The House and Senate have substantial differences to work out on legislation that would allow counties to cut back on school spending during tough economic times without losing state aid.
Both chambers have passed bills that set guidelines for waivers to the state’s “maintenance of effort” rules for local school funding. The issue has been hot this year, as three counties asked for and were denied waivers, leading the state education department to withhold some of its planned aid.
House members said a Senate proposal removing local bond bills — the state’s version of legislative earmarks — from Maryland’s Capital Budget may make sense, but they expect a tough debate on the issue in their chamber.
The Senate adopted an amendment Tuesday from Sen. Katherine Klausmeier, D-Baltimore County, shifting funding from bond bills to public school construction projects, and passed a final capital plan Wednesday.
The state military department violated state regulations when it paid a contractor almost $1 million without approval from the Board of Public Works, according to a state audit released Wednesday.
The department, which includes the National Guard and emergency management agency, bought information technology services for nearly three years without a contract, legislative auditors said.
Maryland spends $6 billion per year on health care through the Medicaid program — half of it federal money — and lawmakers are looking especially hard this year for ways to get some of that cash back.
Two high-profile and very different proposals are before the General Assembly, one proposed by Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley and the other by the House Republican Caucus.
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Leave it to the old football coach, House Speaker Michael Busch, to pull an end run on Del. Don Dwyer’s attempt to impeach Attorney General Doug Gansler as Busch handed off the ball to the Judiciary Committee. The panel killed it within hours, after some more drama from Dwyer.
The Senate has decided to stop approving in future years the local bond bills that serve as the state’s version of legislative earmarks, as it passed this year’s capital budget over to the House on Wednesday.
As the senators took up the state’s capital spending Tuesday — the portion of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget that largely uses borrowed money to pay for projects like roads and schools — two amendments came up targeting the $15 million that lawmakers divvy up to send back to their districts.
Some senators are questioning bills narrowly tailored to secure insurance and pension benefits to a small number of constituents with unusual circumstances.
The Senate passed measures last week preventing pension allowances from going down and allowing surviving family members to cash in on disability benefits in the case of a person dying before the state is able to process the application.
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Public school teachers and child care providers may soon get expanded collective bargaining rights despite two last-gasp pleas from Republican senators to kill the union bills.
Both measures passed the Senate with little debate Monday afternoon, but the Republican sentiment remained, “it’s just wrong.” Supporters argue that the measures would help workers receive fairer treatment.
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