Amid the crush of business in the session's final days, lawmakers take time out to remember Louise Beauregard, who was once a constant presence in the halls of power in Annapolis - and a reminder of the need to be mindfull of human frailty.
Beauregard, 85, who died Wednesday at' [...]
The Senate voted to amend the $2 billion settlement between the state and Constellation Energy Group to require that any new power plants built in Maryland would offer to sell their electricity first in-state, and be subject to Public Service Commission regulation.
The amendment, offered by Sens. E.J. Pipkin, [...]
Did Barack Obama lose a superdelegate when Rep. Albert R. Wynn announced his resignation from Congress?
Wynn, an eight-term Democrat from Prince George's County, endorsed Obama for president earlier this year. But on the day Obama scored a resounding victory in Maryland, Wynn was defeated in the Fourth Congressional' [...]
Gov. Martin O'Malley said his first 14 months leading the state -- in which his time has been defined as much by Maryland's fiscal woes as any other issue -- have been "the most unpleasant" of all the time he's spent in public life.
He made this remark to a' [...]
A bill to repeal the computer services tax passed a major hurdle today when it was voted out of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. The bill would replace the $200 million "tech tax" with a 3-year tax hike on personal incomes over $1 million, and $100 million [...]
As the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee wrestled with its decision yesterday to raise income taxes on millionaires, Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden complained that the O'Malley administration and lawmakers haven't gotten enough credit for reining in spending before voting to increase taxes.
Warren G. Deschenaux [...]
Who should help cover the state's costs for collecting child support? The single parent - or the one required to pay support?
House members voted yesterday to levy a $25 fee on non-custodial spouses when the state collects child support from them - shifting' [...]
Transit-oriented development would receive a boost under legislation given final approval yesterday by the House of Delegates.
The O'Malley administration measure, approved on a 130-8 vote, would enhance the eligibility of public and private development near the state's transit stops for state funding. State transportation officials estimate there are [...]
And for those attending the Board of Public Works meeting this morning, this point was driven home as Susan Langley, the State Underwater Archeologist, regaled top state officials with tales of shipwrecks and other prized findings for nearly a half hour.
Gov. Martin O'Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot' [...]
Walking back into the Senate a few minutes ago from a photo-op on the State House steps, President Thomas V. Mike Miller expressed optimisim that a bill to repeal the computer services tax would emerge from the Budget and Taxation Committee this afternoon.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer wants to see the race for the Democratic presidential nomination wrapped up before the national convention this summer. And he has an idea of how to do it.
“Let me tell you, in my early days, my younger days, I was a political [...]
Last night's House session went swiftly, as no major debates came up and delegates seemed in a genial mood after the long weekend.
In a prayer to begin the session, Del. Sandy Rosenberg invoked the season of Easter and Passover and how, for baseball lovers, they can intertwine with Opening [...]
The Senate gave preliminary approval last night to a plan to help Maryland consumers reduce their electricity consumption but not without a few sparks between the heads of two committees over the best way to help the poor pay their bills.
Sen. Thomas M. "Mac" Middleton, chairman of the Finance [...]
And on a lighter note from the Senate's attempt to censure Comptroller Peter Franchot (see earlier post), his office gave a tax refund to Edith Thompson, 62, a former teacher who lives in Baltimore City and was lucky enough to have filed the one-millionth electronic tax return.
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Sen. John Astle turned 65 today, and the Anne Arundel County Democrat celebrated, he told The Session, by inviting a crowd into his office to watch him jump from the floor onto his desk, without hands. And then when some folks missed it, he did it again.
This is [...]
Although House and Senate lawmakers negotiating the finishing touches on the state's $31 billion budget made some progress on how much to reign in spending on the Chesapeake Bay, health care, higher education and transportation projects, they appeared to make no headway whatsoever on a provision in the budget [...]
Environmentalists are getting creative in the waning days of the legislature as they lobby for green legislation still slogging through committees.
"'Unholy Alliance' Creates Major Bay Initiative," read the headline on the press release issued yesterday touting the highly unusual bonding of environmental groups, home [...]
Scott Arceneaux, a senior adviser to Marylanders United to Stop Slots, has this to say about the decision of the Maryland Association of Counties to get behind November's slots referendum.
