The Maryland General Assembly opened its 2012 session Wednesday against a backdrop of possible tax hikes and looming battles over social and environmental legislation.
Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is considering proposing increases in the state’s gasoline tax, to fund transportation projects, and its so-called “flush tax” on water and sewer bills to fund Chesapeake Bay cleanup.
O’Malley also has pledged to back a bill to legalize gay marriage in Maryland and to possibly seek legislation to allow wind-generated energy “farms” off Maryland’s Atlantic shore and to tighten restrictions on the proliferation of residential septic tanks. Each of the measures failed to gain traction last year.
Spicing up the opening day of the session, O’Malley broached the subject of a possible 1-cent hike in the state’s 6 percent sales tax — though he later backed off the idea, saying he recognized that the legislature likely had little stomach for boosting the tax.
Those are just some of the issues the governor and legislature will wrangle over during the next 90 days.
The following are vignettes from the opening of what promises to be a compelling session:
Partisan politics fodder for speeches
Typically, partisan rhetoric is cast aside and decorum and procedure rule the day in reopening the State House for business.
However, that didn’t stop Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. from getting in a dig here and there.
Following his unanimous election to his 26th year as president, Miller thanked Democrats and Republicans alike.
He then proceeded to let Republicans know that even without their support on issues such as the gas tax, he had plans to prioritize renovations to the Dover Bridge over the Choptank River.
“My first order of priority is going to be the Dover Bridge,” he said. “You know, it’s a $50 million project, but to spite you, I’m going to give you the resources to build that bridge,” said Miller (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach. “You can sit there and vote red, and I’m still going to get that damn bridge built.”
Congressional races grab attention
A freshman delegate started the session with an announcement that may have surprised colleagues.
Kathryn L. Afzali (R-Dist. 4A) of Middletown pushed her way into an already-crowded 6th District congressional race Tuesday, making her one of more than a handful of legislators looking to elevate themselves to Washington.
Afzali not only brings a challenge to sitting Congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett (R- Dist. 6) of Buckeystown, but to the senator from her own district, David R. Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) of New Market.
The junior lawmaker is unapologetic about her run for office, saying she believes her candidacy is necessary to save the 6th District from Democratic hands.
“I didn’t tell anyone, and I know a few people are a little upset with me about it,” Afzali said. “Senator Brinkley and I have a wonderful working relationship; I hope to keep it that way. He’s been a terrific senator; he is my senator. It’s nothing personal.”
Afzali’s announcement caught Brinkley and other Republicans off guard. Many believed she might challenge incumbent Democratic Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. of Kensington in the 8th District.
“I’m not saying anything disparaging about any of the candidates,” Afzali said. But, she added, “It’s going to take a hardy, heavy-duty, tenacious campaigner, and I think if anything I proved during my campaigns I am tireless.”
Though many of her congratulatory remarks came from Democrats, Afzali said she isn’t concerned that her candidacy could further divide her party.
Members of the Frederick County delegation were skeptical of her run.
“I think it’s rather presumptuous to jump in on a race like that with so little experience,” said Galen R. Clagett (D-Dist. 3A) of Frederick. “I’m not sure what she brings to the table.”
The opening of the session also coincided with developments in other races, including an announcement from Del. Richard K. Impallaria (R-Dist. 7) of Middle River, that he will mount a challenge in the 2nd District, where Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Dist. 34) of Abingdon already is running a campaign.
Unions bring rally cry to session
In a break room in the House Office Building, a few dozen union members kicked off the session Wednesday with calls for an income tax hike on millionaires and new requirements to tax large companies that do business in the state.
Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and other unions canvassed legislative offices Wednesday morning asking lawmakers to get behind creating a higher tax bracket for people with incomes above $1 million and a combined reporting initiative, which would require companies that operate in Maryland and elsewhere to file corporate income taxes in the state instead of only in jurisdictions with a lower tax rate.
Those legislative priorities, which failed last year, could help close the state’s $1.1 billion deficit and prevent cuts to state programs and public workers’ benefits, said Sue Esty, assistant director for AFSCME Maryland.
“On the one hand, (there are) all these many problems associated with cutting the budget too far, and then on the other hand there’s ways to solve the problem,” Esty said. “You know, tax the people who got a tax break, tax the millionaires, tax the individuals who aren’t paying one penny of income taxes here in Maryland.”
During the 2011 session, state employees and union representatives focused their energy on preventing cuts to employee pension plans and retiree health benefits.
While not the group’s primary concern this year, union leaders will be on the lookout for more adjustments beyond the changes made last year, when the legislature raised the amount employees contribute to their pension from 5 percent to 7 percent and decreased the multiplier that determines how much money employees receive when they retire.
“We don’t know what’s in store in terms of what might be introduced by legislators regarding pensions or retiree health insurance,” Esty said.
Wind power advocates claim first rally
At the start of each session, various groups gather in the cold in Lawyers Mall in front the State House to advocate for or oppose legislation.
Although the issues change, the scene rarely does — a group of enthusiasts, many holding signs or other props, huddles in front of a podium from which grass-roots leaders and legislators extol them to fight the good fight and keep the faith.
This session, the first group to claim the mall was Marylanders For Offshore Wind, a coalition of environmental and other groups that wants the legislature to pass a bill to allow the construction of wind turbines off Maryland’s Atlantic shore. Many wore electric blue T-shirts proclaiming, “Wind Works for Maryland.”
Last year, Gov. Martin O’Malley backed a bill to create 120 wind turbines 11 miles off Maryland’s coast, but the bill stalled, thanks in part to concerns with the potential cost.
Two weeks ago, in a roundtable with reporters, O’Malley promised that he “will be doing something to advance” the development of wind energy in Maryland, but added no specifics.
At the rally, the group touted a poll it commissioned showing that Marylanders support the creation of wind power. They also received a pep talk from the majority leaders of both houses — Del. Kumar Barve (D-Dist. 17) of Gaithersburg and Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown.
“Now is the time for this legislature and this governor to pass this bill so that we can begin a wind economy in Maryland,” Barve said.
Busch is longest-serving House speaker
Del. Michael Busch officially became the longest-serving speaker in the history of the House of Delegates, as he was sworn in to a 10th consecutive one-year term.
In his opening remarks to the House, Busch (D-Dist. 30) of Annapolis downplayed the milestone and instead pointed out that several other delegates also had set longevity records as chairs of House committees, including Economic Matters Committee Chairman Dereck E. Davis (D-Dist. 25) of Upper Marlboro, Environmental Matters Committee Chairwoman Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Dist. 43) of Baltimore and Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Dist. 27A) of Upper Marlboro.
“As I was preparing this presentation today, they said this is a good reason for term limits,” Busch quipped.
Baker gets a hand
Although the House of Delegates does not contain an applause-o-meter, it seemed Wednesday that the members doled out their most spirited hand for Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker, as Busch introduced a slate of political heavy hitters who had traveled to Annapolis to mark the opening of the session.
In addition to Baker, the politicians in attendance included most of Maryland’s U.S. congressional delegation, the county executives of Anne Arundel, Howard, Harford and Baltimore counties, and the mayors of Baltimore and Annapolis.
Each received a hand and a few spirited whoops as they were introduced, though none seemed to stir the General Assembly as much as did Baker, who served in the House from 1994 to 2003 and was elected county executive in 2010.
In the wake of the scandal that this fall sent former Prince George’s executive Jack Johnson to prison on charges that he took bribes in exchange for political favors, Baker has made restoring faith in the county government a theme of his administration.
Although some delegates stood to clap each of the visitors, none — including Baker — received a full-fledged “standing O” from the House.
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