Legislature

Much of the coverage of the need for a special budget session of the Maryland legislature has focused on the political machinations of its leaders. That's understandable. But we should not ignore the impact on ordinary people if the legislature fails to finalize a budget. Major victims will be thousands of middle-income college students from every community in Maryland. The budget package proposed by Gov.Martin O'Malleyand endorsed by both houses of the legislature caps tuition hikes at 3 percent for this fall at all the public four-year campuses.

Not one but two more special sessions of the Maryland General Assembly? And all because the state House and Senate wasted the regular session on trivial matters and expressions of ego. Neither the so-called governor nor his two minions in the legislature should draw a salary for the dog and pony show they exhibited this year. Maybe that would help defray the costs of this double-dipping. Even Doc Holliday said that his hypocrisy only went so far. F. Cordell, Lutherville

Last Monday night at midnight, the Maryland General Assembly recessed without having passed a balanced budget for the next fiscal year. So now, either a special session must be called, certainly at some expense to the Maryland taxpayer, or a "doomsday" budget will be enacted automatically, certainly not something Maryland citizens want or need! Why can't lawmakers do the jobs they are elected to do? Why can't they pass balanced budgets? Why can't they complete their work on time?

After reading The Sun's account of the budgetary chaos in Annapolis ("After breakdown, what? April 11"), I was left with some questions. As an ordinary citizen of Maryland, I thought that the first priority of a session of the General Assembly, especially in challenging economic times, was to pass a balanced budget. It seems to me that the early days of the session were focused on a same-sex marriage bill. Gov.Martin O'Malleythrew his full weight behind it. The Democratic establishment pulled out all the stops.

I have no problem with the Maryland legislature coming back for a "special session" ("Debacle in Annapolis," April 10). But they have completed their assigned constitutional task of passing a budget. So why would they need a special session? It appears they don't like the "doomsday" budget that they passed. But is that a sufficient reason for recalling the legislature for a special session? Because they don't like something that they did? I don't think so! If a special session is called, it should be done without taxpayer cost.

There's no question that the National Harbor development in Prince George's Countyhas the potential to be an extremely successful casino site. It already has an upscale mix of restaurants and hotels, and it boasts an excellent location on the Potomac River just outside of Washington, D.C., and just across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge from Northern Virginia. If Prince George's County officials had been supportive of slots when Maryland's gambling program was designed five years ago, the final product might have looked much different.

I have spent a lot of my life waiting. I waited for two years to be executed, and I waited in prison for more than eight years — all for a murder I had nothing to do with. After finally being exonerated in 1993, I had to wait 10 years for the DNA that cleared me to be used to bring the real killer to justice. But the longest wait of all has been my two decades since I left prison, prodding and pushing the Maryland General Assembly to end capital punishment in our state once and for all. I am disappointed for yet another year as the legislature will soon adjourn for 2012 without a floor vote in either the House of Delegates or Senate on repealing the death penalty.

We in Maryland have petitions to override laws the legislature enacted and to approve amendments to the Maryland Constitution. Other States have similar laws. California also allows petitions to enact new laws. Sounds very democratic, in a political structure sense, not a partisan sense. However, the Constitutional Convention debated the question of democracy and concluded that democracy can only work in small settings, not in large state or national structures. Thus, Constitution's Article IV section 4. states: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government ... " A republican form of government requires a representative, elected legislature.

Litigants in the case against the State Center development in Baltimore are decrying a bill that passed the House of Delegates setting out new rules for public-private partnerships in Maryland. At issue is a provision that allows a party in such a suit to appeal a circuit court judge's denial of a motion to dismiss before the two sides are forced to exchange documents through the discovery process, and before they are allowed to present evidence at trial. The coalition of downtown property owners who are suing to stop State Center - attorneyPeter G. Angeloschief among them - is calling the bill, which applies to current as well as future cases, an extraordinary intervention by the legislature in an ongoing court proceeding.

I believe our elected officials have possibly misunderstood the essential purpose of moving the Baltimore City mayoral primary and general election. The purpose is to increase voter turnout. Elected officials "having their cake and eating it too" by giving state officials a free shot at state office and vice versa discourages voter turnout. Initially, proponents of moving Baltimore elections onto the presidential cycle justified their position by claiming turnout in presidential primaries in the city far exceeded turnout in gubernatorial primaries.