interest, which obviously will cut revenue further short of projections.

Another casualty of the failure of slots may be the repeal of the 2008 sales tax increase. When I spoke to Bob Ehrlich regarding how he would make up for the decrease in revenue, part of his answer concerned slots:

Bob explained… the increased economic activity lowering the tax would create would fill in part of the gap (also a good presumption.) In addition, with slots coming online that revenue will enable the state to lower our tax burden in that manner.

Those slots, which already need to create $50 million in revenue to the state just to pay for themselves, have a lot of people counting on them to be productive and create the cash to help solve the state’s problems. It’s a burden bound to create disappointment in Annapolis as the best laid plans of the General Assembly and Governor O’Malley fail once again.

Bringing the a-word into the Maryland race

As a means of showing contrast between he and his opponent this works well, but I’m not sure this is the race to bring up the subject in much more of a meaningful way than this post. Brian Murphy is pro-life while opponent Bob Ehrlich – eh, not so much.

Maryland’s inadequate regulation of abortion facilities may have contributed to the death (of a young woman from a botched procedure.) Murphy has affirmed his commitment to improve the regulations of abortion facilities to ensure women receive the best possible care. “As the only pro-life candidate for governor of Maryland, I have significant philosophical differences with my opponents, Bob Ehrlich and Martin O’Malley. But I like to think we can all agree that the obvious lack of adequate regulation of Maryland abortion facilities is a disservice to women,” said Murphy.

“It has been said that abortions should be, ‘safe, legal and rare,'” said Murphy. “In Maryland, where abortions are legal, we have no way to know if they are also safe and rare. We must ensure that abortion statistics are made available to the public, while also preserving patient confidentiality. And we must hold abortion facilities accountable for the health of the women they serve. Incidents such as this must be investigated, and Maryland women must be protected,” said Murphy.

Obviously abortion should be one of those state’s rights issues, but the problem lies with the Supreme Court not having the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade and returning the battleground issue to its proper venue. It’s sure enough that if Murphy wins and can somehow convince a Democratic-controlled General Assembly to pass these laws that they would end up in court and at the mercy of whether a judge is tolerant of the legislature’s right to enact laws or wants to play activist.

Yet it’s not like Brian isn’t pragmatic about the situation here in Maryland – he’s nowhere near taking a step like other states and restricting the act of abortion itself. All he’s proposing is accountability and reporting requirements; then again, it’s more than any other candidate for governor is backing and certainly should bring cheer to Maryland’s pro-life community.

State bails out Wicomico County (for now)

First the release:

Following a 9:30 A.M. appearance (yesterday) by Wicomico County Executive Richard M. Pollitt, Jr. and Director of Finance Patricia Petersen before the Maryland State Board of Education in Baltimore, the Board voted 8-to-4 in favor of granting a waiver on the county’s Maintenance of Effort requirement for education funding. The Wicomico County Board of Education will now receive an additional $1.5 Million in state funds.

Upon receiving the news of the positive vote, Mr. Pollitt said, “Against all odds, we were able to persuade the Board that Wicomico County would not be able to provide its required share of funding to our K-12 school children in next year’s budget. I suggested to them that they could mitigate the impact of county cuts somewhat by granting the waiver. We are delighted that the State Board agreed and that our school program will receive the extra funding.”

Of Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City, only Wicomico and Montgomery counties sought the MOE waiver.

But the long-term answer isn’t going to begging hat in hand to the state because as you may recall the waiver was denied last year – luckily the BoE “found” the money to keep itself running with its full budget. Instead, we need to adopt a two-pronged solution to addressing this problem long-term.

One part would be to minimize the budget where possible, starting with lopping off a top-heavy administration. Perhaps the idea of lengthening the school day but shortening the school week so fewer bus trips are required is worth exploring. And I don’t think increasing the class size is a bad idea, either. Why not see where private schools succeed while public schools fail?

