The House of Delegates narrowly passed a bill on Wednesday that would exclude individuals from making child support payments while serving a prison sentence. Under the legislation, child support payments would be suspended for anyone incarcerated for more than 18 consecutive months and continuing 60 days after their release to avoid the accrual of an unmanageable lump sum. [...more]
A controversial bill that would ban smoking in any vehicle with a passenger younger than 8 passed the state Senate 27-19 on Wednesday after debate that centered largely over the role of government. [...more]
Republicans in the General Assembly are proposing a constitutional amendment to create an elected state inspector general to root out waste, fraud and financial problems in state agencies. [...more]
A bill that would waive college tuition for employees of the Maryland Higher Education Commission and their children was handily defeated in the Senate Tuesday morning. With a 12-33 vote, it was a rare defeat for a bill that had made it so far along in the legislative process. [...more]
Lawmakers rejected an amendment Monday night to freeze judges salaries at the current range of $127,000 to $181,000 a year, and a final vote on raises of up to $14,500 over three years is expected Tuesday. [...more]
The Senate Budget and Tax Committee on Thursday sent a $35 billion budget to the full Senate that includes income tax increases for almost everyone and $600 million in ongoing spending cuts. This fiscal 2013 spending plan includes a shift of teacher pension costs to county school boards, along with new requirements for county governments to fund public schools, allowing them to even disregard local property tax caps to do so. [...more]
The Senate passed a pay hike of up to $14,500 annually for Maryland’s 284 judges Wednesday, citing an imperative to hire and keep talented legal minds on the bench. [...more]
With the state’s referendum laws in the spotlight for the first time in two decades, some legislators hope to close weaknesses in the referendum process that can open the door to fraud. The House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony on a bill Wednesday that would adopt several measures implemented in other states to help ensure the validity of referendum petitions. We've got a story and a podcast. [...more]
There’s something for everybody to hate in the doomsday budget with $720 million in cuts previewed to Senate budgeters Tuesday. Most of these are real cuts, not just reductions in future spending increases. [...more]
Senate budget subcommittees Monday began their decisions to approve or reject recommendations from the Department of Legislative Services. [...more]
