Special Session

It took three carefully scripted days, but Maryland's ruling Democrats finally put in place the budget deal that eluded them in the waning hours of the state's regular session last month. The revenue package approved by the House on Wednesday will raise income tax rates on 14 percent of Maryland taxpayers while shifting some teacher pension costs to counties. The adjournment of this week's special session effectively ended the first budget impasse the state had seen in two decades.

Enough is enough. Partisan politics in Maryland has hit an all-time low. As Maryland is hurling headlong into financial ruin, the working, legal resident taxpayers are being taxed to the hilt. Both parties have their collective heads in the sand or at least their party leaders can't see the reality we face every day. Democrats and Republicans refuse to budge or do the dance of moderation only to swing back when the party leaders pull their puppet strings in time to cast their pre-arranged vote in a well orchestrated sham for television.

State Sen. Jamie Raskin likens the prospect of being called back to Annapolis for another special session to the plight of a middle school student being told on the last day of classes that he has to attend summer school. But the Montgomery County Democrat, like the 187 other Maryland lawmakers, came out of the special session on budget issues last week knowing there's a strong likelihood they will be summoned back to Annapolis in July to contend with the thorny issue of expanding gambling.

Reading about the recently-concluded special session gave me an idea ("O'Malley faces political risks of tax increases," May 17). Seeing as how this session was called only after Gov. Martin O'Malley, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch sat down and drew up what they wanted the budget to be and then called in the Maryland General Assembly to rubber stamp it, why not do away with the 90-day regular session we...

I am very concerned that our elected Democratic leaders in Maryland are missing an extremely important concern this special session of the legislature. The efforts to ram another casino onto the November ballot threaten two extremely important referendum initiatives, namely, the gay marriage referendum, and the Dream Act referendum. This past Tuesday in North Carolina should be a warning to us all because by a 61-39 margin, voters adopted an anti-gay marriage amendment to that state's constitution.

Maryland Senate President Mike "Boss" Miller has now extended the bounds of his seemingly boundless manipulation of Maryland by holding a special session of the General Assembly needed to pass a budget hostage to his lust for table games inPrince George's County("Leaders float the idea of two special sessions," April 25). If the two-session compromise goes into effect, the second session should be held at that fount of political influence, Atlantic City. This will make a great movie someday; one only hopes that John Goodman will be available to play the Boss.

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

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.

It's a "doomsday" budget! The sky is falling! Deep, deep cuts that will destroy education, health care and public safety! The governor must call a special session - wait, make that two special sessions, at taxpayer expense, first to "fix" the budget and then to expand gambling. The media have analyzed the politics and personalities behind the failure of Gov. Martin O'Malley, House Speaker Michael Busch, and Senate PresidentThomas V. Mike Miller to come to agreement on tax increases, special fund transfers and gambling proposals.

  In theory, a special session of the General Assembly could be an opportunity raise any issue a legislator wanted to attempt to put on the agenda. In reality, there seems to be virtually no desire on the part of lawmakers to deal with anything but the state  budget in the session set to begin May 14. Democratic lawmakers interviewed at the party's annual gala Monday night in Greenbelt were unanimous in rejecting the idea of dealing with non-budget items during the special session -- whether it be pet bills that died on the final day of the regular session or the pit bulls that came up on the losing end of a Court of Appeals decision.

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.

Gov.Martin O'Malley will sign bills doing everything from raising income taxes to banning arsenic from chicken feed Tuesday as he closes out the business of the 90-day General Assembly session and the special session that followed it. Joined by House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, O'Malley will hold a marathon ceremony during which he will sign hundreds of bills into law. They include the two budget-related measures...

Do I understand this correctly? We, the people of Maryland, paid for hotels and meals for our representatives in Annapolis because they failed to do the job of passing a reasonable budget and had to meet in special sessions to prevent fiscal "Doomsday. " So, we reward them by treating them to hotel stays and the cost of meals and libation throughout the duration? Don't they all live in our state? Why couldn't they just drive their cars or take public transportation? Most other job holders do commute to and from work, and many bring their own lunches.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for cloudy skies, with showers and thunderstorms, and a high temperature near 75 degrees. Showers are likely Monday night, with the possibility of thunderstorms, and a low temperature around 65 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic map for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM THE WEEKEND... Civic group targets accidents involving pedestrians : Volunteers with the Baltimore Metropolitan Council -- a group made up of the region's elected executives -- are spreading out downtown, educating drivers and walkers to be vigilant and adhere to traffic laws.

State Sen. Jamie Raskin likens the prospect of being called back to Annapolis for another special session to the plight of a middle school student being told on the last day of classes that he has to attend summer school. But the Montgomery County Democrat, like the 187 other Maryland lawmakers, came out of the special session on budget issues last week knowing there's a strong likelihood they will be summoned back to Annapolis in July to contend with the thorny issue of expanding gambling.

The House of Delegates voted 77 to 60 this afternoon to increase income taxes on the top 14 percent of Marylanders, finishing up business left undone when lawmakers gridlocked at the end of the regular session in April. It still needs to be signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley, who introduced the legislation. The measure completes a spending package that will undo a so-called Doomsday budget that would have cut into Democratic priorities like education and health care. The tax increase will hit roughly 300,000 taxpayers -- individuals who make more than $100,000 and joint filers who earn over $150,000.

The muddle that is Maryland's budget future cleared a bit this week as the three most important people in cleaning up the mess edged closer to an agreement on how to do so. The mess, of course, was left by state lawmakers when they ended the 2012 legislative session April 9 without reaching an agreement on next year's budget. This week, Gov. Martin O'Malley, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch emerged from a morning meeting to reveal the outline of a solution, one that would involve two special legislative sessions for lawmakers, one to deal with the budget, the other to consider expanding casino gambling in Maryland.

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.

It took three carefully scripted days, but Maryland's ruling Democrats finally put in place the budget deal that eluded them in the waning hours of the state's regular session last month. The revenue package approved by the House on Wednesday will raise income tax rates on 14 percent of Maryland taxpayers while shifting some teacher pension costs to counties. The adjournment of this week's special session effectively ended the first budget impasse the state had seen in two decades.