Legislative Session

Editor:  The 2012 Session of the Maryland General Assembly came to a strange close Monday night. Ongoing disagreements and dysfunction among the House and Senate leadership produced a stalemate regarding three legislative bills. Although the House and Senate passed an Operating Budget, the accompanying revenue bills were not agreed to with a pending gaming bill in the mix. This dysfunction provided a short reprieve for Maryland taxpayers and Maryland counties. The tax revenue bill on the floor of both houses would have increased personal income taxes for families making over $100,000.

Our biggest concerns about the push to expand gambling at the end of this spring's regular session of the General Assembly were that there had been insufficient public debate about all of the changes slots boosters wanted to institute and that there was too little reliable information about the performance of Maryland's existing gambling program. Gov.Martin O'Malley's announcement Monday of a work group to expanded gambling in time for a possible special session of the legislature July 9 does nothing to erase those qualms.

State budget: The General Assembly approved a $14.6 state operating budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, closing a budget gap of about $1.5 billion. Part of a $34 billion spending plan that includes federal contributions and other pots of money, the general fund spending plan includes several fee increases, raising the cost of obtaining a birth certificate, getting a vanity license plate and recording real estate transactions, among others. Capital budget: Lawmakers approved $925 million in new borrowing as part of a $3 billion capital budget.

They did what they had to do, and they went home. That's the best that can be said of the special session of the Maryland General Assembly that concluded today. The tax increases, spending cuts, fund transfers and other measures lawmakers approved in 21/2 days this week protect public education, health and public safety and put the state on a path to fiscal sustainability, all while requiring a relatively minimal additional contribution from taxpayers. After a chaotic end to the regular General Assembly session, order has been restored.

Let's turn to baseball to sum up the Maryland legislative session's impact on consumers: It had a few singles but no home runs. "We made a lot of progress on some really critical issues," says Marceline White, executive director of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition. "But there is a lot of work left to do and in some places we had some setbacks. " Last year's legislative session was strong on consumer protections, with Marylanders still reeling from the foreclosure crisis and weak economy, White says.

YOU might call it the curious case of the disappearing governor. Just past the mid-point in this year's General Assembly session, Gov. Parris Glendening has yet to become fully involved in legislative activities.It's almost as though he's focused on something else -- like positioning himself for a possible high-level Washington appointment after the 2000 presidential election.Low-key approachThe administration has taken a low-key approach toward this 90-day meeting of state lawmakers. Occasionally, the governor speaks out -- often by letter or formal announcement -- on a subject.

The last day of the 1991 General Assembly session was so uneventful that when a mechanical malfunction darkened the Senate "tote board" -- the large wall fixture displaying how each senator votes -- someone wondered aloud whether there was any reason to fix it.In stark contrast to last year's bitter session finale, when lawmakers angrily accused each other of sabotaging bills, the final hours of this 90-day session moved along easily, making the day one...

Maryland farmers are getting more respect in Annapolis these days. This was evident during the recently ended 90-day session of the General Assembly. "Most members of the General Assembly realize that farmers are doing their part to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay," Valerie Connelly, director of government relations at the Maryland Farm Bureau, said after the close of the annual legislative session. "The farm community and the legislature have a lot better rapport now than in the past," she added.

Our biggest concerns about the push to expand gambling at the end of this spring's regular session of the General Assembly were that there had been insufficient public debate about all of the changes slots boosters wanted to institute and that there was too little reliable information about the performance of Maryland's existing gambling program. Gov.Martin O'Malley's announcement Monday of a work group to expanded gambling in time for a possible special session of the legislature July 9 does nothing to erase those qualms.

The Baltimore Board of Rabbis has renewed its call for the abolition of the death penalty in Maryland, arguing that the only safeguard against the exection of innocent people is to have no executions at all. The rabbinical group restated its opposition to capital punishment as the Maryland General Assembly prepares for its 2012 legislative session Jan 11. Once again, the legislature is expected to consider bills calling for full repeal of...

