Van Hollen

UTILITY deregulation, with all its romantic appeal, is not the only political matter in the hearts and minds of Maryland legislators this year.At least three of the Assembly's would-be members of the U.S. House of Representatives hail from Montgomery County. Each has found a way to demonstrate hard work on behalf of their hoped-for congressional constituency.They have their collective eye on the 8th District seat held by Rep. Constance A. Morella, a Montgomery Republican who served in the Maryland House before winning the congressional seat in 1986.

The Maryland Senate passed an ambitious electric utility deregulation bill yesterday -- but only after loading the measure with amendments that threaten its survival.By a 34-13 vote, senators approved a bill that started in the House as a simple measure authorizing Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. to form a holding company.But the bill that emerged from the Senate has strayed far from the intentions of both House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.After succeeding Wednesday in his effort to tack a speeded-up timetable for deregulation onto the House bill, Miller was bushwhacked on the Senate floor yesterday by liberals from his own party -- aided at a critical juncture by the Senate Republican leader.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening disappointed environmentalists yesterday by sidestepping one of the most controversial issues in the debate over fighting Pfiesteria -- how to make large chicken companies pay their share of the costs of controlling farm pollution.The final version of the governor's bill omits a provision that would have imposed the legal burden for disposal of nutrient-rich chicken manure on the giant "integrators." These companies include such well-known brands as Perdue and Tyson.

RUNNING DIRECTLY against the political grain, state Sen. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. asked his colleagues last night to approve an election-year tax increase -- as much as $1.50 in the per-package cost of cigarettes.Betting that public antipathy to big tobacco provides fearsome leverage, the Montgomery Democrat filed his bill last night."We recognize we have an uphill battle," Van Hollen said, acknowledging that a similar effort to levy such a tax failed last year."But one major thing has changed," he said.

Alarmed by tobacco marketing tactics and the rise of teen-age smoking, a trio of state senators is leading a legislative effort to introduce a cigar tax that would end a long-standing tobacco exemption in Maryland.All 13 members of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee yesterday received a letter calling for action from Democratic Sens. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. of Montgomery County and co-sponsors of his tobacco bill, Paul G. Pinsky of Prince George's and Nathaniel J. McFadden of Baltimore.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening disappointed environmentalists yesterday by sidestepping one of the most controversial issues in the debate over fighting Pfiesteria -- how to make large chicken companies pay their share of the costs of controlling farm pollution.The final version of the governor's bill omits a provision that would have imposed the legal burden for disposal of nutrient-rich chicken manure on the giant "integrators." These companies include such well-known brands as Perdue and Tyson.

Looking for a dramatic, visual signature to Baltimore's downtown football stadium, state officials and the Ravens are seriously considering mounting a 40-foot-tall, $250,000 raven with glowing red eyes on top of the project.The Maryland Stadium Authority approved on Thursday a contract to have a Rhode Island art fabrication firm build and mount the 4-ton bird over the stadium's entrance on the southwest corner.The state hopes the team will pay for at least some of the job, possibly through a corporate sponsor.

The state Senate moved a step closer to ratifying the settlement of a long-running dispute over money for Baltimore schools yesterday as it turned aside several amendments that might have scuttled the $254 million deal.The strong margins by which the amendments failed indicated the city schools bill will pass the Senate by a comfortable margin when it comes up for a final vote today.The Senate's preliminary approval of the bill yesterday came after a lively debate, during which Washington suburban senators argued that poor children in their counties and across the state needed an infusion aid just as much as city students.

In the Maryland State House, where political independence is sometimes punished, a group of relatively unknown legislators is taking on the powers that be.Republican and Democrat, suburban and rural, they have come together to try to kill Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposal to spend $273 million in public money on a pair of football stadiums.And they seem to be having a great time in the process."In politics, it doesn't get any better than this," said Del. Robert L. Flanagan, a Republican stadium opponent from Howard County.

Republicans call it a lousy investment of public money. Advocates for the poor talk of welfare for millionaires.But with a month to go before the opening of the 1996 General Assembly, political leaders say they expect the legislature to approve two multimillion- dollar deals to help build football stadiums with state funds."