But the second part of the solution lies in the state of Maryland. Someone needs to stand up to the court which dictated the funding formula to our state (and led to the Thornton Commission law) and ask the plaintiffs (a group which included ACORN) to prove that more money equals a better result. Put them on the defensive because their “stunning victory” is burying the average taxpayer.

The problem with having to deal with Maintenance of Effort (as I understand it) is that education spending can NEVER go down – the amount of money required is equal to the previous year’s. In cases where funding for the next year is dependent on the spending for this one, nine times out of ten (and maybe even 99 of 100) the agency or bureau will spend money at the end of the fiscal year on wasteful items just for the sake of spending it and not losing its allocation.

As we’ve proven with this recession, throwing money at a problem does little to solve it but instead discourages innovative thinking. Yes, Wicomico County dodged a bullet this time but the long-term solution is to disarm those who are robbing the taxpayers blind.

MDGOP overreaches on oil spill criticism

Playing on the emotion of the Gulf oil spill, the Maryland Republican Party blasted Governor O’Malley for raiding money from the state’s Oil Disaster Clean Up Fund. Out of $4.8 million in the ODCU fund, O’Malley sought to move $2.2 million before the General Assembly cut the transfer to an even $1 million.

In reading the release, one may think of a primordial black ooze seeping onto the beaches of Assateague and Ocean City when in reality we may see a few stray tar balls, according to a University of Maryland researcher.

Certainly it’s acceptable for the state to have money on hand for such a cleanup, particularly when nasty spills have occurred in the fairly recent past.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)

Are Conway and Mathias trying to buy votes?

One of my fellow Examiners, J. Doug Gill, brought up the point about the $15 million of state largesse going toward “bond bills” this session, but after looking at the projects funded I wanted to bring the point closer to home – so I did a little bit of investigation and simple math.

The state approved a number of projects in the State Capital Budget Bill, and one thing I was curious about was how the money was doled out. First, though, I had to see what the “proper” proportion of funding was based on population. The sequence below covers each Maryland county (and Baltimore City) and its percentage of the state population based on 2009 estimates. The (parentheses) is what percentage of the $15 million the county in question received.

Montgomery – 17.05% (13.23%)
Prince George’s – 14.64% (17.93%)
Baltimore – 13.86% (7.63%)
Baltimore City – 11.18% (14.03%)
Anne Arundel – 9.14% (7.33%)
Howard – 4.95% (5.93%)
Harford – 4.26% (1.33%)
Frederick – 4.00% (2%)
Carroll – 2.98% (1%)
Washington – 2.56% (1.83%)
Charles – 2.50% (2.33%)
St. Mary’s – 1.81% (1.4%)
Cecil – 1.77% (1%)
Wicomico – 1.65% (2.73%)
Calvert – 1.57% (1.67%)
Allegany – 1.27% (1%)
Worcester – 0.86% (1.67%)
Queen Anne’s – 0.84% (1%)
Talbot – 0.64% (0.07%)
Caroline – 0.59% (0)
Dorchester – 0.56% (0.87%)
Garrett – 0.52% (1.33%)
Somerset – 0.46% (0)
Kent – 0.36% (0)

Most counties get a smaller share than their population because there were a number of “statewide” projects funded like the Maryland Food Bank. But it’s interesting that both Wicomico and Worcester did well, and that’s perhaps because Norm Conway faces a tough election (as does Jim Mathias, assuming he runs for the open District 38 Senate seat.) On the other hand, counties which were shut out are represented by Republicans in Districts 36, 37, and 38. Nothing like a little slap at the minority, who weren’t as well-rewarded as certain Democrats.

Granted, I think the $15 million may have been better zeroed out given our state’s fiscal circumstance but it seems that many in the General Assembly leadership use this as a slush fund to help their most vulnerable incumbents, particularly in an election year.

