The House passed the administration’s offshore wind power bill Friday amid accusations Gov. Martin O’Malley secured votes on the House Economic Matters Committee by coercing lawmakers with the state’s disparity grant program. [...more]
The House cleared the O’Malley administration’s offshore wind power bill for final passage Thursday -- enduring heavy gusts from Republican lawmakers who questioned the cost and viability of putting 40 wind turbines off the coast of Ocean City. [...more]
The House of Delegates approved a controversial bill backed by Gov. Martin O’Malley that would better define the state’s policy on public-private partnerships for major construction projects after a spirited debate on Monday. [...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]
In this podcast by reporter Duane Keenan, we hear reactions to the passage of the same-sex marriage bill in the House of Delegates from legislators Luke Clippinger, Heather Mizeur, Pat McDonough, Justin Ready, Michael Smigiel and Speaker Michael Busch. [...more]
Potential Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Wargotz said he will make his decision whether to run against first-term Democratic Sen. Benjamin Cardin by early November. Wargotz got 36% of the vote last year as the Republican challenger to U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the best any Republican had done against the state’s most popular Democrat in four elections. [...more]
Questioning the validity of the petitions and the legality of a referendum to overturn the Maryland granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, Casa de Maryland and eight Marylanders have sued the State Board of Elections, asking the court to cancel the planned referendum on the law and allow its provisions to take effect now. [...more]
In a close vote, the House of Delegates passed a bill on Friday that would give in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants, following an emotional debate fraught with tears, personal stories, anger and applause. The vote tally was 74-66, with 23 Democrats joining all 43 Republicans in opposing the measure. [...more]
An amendment that passed by a single vote in the House of Delegates Tuesday morning takes the teeth out of a bill that gives the governor a deadline to act on a recommendation to parole an inmate serving a life sentence. The bill, already passed by both House and Senate in slightly different form, would give the governor a time limit to take action on a recommendation from the Parole Commission to parole an inmate serving a life sentence. [...more]
The full House of Delegates gave preliminary approval Wednesday night to an overall state budget of $34 billion for fiscal 2012, 2.8% higher than this year. After nearly 4½ hours of debate, the budget as passed by the House Appropriations Committee emerged unscathed. The House rejected a series of 14 amendments to cut the budget with various components of the Republican budget proposal or to add pieces of failed bills. [...more]
