Sen. E.J. Pipkin discusses the issues he has with Gov. Martin O’Malley’s offshore wind farm proposal.
Month: March 2011
Social Services failed to follow up on abuse and neglect, audit says; children placed with abusers
Severe problems with recordkeeping and computer systems kept the state’s Social Services Administration from following up on cases of abuse and neglect and led it to place children with caregivers who had histories of abuse and neglect. The failed systems also caused it to fall far behind in several federal benchmarks.
State Roundup, March 25, 2011
$34b Budget passes House, Senate committee passes a version that is similar — but different in key places; 3% alcohol tax and softened regulations looking promising; Senate gives gov 180 days to act on parole for life sentence; doctor’s note to get out of marijuana misdemeanor passed by Senate.
House passes budget; Senate committee makes retirement changes
The Maryland House of Delegates passed a slightly trimmed version of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s $34 billion budget on a straight party-line vote Thursday evening. About 90 minutes before, the members of the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee passed its own version of the same budget. They agreed to most of the changes made by the House which had been suggested by the Department of Legislative Services, but they disagreed on a few key points.
Senate committee quickly passes new 3% sales tax on beer, wine and alcohol
Maryland’s first alcohol tax increase in 39 years easily passed the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee in a 9-4 vote, putting an extra 3% sales tax on all purchases of beer, wine and liquor. The new tax will go up 1% a year for the next three years, raising an estimated $88 million by fiscal 2016, with some of the money going to public schools and services for developmental disabilities.
Dueling ignition interlock bills pass both chambers
Two different bills that expand the ignition interlock program to keep drunk drivers off the road passed both the Senate and the House of Delegates on Thursday morning, setting the stage for an end-of-session showdown.
Less demand for group homes saves state $126 million
The Board of Public Works approved $245 million in two-year contracts with 71 different providers of residential child care services for the Department of Human Resources on Wednesday. The contracts cost the state about $126 million less than in 2008, because fewer children need those services.
Ted Dallas, interim secretary of the Department of Human Resources, said that before the department implemented a new approach to foster services in 2007, they needed about 2,200 beds for young people in residential care. The contracts approved on Wednesday provide 1,376 beds in residential care, and Dallas said the amount of young people needing that kind of care is continuing to drop.
State Roundup, March 24, 2011
House of Delegates gives initial approval to budget plan; teachers union seeks compromise on pension changes; O’Malley goes to City Dock to continue to push for wind program; wine shipments pass — but only for wineries; House to vote on bill that would up penalties for negligent driving that ends in death; and ethics bill for Prince George’s comes before the House.
House gives tentative OK to $34 billion budget, rejecting GOP cuts
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.
Health advocates embrace new alcohol sales tax being fast tracked in Senate
Advocates who have been pushing for a dime-a-drink alcohol tax hike for more than a year are now embracing a newly introduced 3% sales tax on beer, wine and spirits that would raise less than half of what they were seeking, and would not be dedicated to health and disability services as the advocates had hoped.
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