"The political insiders and special interests are at it again. After supporting the largest tax increase in State [...]
Supporters of a referendum that would allow slot machine gambling in Maryland picked up another endorsement Wednesday from the Maryland Association of Counties.
That means in one month, the pro-slots folks have lined up support from two of the state's major power centers -- MACO and the Maryland State [...]
During the House and Senate budget negotiations this morning, one of the many items of contention was language in the Senate budget bill that would force Comptroller Peter Franchot to follow his constitutional duties.
This language is no accident, and should be filed under Chapter Two in the [...]
Several readers have written in requesting a tally of the House Environmental Matters Committee vote yesterday to kill a proposed ban on hand-held cell phones while driving.
Here's how they voted.
Rejecting the ban: James Malone, Baltimore County Democrat
Rudolph Cane, Eastern Shore Democrat
Anne Healy, Prince George's [...]
This is another in the line of bills we've featured here at The Session that might be good for a water cooler chat: HB 134, which passed 127 to 7 in the House on Saturday with more than a few snickers on the floor. It had a hearing [...]
Sensing failure, the Maryland Sweatfree Campaign withdrew legislation that would have stopped state expenditures on uniforms "manufactured by companies that exploit women and children," according to a statement the group released this morning.
In the waning days of the legislative session, many groups and lawmakers prefer to keep a [...]
Donna Edwards, the Democratic nominee in Maryland’s Fourth Congressional District, is joining 24 other congressional candidates nationwide in a proposal to wind down U.S. military involvement in Iraq.
Developed by Democratic challenger Darcy Burner of Washington State, the “Responsible Plan To End the War in Iraq” looks to capture [...]
The talk of the Senate this morning -- thanks to Bobby Zirkin -- was that chamber's landslide victory over the House of Delegates in their annual basketball contest.
No one could remember the score. Zirkin, who spent the morning talking trash, claims they won by 16, despite the House's use [...]
The Senate advanced legislation today -- which has largely moved through the General Assembly outside the spotlight -- that would require insurers authorized to do business in Maryland to provide the state with a report about each "slaveholder insurance policy" it issued during the antebellum period.
This follows last year's [...]
Here's the vote breakdown on the DNA collection bill:
Nays (11):
Joan Carter Conway, D, Baltimore City
Ulysses Currie, D, Prince George's County
Nathaniel Exum, D, Prince George's County
Lisa A. Gladden, D, Baltimore City
Janet Greenip, R, Anne Arundel County
David C. Harrington, D, Prince George's County
Andrew P. [...]
The Senate failed twice today to pass a bill calling for a constitutional amendment that would raise the minimum amount of damages sought in order to convene a jury trial in a civil lawsuit.
Under current law, people suing or being sued for $10,000 or more in district court [...]
With the Senate's approval last night of a bill committing Maryland to fight global warming, debate now shifts to the House, where the bill's chief advocate hopes to fend off an amendment environmentalists say has seriously weakened the effort to cut warming-causing pollution 25 percent by 2020.
The Senate voted [...]
This session has welcomed some of the symbolic legislation, such as making Smith Island Cake the State Dessert or Walking the State Exercise, but here's one such measure that may not sail through as the others have: a joint resolution from Sen. Alex X. Mooney advocating a tough on [...]
A debate on the House floor yesterday that was otherwise very serious drew a number of snickers when Del. Michael D. Smigiel, Sr. made this pronouncement repeatedly:
"We don't want STDs in Cecil County," he said, prompting hearty laughter in the chamber. "We don't like STDs. We are against [...]
Sen. Richard Madaleno, who opposed a bill that would classify such drinks as Mike's Hard Lemonade as beer, writes in to pass along a fact sheet prepared by a researcher for the Center for the Study of Law and Enforcement Policy.
Read on for the fact sheet.
FACT SHEETAccording to this job site, an anonymous "Maryland based Issue Campaign" is on the lookout for an executive director who can be "responsible for fundraising, hiring staff, directing communications and political activity."
What campaign could that be? Could the "issue," perhaps, relate to slot machines and an upcoming referendum [...]