Undoubtedly the projects selected can be considered worthy – in Wicomico County state dollars will assist the Salisbury Zoo and the Parsonsburg VFD; meanwhile, Worcester County will enjoy improvements to Pocomoke City’s VFD facility (which just so happens to be in GOP challenger Mike McDermott’s backyard.) But are they worth the taxpayer money or the $14 million-plus where we had to scratch the rest of the state’s back to get these crumbs? The Senate approved $210,000 for the two counties while the House gave Conway and Mathias $450,000 this time around.

By comparison, the House allocations to Wicomico and Worcester counties in 2009 totaled $250,000; in 2008 they were $145,000; and in 2007 $450,000. The Senate granted $150,000 in 2009; $275,000 in 2008; and just $50,000 in 2007. It’s something which makes you go, “hmmmmm….” doesn’t it?

Race to the sales tax bottom

In 2007, a special session of Maryland’s General Assembly enacted a slew of tax increases designed to deal with the state’s structural deficit. Among them was a 20% increase in the sales tax rate, which increased from 5 cents on the dollar to 6 cents.

For years, merchants along the Eastern Shore have complained about the disadvantage they labor under because Delaware businesses charge no sales tax. It’s no accident that the seaside resort of Rehoboth Beach has also become a shopping hub. Or take a drive north from Salisbury along U.S. 13 and you’ll notice a number of stores selling big-ticket items located just across the border. While Maryland residents who buy items in Delaware are supposed to remit a tax to Maryland, the law is rarely enforced.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)

Celebrating achievement

I’ve blogged about this a couple times before, but tonight Americans who have no life and still believe in the discredited radical environmental movement will sit in the darkness and gloom to “celebrate” the so-called “Earth Hour.” The Competitive Enterprise Institute poked fun at this last year by creating Human Achievement Hour and putting out this video.

As has been tradition around this time, I engaged in the enjoyment of being there last night while thousands of watts of amplification and lighting was expended to boost the local economy of Ocean City and the personal fortunes of dozens of starving artists who are better known as musicians. (Most people call this Skip Dixxon’s Spring Luau.) My point is that it takes energy to grow an economy, but apparently those who want to curtail our usage and bring us back to a 20th or even 19th century lifestyle consider that offensive to their earth goddess.

Needless to say, I stand foursquare against those who would use the force of the state to infringe upon our freedom. Granted, Earth Hour is voluntary (for now) but even exhibiting the mindset of following like lemmings gives them the illusion of popular support and the desire to make what are now suggestions into laws.

In Maryland, this sort of thinking is leading us into even more restrictive stormwater regulations, which only curtails the production of jobs and ironically may reduce the urban development so-called “Smart Growth” advocates desire. At one point there was a compromise reached by the General Assembly which would allow existing projects to continue under the old regulations but that is now out the window – much to the displeasure of those who help to provide private-sector economic growth.

Instead, developers may have to go back to the drawing boards, instituting needless and unnecessary delays and the costs associated with them; yet the benefits are dubious and difficult to measure. Let’s face it – is Chesapeake Bay ever truly going to be clean enough for the radical environmentalists without depopulating the entire watershed? I doubt it, because solving the problem of Bay pollution would put them out of business and the lobbyists and lawyers who depend on their patronage would have to find more honest work.

So I’m going to do my part and celebrate Human Achievement Hour in some way – it may be as simple as leaving a couple extra lights on around our place – and I encourage all of you to do the same. Yes, it’s a little wasteful but the point made is that with progress comes energy demand, and that’s a fact we can’t avoid.

For the record, the state of Maryland is participating in this idiocy, along with the cities of Baltimore, Frederick, Gaithersburg, and Greenbelt; as well, Baltimore and Frederick counties. Governor O’Malley noted in a statement on the Earth Hour website:

“Maryland is an official Earth Hour state, and Katie and I will be turning off our own lights in support of this global movement. By joining us, our fellow citizens will save energy, reduce their carbon footprint and demonstrate to the nation and the world the commitment and leadership of Marylanders on this critical issue.”

