Public Funds

Gov. Martin O'Malley waded into a brewing controversy over football coach Ralph Friedgen's contract at the University of Maryland, saying that public money shouldn't be used to buy out his contract if that's what officials in College Park decide to do. "Were they to decide that there needed to be a change, I would hope that they not use public funds to buy out that contract," O'Malley said Tuesday in a response to questions from reporters....

The Supreme Court's assault on efforts to limit the toxic effect of money on elections in this country continued this week with the decision to strike down an important provision of Arizona's public financing of elections. Under the Arizona law, candidates who elected to have their campaigns publicly financed were eligible for additional so-called "trigger" funds if their privately financed opponents' fundraising exceeded a certain amount. The effort was to keep the playing field somewhat level.

Candidates for governor in 1998 and thereafter would have the option of running their campaigns with money contributed by taxpayers under legislation unanimously approved by the General Assembly yesterday.Last year, Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey came within fewer than 6,000 votes of victory in a heavily Democratic state thanks to a campaign supported by more than $1 million in public funds. It was Maryland's first experience with public financing.The state Senate and House of Delegates both voted unanimously yesterday to continue and expand that system.

Maryland Public Television officials are troubled by Gov. Martin O'Malley's use of station footage in a campaign advertisement critical of Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s record on taxes, and have requested that the commercial stop running. O'Malley campaign aides insist they did nothing wrong in creating a spot that uses a public television interview in which Ehrlich explains the property tax increase and auto registration and "flush tax" fees imposed during his term by saying "there's a big difference between fees and taxes.

Gov. Martin O'Malley waded into a brewing controversy over football coach Ralph Friedgen's contract at the University of Maryland, saying that public funds shouldn't be used to buy out his contract if that's what officials in College Park decide to do. "Were they to decide that there needed to be a change, I would hope that they not use public funds to buy out that contract," O'Malley said Tuesday in a response to questions from reporters....

THE ISSUE: State and county officials are working to find ways to preserve 892 acres of Doughoregan Manor, the three-century-old estate and mansion of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Solutions could involve millions in public funds to acquire development rights and allow the Carroll family to renovate and repair the buildings while guarding their privacy. Or the family could develop the land. Do you think the public should have any access to this historic farm and manor house if public funds are used to help preserve the family's estate?

Of all the ways to get off to a bad start, the city's new empowerment zone czar has picked a dandy. The board that will dispense $100 million in public funds and dole out $225 million in tax breaks to business threatens to do much of its business behind closed doors. With public confidence in government at a low point these days, that is putting one of the best things that has happened to Baltimore in a long time under a cloud.The decision by Claude Edward Hitchcock, who will be chief executive of the empowerment project, initially to close all meetings and subsequently to open them partially, is an act of bad faith.

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron pleaded guilty yesterday to six felony counts of misappropriating public funds, falsifying documents and misleading both investors in county bonds and the government agencies that put their money in his ill-fated investment fund.Citron, 70, faces a maximum of 14 years in prison.The plea followed weeks of negotiations between Citron's attorney and the county district attorney's office. It completes a dizzying fall for the reclusive money manager, who had been re-elected handily just 11 months ago to the job he had held since 1970.

U.S. Rep. Helen Delich Bentley, the front-runner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, is among five candidates who have told the state they may seek public funds to help finance their campaigns.Mrs. Bentley's preliminary filing with the state election board was surprising because her campaign was believed to be well financed with private contributions -- and if she accepts state money, she could have to agree to spending limits well below the amount the leading Democrats are expected to spend.

In politics, a little hyperbole is part of electioneering. Puff your credentials as much as you can. Make modest proposals sound like major-league changes. Be sure to sound like you're out to help Joan and John Taxpayer.We've seen all this in the summer's gubernatorial campaign. Some of it is the expected puffery that goes with running for office. But a few candidates have stretched the truth beyond legitimacy.The most recent example was Rep. Helen D. Bentley's claim that accepting money from the state's public campaign finance fund would be "nothing more than political welfare" in which a candidate would "ride on the backs of taxpayers."

Gov. Martin O'Malley waded into a brewing controversy over football coach Ralph Friedgen's contract at the University of Maryland, saying that public funds shouldn't be used to buy out his contract if that's what officials in College Park decide to do. "Were they to decide that there needed to be a change, I would hope that they not use public funds to buy out that contract," O'Malley said Tuesday in a response to questions from reporters....

Gov. Martin O'Malley waded into a brewing controversy over football coach Ralph Friedgen's contract at the University of Maryland, saying that public money shouldn't be used to buy out his contract if that's what officials in College Park decide to do. "Were they to decide that there needed to be a change, I would hope that they not use public funds to buy out that contract," O'Malley said Tuesday in a response to questions from reporters....

Prospects for public financing of General Assembly campaigns should get a major boost today, when Sen. President Thomas V. Mike Miller is expected to announce his support for a plan similar to one that failed in his chamber by a single vote in 2007, when he opposed it. A previous opponent of public campaign financing, Miller lent his support to this year's version after good-government advocates agreed that traditional limits on campaign contributions should...

As Maryland weighs painful cuts in its struggle to achieve a balanced budget, how can the state justify providing financial support for Maryland's 18 private colleges and universities? That's the question raised by recent critics. Their question deserves an answer. State support for independent institutions reaches back as far as the 18th century. Known in its current form as the Sellinger program - after the Rev. Joseph A. Sellinger, longtime president of Loyola College - this funding has been evaluated and endorsed time and again by various state study commissions, by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (of which I am the chairman)

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner issued new guidelines yesterday aimed at eliminating the influence of lobbyists on the $700 billion financial bailout program by restricting their contact with officials who are reviewing applications for money and deciding how to disburse it. Treasury officials will also seek to limit political influence over the funds, saying they will use similar restrictions that forbid such influence in tax matters...

Last month, Sen. Barack Obama took in an amazing $150 million in campaign contributions - a number that increased his fundraising total to $600 million for the primaries and general election, topping the combined amount raised by President Bush and Democrat John Kerry in 2004. It's an extraordinary achievement, but one that offers sad evidence of the futility of a decades-long effort to limit the influence of money in American politics. Sen. John McCain, Mr. Obama's Republican opponent, chose to participate in the public financing program, which gave him $84 million to spend from Sept.

With the conviction of John M. Staubitz Jr., an important chapter of the Maryland State Games swindle is closed. The former deputy health secretary helped bilk taxpayers of $1.2 million, much of which should have gone to drug abuse prevention. Instead, it went into his pocket and some others where it didn't belong. Now he and a former aide, James E. Narron, face prison sentences. But that's not the end of the story.The State Games were not just a facade for theft of public money. They were also a boondoggle that went on for years undetected.

Come July 15, Ellen Sauerbrey will get a check from the state of Maryland that would make any "Wheel of Fortune" television contestant jealous. On that day, she will become the first candidate to qualify for matching money from a little-known public campaign-financing fund. The check could top $100,000.More money will flow her way in the weeks leading up to the Sept. 13 primary election. She could wind up with $300,000 in public matching funds, and if she wins the Republican contest for governor, the Baltimore County delegate is eligible for an immediate $1 million payment.

After narrowly failing last year, advocates are trying again to make Maryland one of a handful of states that publicly fund campaigns for office, a reform they believe will diminish the influence of moneyed special interests. "I think politicians should be beholden to the public, not to big donors," said Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, a Prince George's County Democrat who sponsored legislation the past two years that would provide state funds to political candidates who volunteer to forgo most funding from private donors.