In what we hope can be an ongoing series highlighting flourishes, oddities or otherwise interesting rhetoric from the political class in Annapolis, we bring you the words of Comptroller Peter Franchot from a hearing today on faux slot machines, which, news flash, he opposes:
"Right now, the gambling interests make [...]
A bill that has so far moved through the Senate under the media radar (read: we missed it) got some serious debate today on the floor before advancing to a final stage in the legislative process.
Senators voted to classify such beverages as Mike's Hard Lemonade and other examples of what [...]
As the Maryland Senate is poised tonight to pass legislation designating the Smith Island Cake the state's official dessert, one reader writes to ask why not anoint the Lady Baltimore Cake?
In an email, Bitten Norman writes, "If they are serious about a Maryland State Cake, perhaps they should do [...]
Speaking to reporters after an event in Dundalk yesterday, O'Malley also discussed the much-debated salary increases for some positions in his administration.
He defended the pay hikes, saying they were necessary to retain or attract top workers. In particular, he spoke up for a new pay scale for the chairman of the Public [...]
Speaking in Dundalk about community grants the state gives for revitalization programs that have worked wonders in the small, Baltimore County municipality, Gov. Martin O'Malley asked reporters gathered amid the audience for the event in Veterans' Park whether they had any questions about the "Community Legacy" grant program.
When one reporter [...]
Would easing drug penalties help rehabilitate more addicts and small-time criminals? Or would it open the door to more drug dealing and tie the hands of police and prosecutors?
House members are weighing those arguments as they debate the "Smart on Crime Act." Proponents say the criminal laws need to be reformed to allow rehabilitation of [...]
Kim Propeack, a lobbyist for CASA of Maryland who went to Tuesday's hearings in the House Judiciary Committee to testify against several bills seeking to crack down on illegal immigration, had a very different account than others about what led to the disarray discussed here.
She said Del. Joseph Vallario [...]
Del. Pat McDonough, who spoke on behalf of two bills in the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday before the hearing broke out into chaos, confirmed the account of Susan Payne discussed here, saying that the applause in the room was coming on her behalf from other people who came to [...]
Advocates for bills that would extend the State's public pre-K program to children of active duty military service members have put out an alert that the bills will get a hearing March 18.
Local school districts in the state now provide public pre-K to low income children, and the bills ([...]
As per PolitickerMd's Kevin Agnese -- who along with a few others apparently made the long slog to Chestertown at 7:30 a.m. yesterday -- the inaugural meeting of a group of Republicans supporting the candidacy of Democrat and Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Frank Kratovil for Maryland's 1st Congressional [...]
Del. Joseph F. Vallario, Jr., who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, barred a flyer disparaging him from being passed out to his committee yesterday in a hearing that dealt with a number of bills seeking to crack down on illegal immigration. Some immigrant advocates who have held up Vallario as [...]
Union members rallied in Annapolis for higher wages last night, pointing to a recent survey that found state employees lag behind other public sector employees in terms of base salary.
Officials with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees singled out part of the survey showing that starting [...]
As lawmakers scour the budget for programs to slash, health care advocates released a poll yesterday showing that 64 percent of Maryland voters oppose funding cuts for recently enacted health care programs aimed at getting more residents health insurance.
State lawmakers approved legislation during last year’s special session that expands [...]
A plan to focus state efforts on reducing Chesapeake Bay pollution from development and farms won unanimous Senate approval yesterday, but funding likely will be slashed because of the state’s money woes.
After debating the issue earlier in the week, the Senate voted 46 to to approve the O'Malley administration's plan [...]
A year after the death of Deamonte Driver, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings announced legislation yesterday to increase children’s access to dental care.
Driver, a homeless 12-year-old from Prince George’s County, died last February after an untreated tooth infection spread to his brain. He was eligible for Medicaid, but his [...]
Tech tax opponents are taking a high-tech approach to drumming up support for their repeal movement: launching a Web-only advertising campaign.
The Greater Baltimore Committee yesterday announced they have bought 1.6 million “impressions” of their ad on newspaper Web sites, including this one. The campaigned launched yesterday and will [...]
“The business-as-usual energy budget proposed by this administration won’t alleviate the economic strain of filling up at the pump. And what’s worse, it ignores the big threat our oil dependence poses now and in coming decades.”
