Governor

With a productive General Assembly session behind him, Gov. Martin O'Malley said Wednesday that he will use the second half of the year to consider whether to run for the White House. "I need to be spending a lot more energy and time giving serious consideration and preparation to what - if anything - I might have to offer should I decide to run for president in 2016," O'Malley said during a wide-ranging interview with editors of The Baltimore Sun. O'Malley has typically demurred from answering questions about his potential candidacy, though it has been the subject of news articles and rampant political speculation both in and outside of Maryland.

Among the likely Democratic candidates for Maryland governor in 2014 - Howard County executive Ken Ulman, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Attorney General Doug Gansler - Ulman comes closest to being the "Baltimore-area candidate. " But a genuine Baltimore-area candidate - someone who could pull votes from Baltimore County and the city, and enough in other key sectors of the state - would be a serious contender for the big-daddy chair in Annapolis. And who might that be? Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the six-term congressman and former Baltimore County executive, "is considering it," says his spokeswoman, Jaime Lennon.

There was a photo caption in the Sunday Sun article ("Landmark Measures for Maryland" April 7) about Senate President Mike Miller, House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Gov. Martin O'Malley. The caption stated that "When the three of us are on the same page," according to the governor, it would result in the passage of the governor's "sweeping agenda. " In reality, it's more like a steamroller agenda. In reference to the so-called sweeping agenda, yes, the residents of Maryland who initially trusted the Three Ms have been "swept" under the carpet.

After his most successful legislative session in two terms, Gov. Martin O'Malley on Tuesday signed a long-sought bill to promote development of an offshore wind industry near Ocean City , among several other measures he hailed as job creators. Just hours after balloons and confetti fell in the State House to mark an end to the General Assembly's 2013 session, O'Malley joined legislative leaders to sign bills laying the groundwork for more private investment in state projects and funding job training for high-demand fields.

Once again our beloved governor is crowing about his responsible spending cuts while in office. In a recent opinion piece for The Sun, he wrote that over the last six years "Maryland has taken a balanced approach when it comes to fiscal policy - making responsible cuts to spending while prioritizing investments in jobs, opportunity, and a stronger middle class" ("Replace the sequester before it's too late," April 4). Since the budget has gone from $27 billion to more than $36 billion since 2007, when Mr. O'Malley took office, I would like to know just what cuts the governor has actually made.

A group of victim advocates are holding a "tweetchat" to draw attention to what they said was a broken promise from Gov. Martin O'Malley to give money to families of homicide victims. The chat can be followed on Twitter using the hash tag #victimsmatter In the bill that would repeal Maryland's death penalty, O'Malley included $500,000 for next year's budget to help families of murder victims and other violent crimes. O'Malley pressed repeal on the grounds it was expense and ineffective, arguing taxpayer dollars should be better spent.

While Connecticut's governor wasted no time signing that state's sweeping gun control bill into law the day it was passed on Thursday, Maryland's governor plans to abide by tradition and wait.  Gov. Martin O'Malley's spokeswoman Raquel Gillory said Friday that the governor will sign Maryland's gun bill after the General Assembly adjourns on Monday.   The legislature on Thursday passed the bill banning the sale of assault-style rifles, capping magazines to 10 bullets and requiring fingerprints and a license to buy a handgun, among other provisions.

The text messages were pinging to and from Gov. Martin O'Malley's BlackBerry. It was the latter part of October, and Election Day was just around the corner. He and top advisers traded messages that touched on three referendum questions, all approved by voters on Nov. 6: same-sex marriage, expanded gambling and new congressional districts. In another exchange, O'Malley asked an aide to see about getting $30,000 in ad money for a fellow Democratic candidate. The election wasn't their only discussion topic.

Towson University baseball could live to fight another year after Gov. Martin O'Malley included an additional $300,000 in his 2014 budget to help the university sort through difficulties with its athletic funding. The baseball program had been slated for elimination after this season until O'Malley became interested in its fate. An O'Malley spokeswoman said Monday that the appropriation, still subject to General Assembly approval, resulted from a one-on-one meeting last week between the governor and Towson president Maravene Loeschke.

The General Assembly has passed a law that allows caregivers of patients who use medical marijuana to possess up to an ounce of pot without being convicted of a crime. "We are expressing our belief that people who are sick should be able to access the drug without civil or criminal penalties," said Sen. Jamie Raskin, a Montgomery County Democrat who introduced the bill. Patients are protected under a 2011 law that allows them to use medical necessity as an "affirmative defense" in court if caught with marijuana and drug paraphernalia.