So I encourage all right-thinking residents of those areas to instead participate in Human Achievement Hour, and demostrate a call for economic leadership through progress, not regressing back to the Dark Ages.

HSM head pleased with immigration progress

In calling this year’s General Assembly session, “so far, so good,” Brad Botwin, director of the advocacy group Help Save Maryland, explained that, among other things, his group “was not getting beat up at the hearings” by those who favor expanded immigration and amnesty for illegals already here. Instead, he noticed an uptick in support, especially in the African-American community, and that more people on his side were taking the time to come to Annapolis and testify. By comparison, opponents had become “tame…rather mild” in their criticism.

His group has gained prominence in recent years as a bulwark against Maryland’s perceived status as a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants, and their supporters will be busy testifying in Annapolis today on behalf of a number of House bills – these bills include proposals to better enforce federal immigration law and allow the state to check the immigration status of prisoners and parolees.

(More on my Examiner.com page…)

How beatable is Rudy Cane?

As an adjunct to my last post, I wanted to share some information I looked up on the Maryland Board of Elections website.

While we tend to think Democrats are invincible, particularly in a majority-minority district like District 37A was drawn out to be, here are the facts.

In 2006 Rudy Cane ran unopposed in the general election. More’s the pity because he only won his primary with 68.7% of the vote.

And in 2002 Cane only won with 56.5% of the vote. Granted, this was the year Bob Ehrlich won election and a point when President Bush was riding high in the approval polls. For Cane, this was a decline from when he won the district with 63% of the vote in 1998.

Before that, Cane was beaten in a three-way race in 1994, the last time Republicans held the seat. In that election, Don Hughes won with 41% of the vote, beating Cane’s 40 percent. The difference was an independent candidate by the name of Lemuel Chester, who garnered 19% of the vote and carried the Dorchester County portion handily. Cane lost by 20 votes out of nearly 7,000 cast! (Oddly enough, Hughes only served that one term and chose not to run again – a true citizen legislator.)

The demographics aren’t as bad as one might think, since development has placed the district into a situation where it may not be a “majority-minority” district anymore. So with the right message and hard work, Bob McCarroll can win.

Democrats talked boastfully last year about making Maryland a “10-0” state, with Democrats occupying all the Congressional and Senate seats in Washington. Methinks this is the year we can make it a solid Republican Eastern Shore by ending the political careers of Rudy Cane (12 years), Norm Conway (24 years), and Jim Mathias (4 years but ambitious enough to run for the Maryland Senate to replace Lowell Stoltzfus.) It can be done, let’s do it!

WCRC meeting – March 2010

Despite the fact there was no flag in the room and our secretary was away on personal business (among other oddities) the Wicomico County Republican Club persevered and gathered once again to celebrate our party – and perhaps lick a few wounds from the health care fight. We did give our customary recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and pledged in the general direction of the courthouse, where certainly a flag would be handy.

Perhaps the recently completed health care fight still left a little bit of acrimony in the crowd, and it began with the treasurer’s report. There was some discussion about changing banks after the group received word of a couple fees we found objectionable, but we will allow the bank to present its case before moving our money.

The contentiousness died down so that our guest speaker could begin his campaign pitch.

Bob McCarroll told us one reason he was running because “no one has stepped up” in District 37A over the last eight years; indeed Delegate Rudy Cane was unopposed by a Republican in 2006. (He did dispatch his Democratic primary opponent with 68.7% of the vote but didn’t carry the small part of the district in Dorchester County.) However, the key reason he was running was his four year old daughter – he was “worried about her future in this area and county.” Areas of particular concern were deficit spending and education, where McCarroll spoke in favor of vouchers (so money could follow the child and allow parental choice) as well as the state “get(ting) off teacher’s backs” and cutting a “top-heavy” administrative system.

