NEWS
By Melissa Harris | June 29, 2007
Diebold Election Systems withdrew a sales brochure yesterday featuring Maryland Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone praising the company's equipment after the governor and watchdog groups questioned whether the endorsement violated state ethics laws. Diebold labeled the glossy, four-page brochure a "case study" of Maryland's experience with the ExpressPoll-5000 voter check-in equipment, which made its national debut in the state last year. The marketing piece was distributed to potential clients at trade shows.
NEWS
By Jay Hancock | October 29, 1999
Consultants who get paid extra to negotiate bigger tax breaks for corporate clients have sparked concern among state ethics officials, who say the practice may violate laws banning contingency compensation for some people dealing with government.Even if consultant bonuses linked to tax breaks are found to be legal in Maryland, ethics officials are talking about changing state law to outlaw the practice."I'm troubled by contingent-fee compensation with respect to these [tax] incentive deals," said Donald B. Robertson, chairman of a state task force on lobbying practices.
NEWS
By Walter F. Roche Jr. | December 14, 1999
The task force examining the state Injured Workers Insurance Fund recommended yesterday that the agency's governing board be expanded, and members hinted they'll abandon a proposal to exempt the agency from state ethics and public meetings laws.The task force voted unanimously during a two-hour session to recommend that IWIF's board of directors expand from seven to 11 members to better manage the $1 billion operation. They rejected proposals to require that some of those board members have expertise in a particular field, such as insurance.
NEWS
By C.Fraser Smith and Thomas W. Waldron | January 28, 1999
Lance W. Billingsley, chairman of the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents and one of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's closest political friends, has begun offering his services as a lobbyist on behalf of clients with business before the General Assembly.Billingsley, 58, said he is not planning to leave the unpaid regents post from which he directs policy making for College Park, 10 other university campuses and two research institutes with a total budget of $2.2 billion."Unless I'm missing something," he said, "there's nothing that says I can't lobby.
TOPIC
By THOMAS W. WALDRON | February 14, 1999
AMENDMENTS are being drafted and coalitions are being formed in the back rooms of Annapolis.The issue isn't taxes or spending, but legislative ethics.During the next couple of weeks, the most far-reaching reform of state ethics laws in 20 years will take center stage in Annapolis. But the legislators who support the proposed legislation without reservations could likely be counted on one hand. Around Annapolis, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, are voicing concerns about the bill.
NEWS
By Greg Garland | September 10, 1998
While lauding proposed changes in state ethics law, Maryland House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. said yesterday that the real problem in Annapolis is not so much the law as it is the "internal culture" at the State House.Taylor said a proposal to hire a full-time legal counsel to educate legislators on ethics issues will have more impact on that culture than other changes in the law. The adviser would help make lawmakers more aware of potential ethics-related problems, he said.Taylor, noting "a disconnect between a very strong ethics code and the internal culture" of the legislature, suggested that legislators' insensitivity to ethics issues, not the law, has led to ethics problems.
NEWS
By William F. Zorzi Jr. | September 12, 1998
Maryland's Senate president and most other Prince George's County legislators are running for re-election on tickets that include four lobbyists who represent a host of special-interest clients before the General Assembly.The arrangement, while legal, demonstrates just how cozy relations can become between lobbyists and the lawmakers they seek to influence.The Prince George's legislators recruited lobbyists Gary R. Alexander, Joel D. Rozner, John P. McDonough and Minervia W. Riddick to run for seats on the county's Democratic central committee.
NEWS
By Thomas W. Waldron and William F. Zorzi Jr. | February 11, 1998
A headline in yesterday's editions of The Sun inaccurately represented state Del. Gerald J. Curran's business relationship with a credit union. Curran, an insurance broker, collects a percentage of premiums paid by members of the credit union who purchase policies from an insurance company with which he is affiliated. He is not paid by the credit union.The Sun regrets the error.State Del. Gerald J. Curran, who has headed a General Assembly committee that considers legislation crucial to credit unions, at the same time has been collecting commissions as an insurance middleman for one of Maryland's largest credit unions.
NEWS
By Melody Simmons | November 11, 1998
Concerned about a possible conflict of interest, the state Board of Public Works approved a $150,000 state grant yesterday for the purchase of a 138-acre farm near Glyndon, pending a review by the State Ethics Commission.A group of investors this summer raised money to buy and preserve the farm, which Bonnie View Country Club had been eyeing for a golf course. After inquiries by The Sun, the board asked the ethics commission to review the dual role of John C. Bernstein, who is director of the state's Maryland Environmental Trust and one of the investors in the farm deal.
NEWS
By Craig Timberg | January 12, 1998
The group raising money to defend state Sen. Larry Young against ethical and possible criminal charges has itself entered a murky area where almost any involvement by Young -- even greeting guests at a fund-raiser -- could spark a new inquiry.Legal defense funds for legislators are rare but permissible under state ethics law. But Young's involvement -- if any -- in raising money for his defense fund could violate the prohibition against public officials soliciting gifts.That rule makes legal defense funds ethically treacherous, a problem that underscores how difficult it can be for public officials accused of wrongdoing to pay their legal bills -- Young's are expected to reach $65,000 -- without courting new troubles.