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Montgomery County's state legislators will consider bills that would give the county greater authority over state roads and campaign finance disclosure.

The delegation also will weigh legislation to give the county more sway to tax residential and commercial property at different rates and to offer a tax credit for biotechnology investment.

The legislation is among 13 local and 10 bicounty bills, the latter of which are considered by Montgomery and Prince George's counties, that are prefiled for the next General Assembly session, which begins Jan. 14.

The local delegation will hold a hearing on the county's legislative priorities later this month and hearings on the prefiled bills in December.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. would give Montgomery County 12.3 percent of the state's total highway user revenues. In exchange for a set percentage of roads' funding, the county would take on the responsibility of maintaining state roads within the county. Baltimore city has a similar arrangement with the state.

In September, the state announced $1.1 billion in cuts to its $10.5 billion transportation capital budget for fiscal 2009 through fiscal 2014, including $112.7 million in aid to road and transit projects in Montgomery County.

The news prompted lawmakers, including Madaleno, to say that the state should consider new ways of funding transportation. Madaleno was not available for comment Monday.

Madaleno's bill is worth considering, said Del. Alfred C. Carr Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington.

The county's most dangerous and congested roads are state roads, Carr said. Putting those roads under the county's purview could make it easier to address those issues, he said.

"Anytime you can eliminate one layer of bureaucracy, you can address the problem more quickly, more cheaply and more efficiently," he said.

Carr, a former Kensington town councilman, is sponsoring several bills, including one that would give municipal governments the ability to enact stricter regulations on commercial signs.

"I like to call Kensington ‘The Breezewood of Montgomery County,'" he said, referring to the town on the Pennsylvania Turnpike known for its many motels, gas stations, fast-food restaurants and signs. "Kensington's had a problem for a couple decades with a lot of ugly signs," Carr said. "The town's been trying to get that cleaned up."

Other Carr bills would give the county the ability to tax residential and commercial property at different rates and would allow municipalities to appeal county board of appeals decisions without having appeared at a hearing on the issue.

Brian J. Feldman, chairman of the county's delegation in the House of Delegates, wants to give the county the ability to extend a tax credit to investors in county-based biotechnology development.

Feldman (D-Dist. 15) of Potomac sponsored legislation in 2005 that created a state Biotechnology Investment Tax Credit, which allows investors a 50 percent return from the state on investments up to $500,000.

"[The credit] has been a tremendous success," Feldman said.

Del. Susan C. Lee (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda is sponsoring a bill to give the county the ability to enact campaign finance disclosure rules for candidates for county executive or County Council that are more stringent than state law.

A bill that Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D-Dist. 14) of Burtonsville is sponsoring on behalf of Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) would allow the County Council to grant a county property tax credit for county employees on homes purchased after June 30, 2009.

Other legislation aims to prohibit the contractor operating cameras to catch speeders on county roads from collecting a fee for each ticket issued.

While current law prohibits operators from being paid per ticket, a loophole in the law has allowed Affiliated Computer Services Inc. to collect $16.25 for each $40 ticket issued by the cameras, said Del. Saqib Ali, who is sponsoring the measure with Sen. Mike G. Lenett (D-Dist. 19) of Silver Spring.

The legislation would prohibit a contractor that provides services or equipment related to the installation, operation, maintenance or repair of a speed camera, or who issues or processes citations or collects or enforces penalties, from being paid based on the number of tickets issued.

Ali also is sponsoring the most unusually named local bill for 2009, the "No So-Called Sexual Stimulants for Kids Act," which seeks to keep professed sexual stimulants labeled under names like "Stamina-Rx" and "All Nite Long" out of the hands of minors.

"These are pills that claim to be sexual enhancers for men," said Ali (D-Dist. 39) of Gaithersburg. "The age of consent in Maryland is 16. So why should we be selling sexual enhancers to people who are under 16?"

The products are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and include warning labels that they should not be sold to children under 18.

Ali said it was a "strategic decision" to make the legislation a local bill. "I thought I may find a warm reception amongst Montgomery County legislators," he said.

Bills that are introduced as local legislation apply to Montgomery County only.

They are vetted in county delegation committees and, if they win approval, are introduced as delegation-sponsored bills in the General Assembly, where they traditionally get friendly treatment under the principle of "local courtesy."

The county delegation will hold a public hearing on transportation and state legislative priorities for the county at 6 p.m. Nov. 20.

The county's House delegation will hold a hearing on bicounty bills at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 and on local bills at 7 p.m. Dec. 11.

All hearings will be held in the Council Office Building auditorium, 101 Monroe St. in Rockville.

For a full list of legislation being considered by the delegation go to www.montgomerycountydelegation.com/.