In fact, a main theme of Bob’s presentation was the concept of government getting off our backs. For business, that took the form of cutting onerous taxation, including the “millionaire’s tax.” For farmers, it was slicing the amount of environmental regulations, as McCarroll opined that farmers could be better stewards of the land than some Annapolis bureaucrat. The same goes for those making their living on the waterways, like fisherman and watermen. In all, noted Bob, “Maryland has more restrictions than New York,” where he grew up.

On the Obamacare “debacle” McCarroll thought it best that Maryland make an attempt to opt out of the mandates as much as possible.

One question about vouchers asked about the input the state would have in private schools if vouchers were made available, and Bob said that we’d have to trust the legislators – he’d propose a “hands-off” policy. In that same vein, another questioner asked why we couldn’t have a 50-50 split between funding vouchers and public schools, where half the parents’ tax burden would stay with the public schools. But then schools wouldn’t “step up their game.” McCarroll also favors an elected school board.

Another questioner asked about the “minority component” of the district and what would be most appealing to them. Bob saw taxes and educational restructuring as the key issues which would bring in black voters.

On another query, McCarroll saw a line-item veto as “a good idea.”

But perhaps his best answer was on how he could appeal to small businesses. Besides cutting taxes, Bob related his contemplation of starting a small business of his own, but backing off when he “couldn’t get a straight answer” from the state. It was time to “streamline regulations” and exempt Maryland from some of the more onerous federal restrictions.

After McCarroll concluded, we got the Lower Shore Young Republican report from Dustin Mills. The state convention was still in planning stages, but they were looking forward to being hosts. However, the food drive planned for later this month was being pushed back to a date in May. That and the convention also affected planning for another hog roast and fundraiser similar to that they held last year.

But in better news Dustin informed us there would be a meeting in Worcester County for the first time as the LSYR club wished to expand its geographic reach.

Bob Miller again appealed for Salisbury Festival volunteers to both man the WCRC booth and make brownies. The Salisbury Festival is held April 23 and 24 in downtown Salisbury.

Dr. John Bartkovich was pleased that Bob McCarroll was running and commented, “we need more people to step up.” Exciting upcoming events for Wicomico Republicans were the Lincoln Day Dinner April 3rd featuring Bob and Kendal Ehrlich, a town hall meeting with state Chair Audrey Scott on April 5th, and the Spring Republican Convention April 30 and May 1 in Ocean City at the Princess Royale. We also drafted a letter endorsing the idea of an elected school board and asked County Council to consider the idea.

After dealing with a financial question which involved some discussion, we made one other key decision: henceforth our meetings will begin a half-hour earlier, with social time at 6:30 and gavel at 7:00.

This means our first 7 p.m. meeting will be April 26. At this time, we haven’t secured a speaker. Our May meeting has U.S. Senate candidate Carmen Amedori slated, with probably a host of local candidates getting their turn over the summer.

A tax increase may be in the bag

As of the first of the year, shoppers in Washington, D.C. were forced to drop an extra nickel into the till for each paper or plastic bag they used when going to the store. Store owners collected a share of the tax, but the true intent of the proceeds was a fund to help clean up the Anacostia River.

While the ban has caused some confusion among District shoppers, what truly matters to their local government is the estimated $3.5 million in revenue created by the new tax. With dollar signs in their eyes, some Maryland legislators in both the House of Delegates and the Senate want to get in on the taxation action with proceeds going (of course) to the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund. The fiscal note with these bills posits a possible windfall to the state of $7.8 million based on a number of assumptions – very tempting when this is a fee easily buried within the overall cost of grocery shopping.

(continued on my Examiner.com page…)

An impeachable offense?

The argument over same-sex marriage continues, but has drawn a companion sidebar regarding Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler’s interpretation of his job vs. existing laws. Cue House of Delegates member and same-sex marriage foe Don Dwyer:

On March 31, I will be bringing Articles of Impeachment against Maryland’s Attorney General Doug Gansler at approximately 10am on the Floor of the House of Delegates. Please read further as to why I feel that I must take this action.

