Annapolis Notes: Franchot turns his sights to collecting unpaid amusement taxes

Comptroller Franchot (D) announced Monday that his staff is auditing video poker and other coin-operated amusement devices whose owners have not set up the proper state admissions and amusement tax accounts.

The effort will be concentrated in Baltimore city, where an Abell Foundation report last year estimated $15 million in amusement taxes go uncollected because of an illegal slot machine industry.

Nearly 3,500 video gambling devices exist in bars and other Baltimore businesses, the foundation report said.

Joseph Shapiro, a spokesman for Franchot, said the office also believes millions could be collected inside the city. ‘‘If it’s $11 million or $1 million or $100,000 the city is owed, we’re going to make sure the city gets it,” he said.

The effort might expand into Baltimore County, too. Shapiro said County Executive James T. Smith Jr. (D) has contacted the comptroller’s office offering the same kind of vendor information the auditors will use in the city to track down scofflaw machine owners.

During the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, Baltimore city collected more than $1.4 million in admissions and amusement tax collections from coin-operated amusement devices. It received $8.5 million in total admissions and amusement taxes, according to the comptroller’s office.

The comptroller’s office collects the tax, but about 97 percent goes back to the local jurisdictions.

— Douglas Tallman

Quixotic bid to widen bridge

Despite being soundly rejected each of the past two years, Sen. Roy P. Dyson is again pushing legislation that would require state funding for a second span of the Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge.

Built in 1977, the two-lane bridge is a safety hazard that is infamous for having near-daily rush-hour backups, said Dyson (D-Dist. 29) of Great Mills. ‘‘Traffic every day is a nightmare,” he said. ‘‘It’s sort of our version of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.”

The dualization of the bridge is among the region’s top priorities, partially because it has such a great impact on two economic engines in Southern Maryland: Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Lexington Park and Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby.

But lawmakers have already voiced skepticism about the proposal. ‘‘If I put in a bill every time somebody swore or cursed about transportation in Montgomery County,” said Senate Budget and Taxation Vice Chairman P.J. Hogan (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village, his voice trailing off before completing his thought.

Although he acknowledged the bridge’s capacity is a problem, State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen said requiring payment of a road project through legislation is inappropriate. ‘‘If you do not turn it down, I would ask you to identify $400 million that could be cut from our budget,” he told lawmakers in jest.

The total project cost is estimated at $275 million, according to SHA, and would take eight to 10 years to complete. Planning alone is projected to cost $5 million.

Even if the bill is killed in committee, Dyson said it still sheds light on a huge need in a remote corner of the state. ‘‘If nothing else, we have gotten the attention that the bridge needs,” he said. ‘‘... In a way, the introduction of the bill has been successful.”

— Alan Brody

New rules for portables

New relocatable classrooms would have to meet certain health standards under legislation sponsored by a former Montgomery County school board member.

‘‘If we have to have relocatables, which I think is inevitable, then we should have standards to deal with air quality and moisture levels,” said Del. Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village.

If the proposal passes, the Board of Public Works and General Services Department would be required to adopt strict indoor air quality regulations for state-purchased relocatables, which many school systems use to increase capacity.

Each mobile unit would have to be protected against water damage, have air barriers to limit infiltration, a programmable thermostat, and an energy-efficient lighting and ventilation system. The trailers also would have to be constructed with materials that have low amounts of volatile organic compounds.

The most common health hazards in portable classrooms, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are poorly functioning ventilation systems and water entry, which causes mold growth.

King said the standards would not apply to relocatable classrooms already in use because it would be too expensive to revamp them.

More than 3,000 portable units — most owned or leased by local school systems — are in use across the state, and the stock grows each year.

An identical bill has been sponsored by Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist.15) of Germantown.

— Alan Brody

Parents on the state school board

Two parents of public school children would be required to serve on the state school board if a Carroll County lawmaker’s bill passes the General Assembly.

‘‘I feel like the parents are our consumers,” said Del. Susan W. Krebs, a former Carroll County school board president.

