Business Groups

Maryland business groups dismayed by Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to expand unemployment benefits, which could cost companies an estimated $20 million a year, are negotiating ways to offset the expense. O'Malley said last month that he wants the state to broaden the qualifying period for benefits so that the state can access about $127 million in federal money to prop up its quickly shrinking unemployment insurance fund. The change requires legislation. Business groups have balked at O'Malley's proposal to implement what's called the "alternative base period," which increases the period of time that is examined when determining whether someone is eligible for unemployment benefits.

These area businesses and local groups are among more than 150 exhibitors and businesses by and for women represented at the 11th annual CCBC Women's Expo March 10 and 11 in the gym on the Catonsville campus of the Community College of Baltimore County: Advanced Radiology Aone Services Bakers Park Bandals Footware Bay State Chiropractic Bizness Concepts The Candy Box Deltz Jewelry Dixie Chicken ...

Business groups that have opposed the governor's plan to cut unemployment-benefits taxes at a time when many employers are struggling say they will announce Monday whether they've been won over by a compromise plan. The groups had opposed Gov. Martin O'Malley's idea to tap into about $127 million in federal stimulus money - which could have reduced employers' taxes this year - in part because it meant a slight but permanent increase in the amount they pay into the state's unemployment insurance trust fund.

One day in the fall of 2010, Scott Marder, a partner at the law firm of Duane Morris in Baltimore, received a cold call from a young lawyer in Maryland seeking advice. The lawyer had found Marder's name in a directory maintained by the National LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Bar Association. "He had all these questions to ask and nobody to answer them," Marder recalled. "Should you be out at work? Do your clients care? What about co-workers? Does it affect your career progression?

Lawyers for Maryland business groups took their challenge to Gov. Parris N. Glendening's controversial executive order on collective bargaining before a judge yesterday, arguing that his "gubernatorial edict" usurped the power of the General Assembly.An attorney for the state countered that the order, which granted modified bargaining rights to state employees, fell well within the governor's "very broad discretionary authority" to run the executive branch.The hearing before Judge Eugene M. Lerner in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court marked the first round in the legal battle over last spring's executive order, issued by Glendening after the General Assembly declined to enact a broader collective bargaining bill backed by the governor.

The Sierra Club endorsed Democrat C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger in the 2nd Congressional District race yesterday, praising his record of land preservation as Baltimore County executive. In making the endorsement, Carl Pope, the Sierra Club's executive director, also criticized Ruppersberger's Republican opponent, Helen Delich Bentley, saying her environmental record while serving in Congress from 1984 to 1994 was poor. Pope echoed criticism from the national League of Conservation Voters, which in August named Bentley to its "dirty dozen" list of the most anti-environment congressional candidates in the nation.

Maryland business groups dismayed by Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to expand unemployment benefits, which could cost companies an estimated $20 million a year, are negotiating ways to offset the expense. O'Malley said last month that he wants the state to broaden the qualifying period for benefits so that the state can access about $127 million in federal money to prop up its quickly shrinking unemployment insurance fund. The change requires legislation. Business groups have balked at O'Malley's proposal to implement what's called the "alternative base period," which increases the period of time that is examined when determining whether someone is eligible for unemployment benefits.

A bill aimed at nudging people out of their cars and onto mass transit was bolstered in Annapolis yesterday by a rare coalition of environmentalists and business groups."

Most days, you'll find Irish immigrant John Moore on downtown Baltimore's west side, getting ready to turn what was long a sleepy insurance office into a hopping saloon with a steady flow of Harp beer and Guinness stout. Maggie Moore's Irish Bar and Restaurant is scheduled to open in April in the 147-year-old Baltimore Equitable Society building at Eutaw and Fayette streets. It will have 200 seats on two levels, original wood paneling, a gas fireplace, 20-foot ceilings and a pair of mahogany bank counters reborn as bars.

Business groups, auto dealers and transit advocates urged lawmakers yesterday to change Gov. Martin O'Malley's tax proposals, including a measure to link the state gasoline tax to the rising cost of road and bridge construction materials. Several business groups, including the Greater Baltimore Committee, said O'Malley's bill, which would generate an additional $400 million per year for transportation projects, is not enough.

Northern Harford State Sen. Barry Glassman warned a local business group recently that some key issues from the 2011 Maryland General Assembly, like gay marriage and a gasoline tax increase, are likely to surface again during the special session planned in October to approve legislative redistricting. During his appearance last month as the featured speaker at the Mason-Dixon Business Association's monthly luncheon, Glassman outlined some of the highlights of the regular 2011 legislative session and also talked about what may be in store for the future.

