A little bit of everything
Much or all of an annual $300 million extra payment into Maryland’s pension system is on the chopping block as Senate budgeters seek to balance Gov. Martin O’Malley’s $39 billion budget at a voting session Friday.
Read moreMost of the time this session, the Maryland House of Delegates seem has seemed a charmingly amicable group. On Wednesday a bill to raise the minimum wage came out of committee, and politeness was, for the most part, thrown out the Tiffany skylights.
Read moreSIX members of the Maryland Senate, three Republicans and THREE Democrats, are getting a free ride to reelection, with no opponents in either the primary or general election.
Tuesday was the deadline for party Central Committees to fill vacancies in races where candidates had no opponents. A few senators and delegates did pick up opponents nominated by their parties.
Read moreSome Marylanders are apprehensive that a digital, smart meter system measuring their electricity use violates their privacy and will heap on costs to electric bills. They are supporting legislation that would allow an inexpensive opt-out option.
Read moreMaryland’s controversial legislative redistricting is again the target of bills designed to overhaul the process and make it less partisan. Legislators are trying to introduce transparency and civic participation into the redistricting procedure, which now leaves the governor in control and the process wide open to political gerrymandering.
Read moreTwo bills aiming to decriminalize or legalize marijuana heard in a Senate committee last week could potentially bring in millions in new revenue for the state, or could wind up costing taxpayers more than ever.
Proponents of the bills point to possible savings on jail time, courts and police, not to mention extra income from taxes on what is now illegal.
Read moreHow high will it go? How much more will it cost the O’Malley-Brown administration to fix or totally replace the dysfunctional online health insurance system that it bragged about until the software crashed on Day One?
It already is the most costly debacle in state history.
Read moreWith the governor and legislators pushing for an increase in Maryland’s state minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, advocates of people with disabilities want to make sure their paid caregivers get higher wages, since the state now only reimburses them at $9.82 an hour.
Read moreHealth care advocates are stoking the tax fires again with legislation that would make Maryland’s tobacco taxes some of the highest in the country.
The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee heard testimony Wednesday on SB 589, which would increase the tobacco tax rate from $2 for a pack of cigarettes to $3. The bill also calls for steep hike on all other tobacco products — from 30% to 95% of the wholesale price.
Read moreMaryland Senate incumbents who were running unopposed picked up challengers at Tuesday’s filing deadline, but other senators without any opponents must wait until Monday to find out if the opposition parties will name a candidate to run against them.
In Baltimore County’s District 8, former Republican Del. John Bishop will run as a Democrat challenging Democratic Sen. Kathy Klausmeier.
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