After Annapolis, lawmakers head for home

Millionaire tax weighs heavy for some, but bond bills appeal to others

For those with a stake in the legislature, this session in Annapolis was calm, for better or worse.

‘‘There were a couple of bombs lodged here and there on things we started to get mobilized on, but luckily those didn’t go anywhere,” said Patrick O’Neil, of the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce. ‘‘That was sort of the story of the session.”

State senators from Districts 16 and 18, which represent much of the downcounty area, ended the session with many successful bills sponsored by Sen. Brian E. Frosh, and a stern rebuke from Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. of the so-called millionaire tax that squeezed through in the session’s 11th hour.

Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda sponsored a bevy of bills that passed during the session. One bill, among other things, doubled the cap on air emissions permit fees. It more than doubled to $2 million the capacity of the Maryland Clean Air Fund.

‘‘The Department [of Environment] has been seriously underfunded in terms of its enforcement duties,” Frosh said. The bill he sponsored to raise permit fees should raise funds for those purposes, he said.

Frosh also said he was pleased with a $250,000 grant for the Rockville-based Jewish Foundation for Group Homes and $200,000 for Imagination Stage that his delegation brought home.

The District 16 and 18 delegations sponsored $1.05 million in bond bills for 2008.

Frosh noted that he did sponsor ‘‘several bills that failed,” among them a bill suspending drivers licenses of teens who commit some serious offenses and a bill that would have allowed judges to take away guns from alleged domestic violence offenders after the person’s initial court hearing.

Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington earned praise from some for his protest of the so-called millionaire tax — a new 6.25 percent income tax bracket on those earning more than $1 million, meant to help replace the repealed tech tax.

Montgomery County holds 41 percent of the state’s millionaires.

Susan Heltemes, a longtime Montgomery County politico, praised Madaleno and Sen. Rona E. Kramer (D-Dist. 14) of Olney for voting against the tax.

‘‘They both jeopardized their future,” Heltemes said. ‘‘When you buck leadership that way, you really put your neck on the line ... I think people in [District] 18 are proud of him.”

The B-CC Chamber of Commerce had opposed both the tech tax and the income tax.

‘‘Gas tax was our answer,” O’Neil said of the chamber’s hopes for tech-tax revenue replacement.

Two of the youngest and newest members in the House of Delegates came from downcounty legislative districts 16 and 18, both appointed mid-term to fill seats of two popular delegates.

Del. C. William Frick (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda was chosen in September to fill the seat of longtime Del. Marilyn Goldwater. District 18 Del. Alfred C. Carr Jr. was chosen in December to fill the seat of Del. Jane E. Lawton.

Frick passed a bill in honor of the late delegate Lawton, consolidating energy loan programs into a conservation loan program named for Lawton.

‘‘This is a modest but significant program that will allow Maryland institutions access to low-cost capital with which to make energy reduction investments,” Frick said.

Frick sponsored another emergency bill that passed both chambers in late March, giving some vehicle owners a trade-in allowance against motor vehicle excise tax. The fiscal note attached to the bill showed a resulting decrease in transportation trust fund revenues.

Carr of Kensington sponsored a bill relating to community parks and playgrounds, and a bill authorizing counties and municipalities to waive some construction or renovation fees and charges to ‘‘support, foster, or promote” affordable housing.

Heltemes noted that the computer services tax repeal was probably the session’s biggest item affecting Montgomery County.

‘‘Historically this is the year when you can get the most done,” Heltemes said. She explained that for a Democratic delegation like the downcounty’s, much can be accomplished with a more seasoned Democratic governor and during a non-election year.

‘‘This year was perhaps a lost opportunity for some things ... I think a lot of them were tired,” she said. ‘‘This was their year to spread their wings and fly, so to speak, but it didn’t happen.”