Special Session

Amid allegations that a key witness is intentionally evading lawyers for Republican lawmakers, a Carroll County judge postponed yesterday until Jan. 4 a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate all of the tax, gambling and spending-reduction bills approved in last month's special session. Circuit Judge Thomas F. Stansfield granted a motion by the plaintiffs to postpone the hearings until Mary Monahan, chief clerk of the House of Delegates, can be found and deposed. The administrative officer is central to the case because the lawsuit hinges on an obscure technical provision in the Maryland Constitution that the plaintiffs - led by Del. Michael D. Smigiel Sr., a Cecil County Republican - claim the General Assembly violated.

Senate Republican leaders said yesterday that they would not vote for the governor's slots proposal during a special session of the General Assembly, potentially jeopardizing the critical cross-party partnership that has been necessary in the past to get a divisive gambling bill through the chamber. Sen. David Brinkley, the minority leader, chided Gov. Martin O'Malley for not releasing details of his proposal to legalize slot machine gambling in Maryland before his expected call for a special session.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has put much on the line with his decision to call the General Assembly into special session on Oct. 29. His purpose is not only to solve next year's $1.7 billion budget deficit but also to finally resolve the state's ongoing structural deficit - the growing gap between spending and tax collections - that has existed since the $1.3 billion Thornton aid to education plan was adopted in 2002 without a funding source. We opposed a special session. Our preference would have been for such a complex proposal to undergo the fullest possible review and for public involvement to be maximized during a 90-day regular session with a budget in hand instead of a shorter-term whirlwind without one. But the governor's argument that waiting until January would put the state $500 million deeper in the hole has some merit as well.

Gov. Martin O'Malley descended the elegant marble staircase of Maryland's State House last week to repeat his administration's insistence that 83 percent of taxpayers will pay no more under his wide-raging tax reform plan than they do now. No one, he said during his eight-minute speech to the General Assembly, then convening in special session, had laid a glove on his claim. No one, in other words, had shown that his numbers were wrong, a snare and delusion to rally support. Of course, the governor and the legislators he addressed knew it would be a tough sell whatever the numbers show.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's tax plan will test the state's tolerance for decisive leadership. His proposal to raise taxes virtually across the board may revive a government paralyzed by debt and by an unending debate over slot machine gambling. And, as if long-term financial concerns were not pressing enough, allies and advisers say the new levies must be in place by the first day of 2008 or the state loses more than $500 million. Other Maryland governors and legislatures created almost all of the so-called structural deficit - or simply watched it grow to $1.7 billion.

Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he favors a special session of the General Assembly in the coming months to solve Maryland's projected $1.5 billion budget shortfall. The Democratic governor has not begun the formal process of calling a special session, but yesterday he made his strongest statements to date in support of bringing lawmakers back to Annapolis this fall to debate taxes, spending and slot machine gambling. O'Malley has been working to find a consensus with the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly, and he said he would need to do so by the beginning of October to make a special session worthwhile.

Republican members of the House of Delegates called yesterday for a special session of the General Assembly to override Gov. Parris N. Glendening's veto of a bill that would give legal protections to businesses whose computers fail because of year 2000 problems.The House Republicans said the bill would have given important protections to companies, particularly small businesses, that don't have the ability to prepare for possible problems."The legislature and the governor have dropped the ball," said Del. Robert L. Flanagan of Howard County, the House minority whip.

Republican legislative leaders urged the presiding officers of the General Assembly yesterday to convene a special session to override Gov. Parris N. Glendening's veto of a Baltimore school-funding bill and to derail his collective bargaining order.But the Democratic leadership of the Senate and House of Delegates offered little, if any, hope for a special session.Sen. John A. Cade and Del. Robert H. Kittleman, the minority leaders of the two chambers, hand-delivered a jointly written letter to the Senate president and House speaker, calling a special session "necessary to maintain the integrity of public policy in Maryland."

City Council President Lawrence A. Bell III reversed field yesterday and said he would consider calling a special council session to give final approval to a bill allowing $34 million in federal loan funds to flow into East Baltimore neighborhoods.Bell spoke after meeting with Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and a delegation of community representatives who were among about 80 residents who packed the City Council chambers yesterday morning to protest the council's failure to pass the bill last week before adjourning for the summer.

