Lawmakers

As many as one-third of Maryland lawmakers have not returned a portion of their legislative salaries - despite having been urged to show solidarity with state workers facing furloughs. Amid budget woes, General Assembly leaders had encouraged lawmakers - whose pay is constitutionally protected - to voluntarily take payroll deductions or write a check to the state for the equivalent of as many as five days' pay. That's $605 for most members, and $785 for presiding officers. The initiative could raise more than $100,000, a tiny sum that won't make much difference in a $14 billion operating budget suffering from huge revenue shortfalls.

Grading the Maryland General Assembly's performance this year is no easy task. With the 90-day session complete, lawmakers can certainly point to some significant if not necessarily earthshaking accomplishments, from banning smoking in bars to raising the emissions standards for new cars. But the most pressing problem facing the state continues to be the growing gap between projected budget revenues and government spending - the so-called structural deficit. And on that front, virtually nothing was accomplished.

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's parliamentarians, under pressure from Washington to prove political progress that might expedite an end to the war, demonstrated yesterday their determination to take up issues important to them: They voted to oust their speaker for rude behavior. Declaring the speaker's latest outburst the final straw, the Shiite-led body decided to request that Mahmoud Mashadani, a Sunni, be ousted. The move will not affect the balance of power in the lawmaking body, which requires that he be replaced by another Sunni.

The unhappy exodus of GOP lawmakers from Congress lately undoubtedly reflects their party's slim chance of regaining majority status in next year's elections. But there is also a palpable frustration - even among lawmakers who are staying - that Congress is no place at the moment for politicians who want to get something done. As lawmakers return to Washington tomorrow for the final weeks of this year's session, they face a daunting workload: spending measures financing most of the government, an energy bill to encourage conservation, a farm bill with major cleanup help for the Chesapeake Bay, legislation to limit the greenhouse emissions that speed global warming, an expansion of health care for working-class children and an 11th-hour rescue of middle-class taxpayers from an imminent tax increase.

The General Assembly begins work this week on major ethics reform legislation -- a bill many lawmakers say is unnecessary and insulting, but one that everyone agrees will nonetheless pass overwhelmingly.No legislation introduced in the first three weeks of the Assembly's 90-day session has been more carefully scrutinized -- its provisions affect each of the 188 legislators -- and none has prompted more grumbling.The bill, which was written by a task force in the wake of last year's expulsion of a senator and the forced resignation of a delegate, seeks to more clearly define the boundaries separating legislators from special interests.

Legislators raised a host of questions last night about proposed General Assembly ethics reform legislation, with many focusing on a proposed ban on legislators taking jobs in state or local government.While no lawmakers spoke directly against the bill, the questions and critiques made clear that many changes will be proposed once Assembly committees begin line-by-line work on the measure.U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, who headed a 15-member task force that drafted the bill last year, defended it as a tool for helping lawmakers avoid conflicts of interest.

THREE years running, Maryland's General Assembly has prepared for its annual 90-day session with ethics clouds hanging over lawmakers' heads. No wonder citizens get the impression anything is for sale in the State House.That's a harsh assessment, though not entirely inaccurate.But in the past two years, a high-profile lobbyist went to prison for defrauding his clients, a top city senator was expelled for using his office for personal gain and a veteran delegate resigned under pressure for the same reason.

THEY JUST don't get it. After the embarrassment of expelling one state legislator and forcing a second to resign last year, after the recent awkward disclosure that another lawmaker had accepted a $9,000 fee from lobbyists, some members of the Maryland General Assembly still are resisting efforts to upgrade their ethics.These lawmakers don't seem to comprehend the public derision that greets each disclosure of misconduct. A handful of money-hungry colleagues are giving the General Assembly a bad reputation.

Legislators would not be able to accept sports tickets or individual meals from State House lobbyists under an ethics reform bill passed by House and Senate committees yesterday.Under both versions of the legislation, lawmakers would also have to meet annually with the General Assembly's ethics adviser in an attempt to avoid ethical missteps.Meeting separately, the House Commerce and Government Matters Committee and the Senate Economic Environmental Affairs Committee approved the legislation amid grumbling from lawmakers that some of its provisions are unnecessary or cumbersome.

WASHINGTON -- Twenty-six members of the House moved yesterday to escalate their challenge to the airstrikes against Yugoslavia, asking a federal judge to declare promptly that the U.S. military may no longer take part in NATO's bombing campaign without Congress' approval.The lawmakers, who had begun the constitutional lawsuit in April, sought to increase pressure on the Clinton administration by asking U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman to hold a hearing in the first week of June and to rule on the challenge without a full-scale trial.