Coming out of this Congress, the rhetoric in the Examiner op-ed this morning [...]
He isn’t necessarily supporting the idea. But House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer sees ample precedent for a Clinton-Obama (or Obama-Clinton) ticket. “I think a lot of us believe that’s a possibility,” the Southern Maryland Democrat said this week. “Look at Ronald Reagan and George Bush. They went at one [...]
The House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly yesterday to allow for the incidental taking of the Delmarva fox squirrel, which has a place on the state’s threatened and endangered species list.
The General Assembly has made such an exception before — for the Puritan tiger beetle, whose breeding can clash with [...]
News flash: state Sen. Andy Harris, the Republican nominee for Maryland's 1st Congressional District, will support Sen. John McCain, who officially clinched the GOP nomination, and campaign on his "ticket" in Maryland.
In a written statement, Harris offered his congrats:
"I congratulate John McCain on winning the Republican nomination for President of [...]
With budget problems threatening to burgeon in Annapolis, state lawmakers are considering holding the line on any new initiatives projected to cost more than $250,000.
The fiscally restrained stance comes as the General Assembly braces for updated revenue estimates that are expected to be released Thursday. Those figures could show [...]
To our ongoing discussion of bills that are good for a water cooler chat, we add this: SB 615, a prohibition on pet stalking.
In testimony before a legislative committee yesterday, an advocate with the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault explained:
"Threats to pets can be one of the most [...]
Check out the details of the GOP's budget proposal here. The gist of it is:
The GOP legislators would accept all the cuts proposed by the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services, defer saving for state employee retirement benefits, put off funding a portion of the state's landmark education funding program [...]
With crucial presidential primary contests in the run for the Democratic nomination today, all eyes are on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to see who cries “uncle" first. The race is tight and today’s primaries in Texas and Ohio could prove the deciding factor in one of those candidates conceding.
Veteran [...]
Chris Meekins, the campaign manager for state Sen. Andy Harris -- who is running to represent Maryland's 1st Congressional District -- points out in response to our earlier post that his boss couldn't possibly "defy" the Bush Administration.
If Harris beats Democrat and Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Frank Kratovil, [...]
Let it not be said that Peter Franchot doesn't support a ban on faux slot machines. The state's #1 scourge of slots has been railing against the "for amusement only" machines that proliferate in Baltimore's bars and restaurants, and recently he's been auditing the electronic bingo machines that are [...]
The Pew Center on the States has given Maryland a B in overall performance, graded on fiscal health, infrastructure, managing the state workforce and other benchmarks. Since no one got an A, Pew, it seems, is giving grades according to the "prudish professor" theory of report cards, which holds [...]
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. used a labor rally at the State House last night to plug the slot-machine gambling referendum on the ballot this fall.
With hundreds of building trade union members in Annapolis to press their lawmakers for legislation on prevailing wages, health care and other labor [...]
Some legislators are suggesting that some of Gov. Martin O'Malley's cherished initiatives -- including the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund -- may have to be slashed or delayed because of the budget pinch the state is in.
The General Assembly agreed at O'Malley's behest to establish the $50 million bay fund during [...]
The folks at Maryland for Obama are holding a series of parties around the state tonight to watch the results roll in from the potentially pivotal Texas and Ohio primaries (not to mention the slightly less pivotal ones in Rhode Island and Vermont). They're going to be at:
Anne Arundel [...]The Washington County Republican Central Committee picked Andrew Serafini, a small business owner from Hagerstown who serves on a number of different boards in the community, for a seat in the House of Delegates.
Serafini replaces Del. Robert A. McKee, who resigned last month when it was revealed that [...]
Ubiquitous health care lobbyist/advocate Vinnie DeMarco has sent letters to the winners of all the state's congressional primaries urging them to support federal legislation that would allow the state to provide residents with major prescription drug discounts.
In 2005, the General Assembly unanimously passed legislation that would have provided up [...]
A little rat-a-tat over a fundraiser provided a few guffaws on the Senate floor and even a line from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller that could have tangled with the rhetoric of one Vito Corleone.
Miller was reprimanding Senators for planning a fundraiser in the Senate office building, [...]