Whether they're planning to travel to Italy, Tibet or Argentina, Larry and Bonnie Ohler call Lynda Maxwell first. Maxwell, the owner of Destinations Inc. travel agency, has been helping the Ellicott City couple plan vacations for years — booking tours, coordinating airport pickups, finding hotels and handling a myriad of other details. The Ohlers say they sometimes book parts of trips themselves, but not without Maxwell orchestrating it all from her office in Ellicott City. "We like the comfort of knowing someone who knows what they're doing is working for us," said Bonnie Ohler, who is retired.

The Girl Scout Community 75 has been  busy with lots of fun events. The girls not only enjoy themselves, they also help others. Last year, one of their programs for Toys for Tot, to contribute toys to the Darlington Lions Club. In March, they held a birthday party to fill boxes for the Highland Community Center. The boxes consisted of birthday treats to be given throughout the year to the children who need them. They also held a Thinking Day Program and a Father/Daughter Dance to name of few. Of course, the troops did a lot of other activities on their own, like camping, hiking, visiting shut-ins along with working on the projects and just having fun.  Registrations are being for the fall session and have openings in every level. Call 410-838-1761 for further information.

The last time Maryland was attempting to emerge from a brutal recession, Maryland Business for Responsive Government offered a partisan and pointed prescription. Maryland's "big and expensive" government was "antithetical" to business job growth, MBRG President Robert O.C. "Rocky" Worcester wrote in a letter to The Sun. So was the state's "highly litigious" legal scene. "Aggressive measures" were needed to cut taxes and stop "the unchecked expansion of state government," Worcester wrote.

Collective bargaining is recognized as a right of workers that allows them to achieve a form of workplace democracy. The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 states in Article 23 that "Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. " Yet, while we in the U.S. cheer for the Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans and others in Middle East countries who risk their lives to achieve democracy and reach for better lives for themselves in their countries, some newly-elected public officials seek to end the democratic process of collective bargaining for public workers.

Maryland Business for Responsive Government, a state business advocacy group with a bipartisan mission and hundreds of members, on Tuesday named an Annapolis lobbyist with nearly 20 years' experience to be its new president. Kimberly M. Burns, an attorney and lobbyist with Government Affairs Maryland, her father's firm, replaces Robert O.C. "Rocky" Worcester, who had led the group since its formation in 1983. "It's a broad-based opportunity to utilize my skills for something I strongly believe in and I'm very passionate about," said Burns.

Gov. Martin O'Malley revived an issue dear to labor leaders and liberal groups in his State of the State speech this week when he deviated from his text and promised to back "living wage" legislation, a proposal that would force companies doing business with the state to pay workers upward of $11 an hour. Unions poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into O'Malley's campaign, and they contributed volunteers who worked to get voters to the polls for the Baltimore Democrat. In the first days of his term, the governor - who made a symbolic statement by inviting AFL-CIO President John Sweeney onto the State House steps with him for his inauguration - is demonstrating why he won labor's support.

An Anne Arundel County judge upheld yesterday Gov. Parris N. Glendening's executive order giving collective bargaining rights to state workers, rejecting arguments by business groups that the governor had overstepped his powers.Although the business groups who challenged the governor said they might appeal, the ruling by Circuit Judge Eugene M. Lerner clears the way for state employees to begin collective bargaining for the first time."This court finds that [the] executive order meets Maryland constitutional and statutory requirements and is not in violation of the separation of powers," Lerner wrote in his 23-page ruling.

An influential group of Baltimore business and civic leaders coalesced Friday behind a proposal to build a new downtown arena that would be connected to an expanded Convention Center as part of a large redevelopment project on the Inner Harbor parcel that includes the Sheraton Hotel. The Greater Baltimore Committee said its board voted to study the plan. The project would replace the aging 1st Mariner Arena while adding convention space and renewing a dated wing of the Baltimore Convention Center on a site roughly bounded by Pratt, South Charles and Conway streets.

River Hill lineman Danny Gibbs has a lot of responsibility resting on his shoulders this season as the only starter returning to the offensive line of the No. 7 Hawks a year after they advanced to the state Class 3A semifinals. A 6-foot, 240-pound offensive tackle and defensive end, Gibbs worked with a personal trainer over the summer to be in the best shape he could for his senior year with the Hawks (4-1). Gibbs, a straight-A student, is also involved with the Future Business Leaders of America, the Student Government Association and the Young Democrats of River Hill.