Gov. Martin O'Malley laid out a modest legislative agenda yesterday in his second State of the State address, urging lawmakers to help him fight violent crime, protect homeowners from foreclosure, ease the state's energy woes and protect the Chesapeake Bay.
The 29-minute speech to a joint session of the General Assembly and invited dignitaries in the House of Delegates chamber included no proposals for sweeping, big-ticket programs, nor did it stake out positions on hot-button issues that lawmakers are likely to face, such as the death penalty or gay marriage - though the governor did signal a willingness to tangle with powerful utilities over soaring electricity rates.
His remarks, broadcast live on radio and public television, represented O'Malley's first major opportunity to rebuild public support, badly weakened by voter anger over the tax increases he pushed through the legislature in last fall's special session.
FOR THE RECORD - An article in yesterday's Maryland section about Gov. Martin O'Malley's State of the State address incorrectly reported Comptroller Peter Franchot's criticism of the governor's legislative package from last fall's special session of the General Assembly. Franchot said the governor should not have pushed for tax increases in that forum.
THE SUN REGRETS THE ERROR
"The most important days in life are not always the easy days," he said three times in his address, acknowledging the pain many Marylanders are feeling from a slowing economy and the state's efforts to balance its budget.
However, his effort to mollify unrest over his budget-balancing package was oblique. O'Malley never mentioned the words "tax" or "special session" - the issues chiefly responsible for the substantial drop in his job-approval rating in recent public opinion polls.
Instead, ticking off the higher prices that Marylanders are paying these days for everything from bread to health care, O'Malley acknowledged that the public is frustrated and has a right to be concerned about the future. The economic woes extend beyond Maryland, he noted, and he suggested that the state is likely to weather hard times better than others, as it has in past downturns.
He defended his efforts in the past year to "restore fiscal responsibility," recounting hundreds of millions in spending cuts made over the past year while making a glancing reference to "the other difficult choices on revenues," meaning $1.3 billion in tax increases.
As a result, he said, the state is stronger now, and he pledged to apply that strength to helping improve Marylanders' quality of life.
"The people of our state deserve a state government that works as hard as they do," he said.
Response to the speech fell largely along party lines, with the governor's fellow Democrats praising his effort and Republicans panning it.