If you support me, please consider coming to Annapolis in a public show of support for upholding the Constitution.

(snip)

Maryland recently recognized same sex marriages for the purpose of marital benefits. The recognition of same sex marriages performed in other states was not enacted by the Maryland legislature nor was it mandated by Maryland courts; rather it was the independent decision of Maryland’s Attorney General Douglas Gansler, released on February 24, 2010.

Because this was a blatant attack on Maryland’s current law that states: “Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this state” and because this action is clearly a violation of the separation of powers related to the three branches of government, the Attorney General was put on public notice that impeachment charges were being drafted.

As if the Attorney General was not in enough hot water, on March 1, 2010 HE DECLARED HIMSELF UNIMPEACHABLE in an attempt to thwart any attempt by the legislature to hold him accountable for usurping their authority. Unbelievably, the Attorney General went to a subordinate member of his staff, Mr. Dan Friedman to write the letter addressed to Maryland’s Speaker of the House, stating that the Attorney General could not be removed by impeachment.

Mr. Gansler’s actions have put Maryland in a constitutional crisis. The highest law officer in the state who is an elected member of the executive branch of government has violated his Oath of Office and has revealed his incompetence, and his willful neglect of duty. As a constitutional officer, he must ensure that the provisions of the State and U.S. Constitutions are upheld in all cases, including a constitutional charge against him.

Attorney General Gansler testified in his official capacity two years ago in support of a gay marriage bill. He said that iit (sic) would be hard to not try to correct an injustice in the law. His testimony publicly revealed his partial and prejudiced position on the subject of same sex marriage. Mr. Gansler violated his oath of office in which he swore to perform his duties in an impartial and unprejudiced manner.

After revealing his bias on the issue, he was asked by a member of the Senate to advise on the legality of Maryland recognizing same sex marriage contracted in other states. Despite the fact that the Office of the Attorney General addressed that very same question in 2004, and despite the fact that no court ruling, or legislation has overturned that 2004 opinion, Mr. Gansler released a “new” opinion in which he “interprets” the law as supporting the legality of recognizing out of state same sex marriages.

In short, the Attorney General decided that a standing Maryland law is an “injustice” and subsequently misused the authority of his office to effectively change the law without having gone through the legislative process defined in the Maryland constitution.

If this goes unchallenged, the next Attorney General is likely to follow this precedent and usurp the authority of the legislature based on his personal bias. As result, citizens will no longer have the representation that is provided them under the Constitution.

The stage is now set in Maryland for a Constitutional show down. On March 31st a charge of impeachment will be brought before the Maryland House of Delegates at roughly 10:05 am. The House Speaker has publicly stated that he will rule the charge out of order citing the opinion that the Attorney General cannot be impeached as the authority for the out of order ruling.

Regardless of your personal view on same sex marriage, the recent activities of the Maryland Attorney General should give us reason to pause. Again, the Maryland Attorney General has taken for himself; the powers vested in the legislature and declared himself unimpeachable and unaccountable to the citizens of Maryland?

In case you’re wondering, I am pondering making this into an Examiner story closer to time but want to do a little bit of research and ask questions first. But in the meantime, I believe Dwyer has a case – at the current time Maryland law indeed states that marriage is between one man and one woman (and has said so since the early 1970’s.) If the General Assembly wants to have that fight, that’s one thing (and this may be considered after the safety of re-election next year) but for the moment that prospect is a no-go.

On the other hand, while Dwyer has a case, the actual prospects of getting Gansler out of office reside between slim and none, with slim having just vacated the premises. It would be a much better move to find a strong Republican candidate to oppose Gansler and perhaps make this election a referendum by proxy on the subject at hand. If Gansler isn’t Attorney General he’s free to make all the erroneous judgments of law he wishes, since it will no longer be as a representative of the state of Maryland.