New Legislation

Less than 24 hours after President Bush on Tuesday signed into law regulations to toughen oversight of the U.S. financial system, Washington attorney Warren L. Dennis was receiving e-mail from corporate directors whom he represents. Within the array of new regulations were some stringent requirements demanding that corporate board members adopt a watchdog role to guard against inappropriate actions by top management - a responsibility that directors had often been pressured to abdicate during the go-go days of the 1990s.

Graduation season has arrived, and with the accompanying recognitions of hard work, we have something else to celebrate: this year's passage and today's signing of the College Readiness and Completion Act of 2013. Never before has the state of Maryland established such clear, student-friendly statewide policies designed to help many more Marylanders earn the postsecondary credentials they will need to support themselves, their families and their communities. Along with Sen. Richard Madaleno and Del. John Bohanan, who chair the General Assembly's budget subcommittees on education, we developed this comprehensive legislation to ensure that Maryland's students are ready for college and the work force - and really, life - after high school.

As state lawmakers groped their way to last week's passage of a far-reaching bill on computer software licensing, Montgomery County Del. Peter Franchot predicted that "Maryland is poised to become the e-commerce capital of the world." But don't look for big software companies to move here just because of the new legislation -- especially when the measure's merits are disputed. "They've been sold a bill of goods that this will bring jobs," said Skip Lockwood, director of 4CITE, a Washington-based coalition of business and nonprofit groups opposed to the legislation.

With the pension system for City Hall workers facing nearly $700 million in unfunded liabilities, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is introducing legislation today that would require employees to start contributing part of their salaries to the fund. The bill would require Baltimore's non-public safety workers to contribute 1 percent of their salaries to the pension fund next fiscal year, and increase those contributions each year for five years until workers contribute 5 percent. The legislation also would eliminate the so-called "variable benefit" for civilian retirees, which increases benefits when the fund preforms well, but doesn't decrease benefits when the market performs poorly.

Your recent editorial on childhood obesity calls on the state legislature to ban school vending machines that sell junk food ("Easy call in obesity fight," Aug. 23). But why every perceived problem demands a legislative solution is beyond me. Don't school principals already have the authority to determine what is sold in their school's vending machines? And if principals don't, what about county superintendents and school boards? If none of these officials have the authority to determine what will be sold in school vending machines, or even whether such machines should be allowed in the schools, what have we come to?

With the pension system for City Hall workers facing nearly $700 million in unfunded liabilities, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is introducing legislation today that would require employees to start contributing part of their salaries to the fund. The bill would require Baltimore's non-public safety workers to contribute 1 percent of their salaries to the pension fund next fiscal year, and increase those contributions each year for five years until workers contribute 5 percent. The legislation also would eliminate the so-called "variable benefit" for civilian retirees, which increases benefits when the fund preforms well, but doesn't decrease benefits when the market performs poorly.

As the owner of a flower shop in Aberdeen, I am very concerned with new legislation currently being considered in Congress: the "Marketplace Fairness Act" and the "Marketplace Equity Act," which will add sales tax to Internet sales. This will disproportionately impact small businesses like mine - creating a significant administrative and financial burden that will make it necessary for me to pass on additional costs to my customers. In today's economy, it is irresponsible to place additional burdens on small businesses, which are the engine of our economy.

In California, a physician who is unwilling to comply with a terminally ill patient's wish to be allowed to die must transfer the patient. Failure to do so constitutes unprofessional conduct.In Florida, a physician unwilling to comply with a patient's declared intent must make only a "reasonable effort" to transfer the patient.In Alaska, however, an attending physician who fails to comply with a patient's properly declared wish not to have his or her life artificially prolonged has no right to be paid for services after the point at which those wishes should have been honored.

Sweeping new immigration reforms passed in the closing hours of the 101st Congress have their share of flaws, compromises and genuflections to political interest groups. Nonetheless, the statue is generous in spirit, a codification of America's increasing willingness to become a multi-racial, multi-ethnic and even multi-lingual society.The golden doors are opening as the fear of things foreign diminishes.New immigrants will be clearly identified by their skills, their assets, their family ties here and their country of origin.