The bill was killed in committee last year, but Krebs (R-Dist. 9B) of Eldersburg is trying again because she believes parents should be represented on the state panel that sets education policy. ‘‘It really gives you a very different perspective and I think it’s a perspective that’s needed on the board,” she said.

The legislation would require at least two of the 11 adult members of the state school board (there is also a student member) to have at least one child in the public school system at the time of their appointment.

The governor appoints state school board members.

The Department of Education does have a parental advisory council, which offers recommendations on parent involvement issues, but there is no parental requirement on the school board.

Only one member of the board, Tonya Miles of Mitchellville, is a parent of an enrolled public school student.

— Alan Brody

New BRAC panel

Dyson will chair a new legislative subcommittee that will tackle issues relating to the addition of thousands of military jobs in Maryland through the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

The panel will fall under the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, of which Dyson is vice chairman. The committee’s chairwoman, Sen. Joan Carter Conway (D-Dist. 43) of Baltimore, will serve as the subpanel’s vice chairwoman. ‘‘This elevates it to a legislative level so there will be one place to go with this,” Dyson said. ‘‘There won’t be six different committees to go to.”

The panel’s creation also dovetails with Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to establish a sub-Cabinet BRAC department, Dyson said.

Dyson is no stranger to military base expansion, having worked closely on the BRAC-related growth of Patuxent River Naval Air Station in the 1990s. He said he’ll use that experience to help prepare two areas bracing for major expansion in the coming years: Fort George G. Meade in Anne Arundel County and Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County.

The bases are getting ready for the addition of about 15,000 new jobs, which will require transportation upgrades, more school seats and new residential development, among other improvements. In total, Maryland is projected to net 45,000 federal and private sector jobs through BRAC.

— Alan Brody

Iraq troop escalation

Democratic state lawmakers on Tuesday called President George W. Bush’s plan to send 21,500 more American troops to Iraq ‘‘abominable, unreasonable and misguided.”

More than 80 delegates and senators — all Democrats — signed a letter to Maryland’s congressional delegation condemning the decision to escalate the number of troops in Iraq.

The one-page letter states that the Bush administration’s proposal will not ‘‘undo the terrible blunders of its policies, much less end the brutal sectarian violence that has been unleashed in Iraq.”

Sending more troops will ‘‘just plunge us more deeply into ... chaos at a time when we should be working to end the war and stabilize the region.”

More than a dozen lawmakers gathered on Tuesday to denounce Bush’s plan as the U.S. House of Representatives began debate on a resolution that would express support for U.S. troops, but disapprove of the troop buildup.

‘‘This last election should have sent a very profound message to the president of the United States,” said Del. Joanne C. Benson (D-Dist. 24) of Landover. Analysts say public disapproval of the war in Iraq led to large victories in November that gave Democrats control of both chambers in Congress.

Organizers of the petition said time ran out before more signatures could be collected. House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Dist. 30) of Annapolis and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach were among the 59 delegates and 25 senators who signed the letter.

‘‘We think the numbers could far exceed the majority of state legislature,” said Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Dist. 22) of University Park, who coordinated the Senate drive. He later called Bush’s proposal ‘‘abominable, unreasonable and misguided.”

Pinsky said several moderate Republicans whom he asked to sign the letter declined.

Supporters said it is proper for state legislators to weigh in on the issue because about 60 Marylanders have been killed in Iraq. ‘‘The issue is everybody’s issue no matter what level of government we are on,” said Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville.

The letter may have minimal impact in Washington because eight of Maryland’s 10 members of Congress are Democrats who oppose the war, and the two Republicans, Reps. Wayne T. Gilchrest (Dist. 1) of Kennedyville and Roscoe G. Bartlett (Dist. 6) of Buckeystown, have expressed reservations about the escalation.

The goal of the campaign is to ‘‘bring some reason to the president’s mind and discourage him from moving forward with this escalation,” said Del. Elizabeth Bobo (D-Dist. 12B) of Columbia, coordinator of the House petition.

— Alan Brody