State Address

When a slate of bills sponsored by Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. reached a state Senate committee last year, his supporters had to wait in a hallway for three hours before getting the chance to testify, only to be told by irritated Democratic lawmakers that they had heard about those issues "a zillion times." Yesterday, after Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley delivered his first State of the State address, punctuated with pledges to partner with legislators, a bill that would create a new state accountability program was promptly heard by the Senate's Budget and Taxation Committee.

Here are selected excerpts from Gov. Martin O'Malley's first State of the State address to the Maryland General Assembly: Overview "Fourteen days into the four years the people of our state have given to us to make progress, I am glad to join you today and report that thanks to the hard work of our fellow citizens for decades, maybe indeed centuries past, and despite the drift of recent years, the state of our state, today, is strong. "Today Maryland is the second-wealthiest state in the union.

Baltimore planning officials have withdrawn a City Council proposal that would have made it easier for group homes, including those for recovering addicts, to open in residential areas. Officials of Mayor Martin O'Malley's administration, retreating from statements made this year, said the city will abandon the proposal until the state addresses neighborhood concerns. The measure, virtually identical to a proposal that died last year in the council, would have allowed certain group homes offering rehabilitative or medical assistance - including for drug and alcohol abuse - to open in residential areas.

WASHINGTON - As President Bush reaches out to his conservative Christian base by supporting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a poll released yesterday shows that more than half of the nation's white evangelicals oppose such a measure. According to the survey, 52 percent would prefer to rely on state laws to prevent gays from marrying rather than altering the U.S. Constitution. In addition, only 48 percent of white evangelicals said a candidate's support for gay marriage would disqualify him from receiving their votes.

RUNNING time for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s State of the State speech yesterday was 30 minutes. Walking-out time was about 15. The 30 minutes included introductions of friends, scattered polite applause, attempts at humor. Example of humor: The weekly Board of Public Works meetings, deprived of the legendary Glendening-Schaefer scraps, are "no longer the No. 1-rated TV show," the governor declared. More wit has gone into Chamber of Commerce speeches, and more effort, too. The governor was big on platitudes, short on detail.

In his first State of the State speech yesterday, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. gave a performance heavy on emotion, but, critics said, vanishingly light on fiscal solutions to Maryland's most pressing problems. In the roughly 30-minute address, Ehrlich sounded themes commonly associated with Democrats: protecting the environment, improving education, helping the disabled and treating the drug-addicted. And he took pains to create a feeling of collegiality with the 188-member General Assembly as it gets ready to take up his legislative initiatives.

Today's highlights 11:30 a.m.Senate meets, Senate chamber. 11:45 a.m.House of Delegates meets, House chamber. NoonGov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. delivers State of the State address, House chamber.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has crafted his first State of the State address around the lives of five Marylanders he met during the past year, using their stories today to illustrate his administration's goals. During the 45-minute speech to be delivered at noon inside the State House chambers of the House of Delegates in Annapolis, Ehrlich will introduce an Eastern Shore waterman, a family torn by gun violence and residents who represent the benefits of education, drug treatment and services for people with disabilities.

THE MARYLAND Juvenile Justice Coalition has spent several years pushing for meaningful reform of a broken system marked by boot camp scandals, abuses of youth and overall ineffectiveness. The gratifying news is that there has been some improvement, though incomplete. The challenge is to build on good beginnings while moving aggressively to fix what is still glaringly broken. Recent reports show that the population of the Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George's County has dropped by a third, from 263 in February to 176 last month.