WASHINGTON -- A House committee voted unanimously yesterday to turn over a large segment of the radio spectrum, previously reserved for the government, to commercial uses.The approval of the House Energy and Commerce Committee marked an important step toward finding room on the crowded airwaves for new technologies such as pocket-sized radio telephones, digital radio and computers that transmit data over the air.The new legislation does not endorse particular technologies, nor does it settle the sticky issue of how the new frequencies will be allocated.

Before lawmakers in Annapolis propose legislation, they should know what they are talking about ("Senate approves two-tier licenses," March 26). Prince George's County Democrat Del. Jolene Ivey introduced the House version of a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain Maryland driver's licenses by calling it a "safety issue. " "I want to know they have car insurance, that they know not to flee when they're getting pulled over or in an accident," she said. First, car insurance is not required to get a license.

At least in theory, the Harford County Council is supposed to be the county's part time citizen legislature, responsible for responding to the needs of the voters when the executive branch fails to do so. Supposedly, the council also should be acting as a check on potential largesse in the county executive's budget. And it is also supposed to, from time to time, draft and enact new legislation to deal with local problems. In recent years, the council has generally failed when it comes to drafting and enacting new legislation.

As the owner of a flower shop in Aberdeen, I am very concerned with new legislation currently being considered in Congress: the "Marketplace Fairness Act" and the "Marketplace Equity Act," which will add sales tax to Internet sales. This will disproportionately impact small businesses like mine - creating a significant administrative and financial burden that will make it necessary for me to pass on additional costs to my customers. In today's economy, it is irresponsible to place additional burdens on small businesses, which are the engine of our economy.

Maryland's highest court upheld Gov. Martin O'Malley's new legislative redistricting map on Friday morning. The Court of Appeals issued an order, but no opinion, denying the claims in three challenges. The order comes only two days after the challenges were argued in court. The order said the judges found the plan, which will take effect with the 2014 elections, passed constitutional muster. The new map shifts the districts of Baltimore County Democratic Sens. James Brochin – whose new district is majority Republican – and Delores Kelley, both of whom objected to the plan.

Your recent editorial on childhood obesity calls on the state legislature to ban school vending machines that sell junk food ("Easy call in obesity fight," Aug. 23). But why every perceived problem demands a legislative solution is beyond me. Don't school principals already have the authority to determine what is sold in their school's vending machines? And if principals don't, what about county superintendents and school boards? If none of these officials have the authority to determine what will be sold in school vending machines, or even whether such machines should be allowed in the schools, what have we come to?

It wasn't 10 minutes after the Maryland Senate passed a bill dramatically expanding gambling in the state before Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller was looking forward to the next step in casino growth. Speaking with reporters early Wednesday after the Senate gave its final approval to Gov. Martin O'Malley's casino bill, Miller said he'd like to see a second gambling site inPrince George's Countyin addition to the one allowed in the legislation passed in the special session that had just ended.

After years of bickering, citizen groups and quarrying companies appear to have reached a compromise on statewide legislation regulating rock quarrying that seems to satisfy both parties. If the General Assembly passes the legislation, stone, gravel and cement companies will be able to mine the rock they need and nearby residents will be assured that the land will be restored after the mining ends. The state will also have more regulatory powers over the companies' mining plans.Residents of Wakefield Valley, the site of two operating quarries -- Lehigh Portland Cement Co. and Genstar -- and one planned by Arundel Corp.

Housing experts say homeowners can wait as long as nine months to get approval to sell their home as a short sale, and efforts are underway to push lenders to give a prompt answer. HouseLogic says homebuyers may find themselves in the position of having to send multiple requests to their lender to ask for approval for them to sell their house for less than they owe while a potential buyer waits in the wings. HouseLogic, a service offered by the National Association of Realtors, provides information on homeownership, such as taxes and insurance.

The Maryland General Assembly passed bills this month that effectively reverse a Court of Appeals ruling that would have required public defenders for indigent defendants at thousands of initial bail hearings held before court commissioners each year. The legislation instead requires lawyers for poor people at reviews of those hearings, which occur less frequently and take place in front of a judge — sometimes days later. That means some of those arrested and denied bail or unable to afford it could spend a weekend or longer in jail awaiting representation.