Now that the president and most Americans want national action on global warming, how do we pick the best legislation for reducing carbon pollution? There are three critical tests. First, is the climate policy simple? Second, is it fair? And third, is it built to last? Congress needs to adopt a statutory "cap" on greenhouse gas pollution as soon as possible. Let's agree that the nation's total carbon pollution will peak in 2012 and then get smaller each year - by law - until it's drastically reduced by 2020 and almost gone by 2050.

Washington - Upstate New York, a cradle of modern party politics, is the unlikely site of a showdown between a couple of Maryland pols, Michael Steele and Chris Van Hollen. Their minidrama is playing out in the background of the first voter test of Barack Obama's presidency, a special election to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives. It opened up when then-Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, had the good fortune to get appointed to Hillary Clinton's spot in the U.S. Senate.

Washington -Rep. Chris Van Hollen figured his mission was complete after Democrats bulked up their majority in Congress last fall. Letting someone else lead the House campaign committee would free him to advance on the leadership ladder. And he'd avoid blame if the party lost ground in the next election. It's been more than a century since a party added seats in the situation Democrats find themselves in now. "We have our work cut out for us," says the Maryland congressman in an interview.

WASHINGTON - After leading his party to a gain of at least 19 seats in the House, Rep. Chris Van Hollen has agreed to another two-year term as chairman of the committee that works to elect more Democrats to the chamber. The challenge now confronting the Montgomery County Democrat is holding on to all the seats his party picked up in 2006 and 2008. Democrats rode public anger about the war in Iraq, the financial crisis and President Bush to an 81-seat majority over the past two elections, but many won in Republican districts that will likely prove difficult to defend.

Washington - Rep. Elijah E. Cummings wanted more help for homeowners facing foreclosure. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett didn't want to reward the "bad behavior" of irrational lenders and borrowers. From opposite ends of the political spectrum, the two Marylanders reflected the range of opposition to the $700 billion financial bailout package rejected yesterday by lawmakers. "The thing that bothers me more than anything else about this deal is the imbalance," said Cummings, a liberal Democrat from Baltimore.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen feels history peering over his shoulder. Tapped by Rep. Nancy Pelosi after she ascended to the House speaker's office to succeed Rep. Rahm Emanuel as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2007-2008 election cycle, the third-term congressman from Maryland's 8th District is tasked with protecting - or better, expanding - the speaker's thin majority in the House of Representatives. Ms. Pelosi's majority and speakership were won on the strength of 30 seats Democrats flipped in 2006.

WASHINGTON -- A deal reached by congressional negotiators adds $380 million to the federal farm bill for programs to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay, lawmakers said yesterday. The funding, which would to be spent over 10 years, would pay farmers to create buffer zones to reduce the flow of pollutants into the bay, set aside land for conservation and refrain from using fertilizer when planting wheat, barley or rye in the fall and winter. "This is one of the biggest congressional wins for the Chesapeake in a long time because agriculture plays a major role in defining the water quality," said Ann Swanson, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

WASHINGTON -- The White House and congressional leaders accelerated talks yesterday on a plan to protect the U.S. economy from the risk of recession, with upheaval in overseas markets adding urgency to an effort that both sides hope to finish within weeks. As international stock exchanges fell sharply early yesterday, the Federal Reserve moved to offset a similar downturn here by lowering its benchmark federal funds interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point even before Wall Street opened.

People may care as much about the cost of prescription drugs these days as they do about getting a good deal on a car. They're up against the breathtaking drug costs a lot more often. At least they can talk to the car salesmen. Even if we're not good at numbers, we probably get a better deal when we haggle. With cars, it's accepted as the American way. So, what if we could bargain a little on the cholesterol meds? And what if the state came onto the showroom floor (as it were) to strengthen our hand?

WASHINGTON -- It turns out that overhauling the health care system isn't just for presidential candidates. While front-runners in both parties float ideas for expanding access to drugs and treatment, two Maryland Democrats - Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin and Rep. Chris Van Hollen - are serving up proposals of their own. Van Hollen introduced a measure Wednesday that would allow states to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to secure discounts on...