A little bit of everything
Bills to increase compliance with the Open Meetings Act by public bodies in Maryland and stiffen penalties for violating the law will get a hearing Thursday afternoon in the House Health and Government Operations Committee. One of the bills, sponsored by Del. Dan Morhaim who chairs the Government Operations Subcommittee, is significantly different than what MarylandReporter.com initially reported in January.
Read moreThe MarylandReporter.com website, which was hacked on Monday, is back up and running. The roundups from Tuesday and Wednesday have been posted, as have news stories we’ve been holding. All the standard features of the site should be working, but let us know if something doesn’t seem right.
Read moreDel. Dan Morhaim, D-Baltimore County, introduced a bill Thursday that grants additional enforcement powers to the Open Meetings Compliance Board, allowing it to levy fines and provide court testimony against government bodies that illegally deny people access to public events. This bipartisan legislation, HB331, has 18 co-sponsors, including House Majority Leader Kumar Barve and 10 other Democrats and Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell and six other Republicans.
Read moreThe new improved Joint Hearing Room, wired for video webcasting and a new sound system, made its debut Monday for the annual Fiscal Briefing, the first legislative swipe at Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposed fiscal 2014 budget.
Read moreDel. Dan Morhaim, chairman of the Government Operations subcommittee, plans on introducing a bill to beef up the regulatory powers of the Open Meetings Compliance Board, allowing it to fine public bodies for illegally closing meetings. The civil penalties could be up to $1,000 for the first offense and up to $10,000 for a third offense.
Read moreThe Maryland General Assembly launched its new website Monday, modernizing its look and adding several new features. It also has a new URL web address, but users of the old address will be redirected to the site.
Much of the redesign is simply a repackaging of older features, but it puts many of them directly on the homepage, rather than several clicks away. There are also new personalized tools for tracking specific legislation.
Read moreThe biggest problem with the Open Meetings Act is the lack of any penalty for public bodies that violate the law. That is the most frequently cited issue in dozens of responses MarylandReporter.com received when it requested comments about problems with Open Meetings law back in October.
Read moreRepublican legislators are riled up that data they asked for months ago on the proposed expansion of gambling has still not been handed over to them by the Department of Legislative Services.
Read moreThe legislature made major changes to the Open Meetings Act over 20 years ago, but it’s time to review that law again, especially the powers and effectiveness of the compliance board that was one of the major innovations.
Read moreEdgar Allan Poe is generally credited with writing the first detective novel. His engrossing tales featuring the French detective C.
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