A special session of Haiti's parliament called to pass an amnesty law ended after less than two hours without any vote being taken.A gunman fired on a crowd of some 200 Aristide loyalists as they marched toward an office of a paramilitary group in Port-au-Prince. One man was hit in the chest and critically wounded.A U.S. House committee approved legislation setting a March 1 cutoff date for U.S. military intervention in Haiti.

The General Assembly adjourned last night after an annual session that saw the passage of new protections for homeowners against foreclosures and new funding for consumer energy efficiency incentives but the failure of legislation authorizing statewide speed cameras and banning the use of hand-held cellular phones while driving. Lawmakers worked nonstop yesterday, negotiating 11th-hour compromises on a number of bills in conference rooms and lounges. Gov. Martin O'Malley worked behind the scenes to ensure passage of his priorities.

One week ago it appeared that Gov. Martin O'Malley's second legislative session would conclude with few victories and plenty of unresolved problems. The Democratic governor was mired in a fight with the state's largest utility over high electricity rates that have dogged him since his inauguration, and computer companies were threatening to leave the state over a new tax he signed into law late last year. His poll numbers were down, and he faced opposition from his own party on several of his legislative initiatives.

Legislation that would ban political fundraising during a special session of the General Assembly was withdrawn by its sponsor, Del. S. Saqib Ali, who said it didn't have the support to pass. A January opinion from the legislature's ethics committee held that lawmakers should not receive contributions or conduct fundraising events during a special session but that "it would not be practical or prudent to force the cancellation of a previously-scheduled event that may coincide with a special session."

Attorneys for Republican lawmakers suing to scrap laws passed during last year's special legislative session held the first of several private "moot court" events in Annapolis yesterday, in preparation for next week's hearing before the state's highest court. A Carroll County Circuit Court judge dismissed the suit in January, but the Court of Appeals agreed to take it up. Oral arguments are scheduled for next Tuesday. The practice session took place at the Marriott Waterfront hotel, where three chairs were set up to approximate the seven-judge panel.

High-fives to the freshman delegate from Gaithersburg who thinks he and other members of the Maryland General Assembly should not have their hands out for campaign contributions while they're debating legislation. That's the law now for the Assembly's traditional 90-day session, and it ought to apply to any special session, too. But while the legislature went into special session for three weeks last fall, its members, along with O'Governor, raked in a half-million dollars in contributions.

A bill that would bar elected officials from accepting campaign donations during special legislative sessions got a rough reception yesterday from lawmakers, who complained it was unnecessary and could be costly for them and their supporters. Del. Saqib S. Ali, a freshman Montgomery County Democrat, urged his colleagues to outlaw acceptance of any gifts during special sessions, "not only to give confidence to the citizens of Maryland, but to protect ourselves from allegations of impropriety."

Gov. Martin O'Malley laid out a modest legislative agenda yesterday in his second State of the State address, urging lawmakers to help him fight violent crime, protect homeowners from foreclosure, ease the state's energy woes and protect the Chesapeake Bay. The 29-minute speech to a joint session of the General Assembly and invited dignitaries in the House of Delegates chamber included no proposals for sweeping, big-ticket programs, nor did it stake out...

Despite more than $1.3 billion in tax increases and a slowdown in spending growth, Maryland needs to cut government expenditures further to avoid budget shortfalls and to guard against a possible recession, legislative analysts and lawmakers said yesterday. Maryland's finances are in better shape than they have been in years, analysts said, pointing to the effects of the tax increases approved in November's special General Assembly session and proposals in Gov. Martin O'Malley's $20.6 billion operating budget to cut open space and road maintenance funding, eliminate vacant state positions and slow increases in education spending.

Maryland lawmakers logged more than a half-million dollars in political contributions during November's three-week special session, a time when debate over budget and tax issues roused intense lobbying campaigns by special-interest groups, according to an analysis by The Sun. The list of politicians who recorded donations during the session includes some of the most influential figures in Annapolis, including Gov. Martin O'Malley, whose finance report...

Maryland's tiny band of Republican lawmakers returned to Annapolis this week in a feisty mood, bulldozed but unbowed. Despite seeing their filibusters fizzle and their votes fall far short of stopping tax increases, a slot machine gambling referendum and spending cuts in November's special session, Republican leaders say they still think they can make an impact on the direction of the state by looking for compromises on public safety, immigration and...