Month: November 2009

Your tax dollars at work: Prison officials unveil high-tech strip search

by | Nov 4, 2009 | ,

If a Maryland prison inmate has a handcuff key up his nose, a razor blade in his mouth or a cell phone hidden where the sun don’t shine, then the BOSS is going to get him, state corrections officials hope.

That’s why they’re spending $178,000 on 24 Body Orifice Security Scanners (BOSS) as part of a $1.1 million purchase of enhanced security devices to cut down on prison violence. The purchase includes 1,000 protective vests for correctional officers at $431,000; 12 SecureView Scanners that locates contraband in clothing at $108,000; and 18 X-ray scanners at $436,000.

Missing “not” ties up school construction regs

by | Nov 4, 2009 | ,

State education officials came close to letting one word — or lack thereof — substantially change the effect of a massive school construction regulation that was approved by the Board of Public Works Wednesday.

David Lever, Maryland’s director of public school construction, said in an interview last week that he caught the omission of the word “not” in a section of the regulations regarding state spending on school renovations. Without a correction, that would have made it easier for schools to get major fixes more than once every 15 years.

Experts fear McDonnell win could hurt bay cooperation

by | Nov 4, 2009 |

Republican Robert McDonnell’s win Tuesday in the Virginia gubernatorial elections could roll back gains in that state’s cooperation with Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay and other policy issues, experts warned Wednesday.

Outgoing Democratic Gov. Timothy Kaine has had “a very cooperative, positive relationship” with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, said Mark Rozell, a professor of public policy at Virginia’s George Mason University. This relationship, Rozell said, is, in part, due to Kaine’s and O’Malley’s shared party affiliation, as well as their similar views on issues such as the environment and the Chesapeake Bay.

State falling behind land preservation goals as funding falls

by | Nov 4, 2009 |

Maryland continues to fall behind its goal of preserving a million of acres of farm and forest land by 2022, as open space funding declines and development pressures continue, state officials told legislators Tuesday.

“The quicker we move forward, the more we fall behind,” James Conrad, director of the state’s farmland preservation program, told the Joint Committee on Program Open Space and Agricultural Land Preservation. “It’s just going to get worse.”

State pension gap grows to $17.5 billion

by | Nov 4, 2009 |

Maryland will likely have to increase payments to its teacher and employee pension funds by $189 million next year, lawmakers learned Tuesday as officials with the State Retirement Agency broke down its results from fiscal 2009.

Pension officials said the state’s pension funds have promised to pay out $17.5 billion more than Maryland has put aside. The State Retirement and Pension System of has about $28.6 billion.

Analysis: O’Malley’s March on the road again

by | Nov 4, 2009 |

The Celtic governor and his band, O’Malley March, has booked a gig at Rams Head On Stage on West Street in Annapolis Sunday, Dec. 20, and they’ve got appearances Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Avalon Theatre in Easton. Check out the band’s Web site, and download pics of...

Analysis: So what are the other AAA states?

by | Nov 4, 2009 | ,

Maryland’s top officials often tout Maryland as one of only seven states that have a AAA bond rating. Which are the other six? Two of them are our neighbors, Delaware and Virginia. Rankings by Moody’s Investor’s Services say Maryland’s debt burden is “high,” which led...

Tearing down Patapsco River’s Union Dam is on board agenda

by | Nov 3, 2009 |

The Board of Public Works on Wednesday will be asked to sign off on a $1.5 million contract that the state is using to tear down Union Dam on the Patapsco River in Baltimore County.

The Department of Natural Resources has been using the contract, given to K&K Adams, Inc. in Baltimore City, since late September. The state expects to get about $1.2 million in federal stimulus money for the project, said Jordan Loran, DNR’s director of engineering and construction.

Maryland state debt high, moderate or low? Take your pick. Rating agencies are split

by | Nov 3, 2009 |

Is the $8.8 billion in debt Maryland owes to bond holders high, moderate or low? Take your pick. One of the three national bond rating agencies agrees with you, yet they all give Maryland their highest, AAA rating.

That split by the bond raters has little effect on the average taxpayer, since the AAA ratings guarantee some of the lowest interest rates available. However it does puzzle the raters a little, and the “high” designation by Moody’s Investors Service causes some concern to state officials.

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