The rift between public and private education couldn’t be much larger than it is in Maryland, where the public schools are boasted about as number 1 in the nation and the private schools receive less state funding than several neighboring states.
“Looking at other states when it comes to education, Maryland state government provides significantly less to support private education,” said Mary Ellen Russell, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference.
In case the legislators were losing their heads over tax hikes or gun control, dozens of lawmakers had their heads handed to them on Friday, or at least a reasonable facsimile.
Just 25 days after it was introduced, the Maryland Senate enacted the first gas tax hike in 21 years, sending the governor a 10 to 12 cent per gallon increase by 2015. The bill calls for the tax to go even higher — it will rise automatically in future years.
A Senate committee passes the gas tax hike, sending it on to the full Senate and approving a constitutional amendment to put the funds in a lockbox; after a rousing start and some major hiccups, gun control legislation again takes center stage as Gov. O’Malley makes another push; bill would outline rights of parties in surrogacy; panel questions lack of jail time in marijuana decriminalization proposal; Medicaid to now cover 175,000 more low-income Marylanders; legislation would prevent killers from inheriting from victims; and more crabbers sign up for electronic reporting of harvest.
A controversial gas tax hike already passed by the House of Delegates was approved by a Senate committee Thursday, moving it one step closer to becoming law. The committee also approved a constitutional amendment requiring three-fifths votes in both houses to use transportation money for other purposes, a so-called lockbox.
Less than two weeks remain in the 90-day session and the General Assembly is working on several landmark pieces of legislation including gun control, a gas tax hike and medical marijuana; the gun-control issue continues to draw debate over limiting bullet clips and banning assault-type weapons; that issue is spilling over into the 2014 campaign as well; a bill intended to dilute concentrations of poor people and help those using housing voucher assistance is likely doomed this year; legislation authorizing a study on benefits of starting school later likely to pass; measure to tax online sales dies; and Prince George’s County Council won’t support county exec takeover of schools unless it gets more budget authority.
A bill that would prohibit landlords from screening prospective tenants based upon their source of income was sent back to a Maryland Senate committee after three days of floor debate over whether landlords should be allowed to exclude those on public assistance. The 23-22 vote likely dooms the bill’s chances this session.
Senate President Mike Miller told reporters Wednesday that new standards making it more difficult to petition new laws to the ballot are not likely to pass this year, though he agrees that the practice needs to be curtailed.
Lawmakers turns eyes back to gun control legislation; rural residents, businesses worry about impact of gas tax hike; Republicans and Democrats take a swipe at Gov. O’Malley; over objections of creating a sanctuary state, Maryland to continue to allow illegal immigrants to receive driver’s licenses; bill would give some farmers a 10-year reprieve from environmental regulations; and a dust-up within the state GOP.
A bill that would require landlords to accept tenants through the federal Section 8 program sparked a debate about civil rights on the Senate floor Tuesday.
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