Gov. O’Malley scores his first win with passage of a jobs training bill; bill that caps out-of-state students at University System of Maryland draws school opposition; pit bull legislation compromise breaking down; bill would make dog baiting illegal; PSC balks at proposal by Sen. Zirkin to expand oversight of interstate pipelines; Maryland gets a cut of Google settlement; and, as former Arundel exec sentencing nears, defenders submit letters.
Day: March 13, 2013
Voters’ Rights Protection Act passes despite Republican objections on First Amendment grounds
A bill intended to prevent voter suppression was passed by the House of Delegates 90-46 on Tuesday, after a heated argument between Democrats and Republicans about the impact of the legislation on Marylanders’ civil rights.
HB220, which passed along party lines, would enable the attorney general to go to court and seek injunctive relief in cases where the attorney general believes voter intimidation and ballot fraud has a high probability of influencing the results of an election.
Legislator wants to reduce risky investments in pension fund
A legislator who has spent his career as a financial advisor and investor is seeking to force the state pension system to limit what he sees as risky investments in private equity, hedge funds and other alternative assets.
The investment managers at the State Retirement Agency told the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday that Del. Steve Schuh’s legislation, HB819, will mean lower returns on investment and less diversification for the $38 billion fund that pays for pensions for teachers and state employees.
Updates: Septic bill killed in committee
Two bills that drew crowds to Annapolis have been killed in committee. The two bills, the Septic Bill and the Liberty Preservation Act of 2013, would have had wide implications in planning and law enforcement policy, respectively.
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