Another perk for Maryland lawmakers has been yanked in the midst of some of the worst budgetary times in memory in Annapolis. House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller have asked the Maryland Transportation Authority to terminate the free E-ZPass program for the legislative branch. Scores of lawmakers don't have to pay for the electronic toll-collection service. About 15,000 government employees and officials in the state have the free accounts, including first-responders such as police and firefighters, and buses.

: Recent data show that Baltimore-area home sales increased 10 percent in July compared to 2008, though sale prices dropped about 7 percent. Does that indicate the housing market is turning around? Yes 28% No 59% Not sure 13% (665 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Gov. O'Malley and legislative leaders say they'll balance the budget with cuts, but some lawmakers want tax law changes that would make corporations pay more. Should the state consider such a measure? Vote at baltimoresun.

WASHINGTON - -Lawmakers will gather at the White House this week for a working session on immigration reform, a meeting that has been highly anticipated by Latino leaders eager for President Barack Obama to honor his campaign promise to put millions of undocumented workers on a "pathway to citizenship." But many Democrats believe they may not have the muscle to pass such a controversial measure - at least not immediately, and possibly not until after the 2010 midterm election. And even though Obama used a Latino prayer breakfast Friday to reiterate his intention to pass some sort of new immigration plan during his presidency, this week's gathering demonstrates how the White House and congressional leaders are trying to strike a careful balance.

This year's General Assembly session ended on a cool and dreary note. Perhaps it was befitting a dismal 90 days in Annapolis as the worst recession in a generation or three caused lawmakers to turn timid on numerous fronts. Remember when then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. told the business community some years ago to "get dangerous" with legislators? He should have recommended a rise in unemployment rates. That seemed to capture the attention of senators and delegates as powerfully as any super-lobbyist with an expense account.

Maryland motorists would miss out on a state tax break when buying a new car under a final budget deal crafted Friday, though they would still save federal tax money promised as part of a program to jump-start the slumping auto market. Putting the finishing touches on the state's nearly $14 billion operating budget, lawmakers also decided to throw a $5 million lifeline to Bon Secours Hospital. The grant would not be delivered until the struggling hospital's board devises a long-term plan to solve its financial problems.

State lawmakers have backed off a budget provision that called for freezing part of the landmark Thornton education funding plan in future years. A cross-chamber conference committee made the decision Monday after a legislative analyst said the move might jeopardize federal stimulus funding, which requires that states maintain certain levels of spending. Lawmakers are negotiating the final details of the nearly $14 billion annual operating budget and companion legislation that the General Assembly must adopt before it adjourns in a week.

University of Maryland President C.D. Mote Jr. says he wants the state's flagship campus at College Park to climb into the top tier of public research universities. But that's not likely to happen if UM gets the reputation as a school that caves at the first sign of political meddling by lawmakers. When UM students got into a spitting match with conservative state Sen. Andrew P. Harris of Baltimore County over his threat to cut the school's funding if the adult movie Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge were shown on campus, Mr. Mote canceled the screening without even bothering to explain his actions to students.

GOP cancels support for driver's permit bill Republican lawmakers rescinded their support Friday of a proposal that would require Marylanders to show proof of U.S. residency when obtaining a new driver's license. They objected to a provision added late Thursday that would permit people already licensed to renew without documenting their legal status. Those licenses would be marked "not federally compliant" and would not be accepted at airports. Del. Ron George, an Anne Arundel County Republican who has sponsored "lawful presence" bills for years, said the amendment would create a confusing "two-tier" system.

The General Assembly's ethics adviser has counseled state lawmakers that they should disclose when they or an immediate family member serve on the boards of organizations seeking bond funding through legislation. In a memo written late Monday in response to an article in The Baltimore Sun, William G. Somerville told lawmakers they should file a form that discloses the unpaid positions and asserts their ability to "act fairly, objectively and in the public interest" with regard to the bills.

The public works director in Annapolis ought to investigate what substance has infiltrated the city's drinking water supply that caused so many to so easily lose their sense of propriety. Little else could explain how lawmakers in the state capital rarely comprehend how their behavior might seem if not downright unethical then at least ethically challenged. As our colleagues at The Washington Post recently reported, the House of Delegates' Ways and Means Committee held an "invitation only" St. Patrick's Day party at its offices organized and paid for by Ocean Downs Racetrack and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.