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Maryland Reporter News 

Poll finds strong support for minimum wage hike; state employees pensions considered too low

Maryland Reporter

A new poll found strong public support for increasing Maryland’s minimum wage to $10 an hour, a step being pushed for the upcoming General Assembly session.

The poll by Goucher College also found the majority of the Maryland public regards current pensions for retired state employees as too low, and also thinks all Maryland workers, not just those employed by the state or local governments, should have a pension.

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Maryland Reporter News 

$50 billion in unfunded state and local retirement benefits, study says

Maryland Reporter

The money Maryland’s state and local governments have failed to set aside to fulfill pension promises made to teachers and employees has ballooned to more than $22.5 billion over the past five years, a new report has found.

But the counties that run their own pension systems are in much better shape than the state of Maryland, with the exception of Prince George’s County.

The most under-funded retirement benefits continue to be health insurance for these retirees, which amount to $28 billion for state and local governments. Only a handful of county governments have tried to sock money away.

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Maryland Reporter News 

Candidate’s gun control plan even harsher than new law

Maryland Reporter

Ten days away from implementation of Maryland’s more stringent laws on gun purchases, licensing and training, Second Amendment advocates might be wondering if it could possibly get any worse for gun owners.

One House of Delegates candidate from Bethesda, Jordan Cooper, issued a proposal Wednesday that lives up to the worst fears of gun owners. But it might have appeal inside the Beltway in the district now represented by Sen. Brian Frosh, floor leader of the new control law.

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Maryland Reporter News 

Speaker Busch ‘did not like redistricting’ either; Tea Party upset at GOP ‘establishment,’ Boehner

Maryland Reporter

Lots of people in Maryland, particularly Republicans and minorities, didn’t like Maryland’s congressional redistricting in 2012 that helped eliminate one of the last two GOP seats and did not create another potential minority district.

But during a talk Friday night, one of the major participants in the process, House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch admitted, “I did not like the redistricting.”

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Maryland Reporter News 

Md. pension system earns 10.6% on investments

Maryland Reporter

The Maryland state pension system achieved a 10.6% return on its investment portfolio for the fiscal year that ended June 30, bringing the fund assets to a total of $40.2 billion, Chief Investment Officer Melissa Moye told the pension trustees Tuesday.

The return exceeded the system’s target of 7.75% annual return, and was far better than the dismal results of less than 1% for fiscal 2012.

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Maryland Reporter News 

Indicted correctional officers were low paid

Maryland Reporter

Thirteen Maryland correctional officers indicted last month in a corruption case that has outraged legislators and the public were getting paid between $28,000 and $47,000 in 2012, according to salary figures from the comptroller’s office. “The vast majority are doing [the job] at the current salary level,” said one union representative. “I don’t think offering someone more money makes them more honest.”

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