They twist and they turn. They break up communities. They sprawl across jurisdictional boundaries. And, in something akin to cellular mitosis, one has been divided into two entities that are miles apart. "They" are the state legislative districts newly mapped out in Baltimore County. If you look up "crazy quilt," in the dictionary, an accompanying picture of the map would clearly illustrate the term. The whole once-a-decade enterprise smacks of partisanship and back-room political horse-trading, eliciting a cynical shrug.

Well, isn't that nice. Maryland's governor and the two lackeys who lead the House and Senate report "progress" on another expensive waste of time to do what should have been in the regular legislative session ("Special session on May 14 looking likely," May 3). Are we played for fools or what? F. Cordell, Lutherville

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch met with Gov. Martin O'Malley Tuesday morning but did not reach final agreement on the scope or date of an expected special session of the General Assembly to deal with the budget issues left over from the regular sesion that ended April 9. Raquel Guillory, the governor's press secretary, said the meeting was "productive" and that there was a consensus that the target date...

Let's turn to baseball to sum up the Maryland legislative session's impact on consumers: It had a few singles but no home runs. "We made a lot of progress on some really critical issues," says Marceline White, executive director of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition. "But there is a lot of work left to do and in some places we had some setbacks. " Last year's legislative session was strong on consumer protections, with Marylanders still reeling from the foreclosure crisis and weak economy, White says.

Earlier this month, both houses of the Maryland General Assembly passed the state's fiscal 2013 operating budget, but both houses failed to pass tax legislation and a companion bill required to fund and implement the budget. As a result, our state faces two possibilities. Ideally, GovernorMartin O'Malleyand the legislative leadership will work out their differences, reconvene in a special session, and pass the legislation necessary for the FY 2013 budget to go into effect as lawmakers intended on July 1, 2012.

To be Mike Miller, it seems, is to be misunderstood. The Senate president and Annapolis institution has been getting most of the blame (including from this editorial page) for the failure of key budget and tax bills at the end of the General Assembly session last week. The general impression had been that he was holding up consideration of the budget as leverage to get what he really wanted: a referendum to allow a casino inPrince George's County, and, as part of the bargain, table games at all of Maryland's slots parlors.

IF YOU TOLD someone that Howard County's crowning achievement in the legislative session that just concluded was a bill to allow a used car lot to operate on Sundays, the answerwould likely be "big deal."And your reply: "Exactly."Lifting of the "blue law" restriction that previously forbid Sunday auto sales in Howard County wasn't nearly as simple as it might appear. The county government and economic development office had to adopt a contortionist's pose of favoring the bill, but not pushing it so fervently as to anger existing dealerships.

Del. Elijah E. Cummings, one of five state legislators in the race for the 7th District congressional seat, raised nearly $50,000 yesterday during a fund-raising breakfast in Annapolis that was attended by business leaders and the top lobbyists in the state capital.Mr. Cummings, whose $250-a-ticket event was sponsored by two of the most powerful committee chairmen in the House of Delegates, then returned to the State House to consider pending legislation important to those who attended, their businesses and clients.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller sent out a letter this week to the 46 other members of the chamber saying that there has been "tremendous misinformation" circulating about the final day of session and insisting that he did not hold up the state's budget over a bill to expand gambling. "It has been alleged that the impasse was somehow connected to gaming," Miller wrote. "That is patently untrue. " The tone is different from the one Miller took the day after session ended.

This year, the most curious moment of the legislative session was not the budgetary train wreck on its fractious final day but at a most unusual rally a week before. A crowd of wind energy activists converged on the State House. Surreal chants of "All we are saying is give wind a chance" permeated the air. Gov.Martin O'Malleywas there to greet them, like a minister addressing the faithful. Of course, reasonable people can disagree over the wisdom of the governor's unsuccessful wind energy proposal.