Maryland’s superintendent of schools told lawmakers Wednesday that she supports legislation that would delay evaluating teachers on new Common Core student assessments for two years until the 2016-2017 school year.
Month: February 2014
State Roundup, February 19, 2014
State lawmakers now must hash out details on proposed bill to hike to the minimum wage; Arundel lawmaker continues fight against inaccurate speed camera will bill that would stop local governments from paying operators per ticket; legislation seeks to raise speed limit on some highways to 70 mph; Attorney General Gansler pushes back against court on mandated attorney at initial bail review; U.S. Rep. Delaney files for re-election, ending some speculation on his joining governor’s race; and as the primary races for governor heat up: Brown over Gansler 2-1 in new poll; Craig proposes major income tax cut; in Purple Line debate, Mizeur and Gansler go after Brown over health care rollout; and Brown issues web ad attacking Gansler over pre-k expansion vs. cutting corporate taxes.
Bill requires many employers to offer paid sick leave
Almost a majority of the House of Delegates is sponsoring legislation to mandate many Maryland businesses offer paid sick and safe leave policy for their employees, a move one research group estimates would cost employers $165 million.
State Roundup, February 18, 2014
Public information panel garners support from transparency advocates; Montgomery parents blast senators over loopholes in proposed bill governing sex with minor students; conservative group targets Del. Kipke as “coward” for pulling support from NSA punishment bill; U.S. Rep. Cummings testifies for minimum wage hike as popular support grows fro the proposal; O’Malley says he sees hike as a two-tier system with state minimum wage as baseline and counties adding on; workers could also see mandatory paid sick time; some farmers, other advocates push limited sale of raw milk; Venezuelan transplant is latest to join District 18 House race; one bill would offer tax break for adopting shelter pet; Henson blasts McFadden as Senate race heats up; and Craig to offer tax cut proposal in race for governor.
Analysis: Health exchange problems could be more serious and expensive than reported
The problems at the Maryland Health Benefits Exchange (MHBE) are likely more serious and more expensive to fix than has already been reported, according to an assessment of project documentation by MarylandReporter.com.
Cost overruns and higher costs in future years could easily run to over $100 million, and big decisions loom regarding who will pay and what will happen to the glitch-ridden website.
State Roundup, February 17, 2014
Lt. Gov. Brown says his running mate won’t be raising gubernatorial campaign funds during session after all and will seek to close the loophole; Senate unanimously OKs expansion of protected wildlands; GOP congressmen seek answers to federal spending on Maryland’s crippled health exchange; Prince George’s undocumented immigrants get more jail time than those in D.C.; Senate committee to begin hearing on minimum wage hike; Colburn divorce record to be opened on March 1; President Obama in Prince George’s Tuesday; Chris Cavey steps away from state Senate race to focus on Hogan’s gubernatorial campaign; and Sun poll finds voters largely undecided on races for attorney general and governor, but back Clinton over O’Malley for president.
Eberly commentary: Minimum wage needs a boost, but it is not a living wage
A review of the history of the wage suggests that it should be raised to approximately $8.40 an hour and then indexed to inflation thereafter. But the proposal to make Maryland’s minimum $10.10 by 2016 simply goes too far and would likely have significant negative effects on youth and unskilled employment levels.
Rascovar column: Getting to the bottom of Md.’s $250M health care fiasco
Accountability is sorely lacking when it comes to Maryland’s botched rollout of Obamacare. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown is nowhere to be found when tough questions are asked. Gov. Martin O’Malley deflects “who’s at fault” inquiries, focusing instead on getting the deeply flawed software partly operable.
State Roundup, Friday, February 14, 2014
Snow day at the State House, as the storm dominates coverage; today’s roundup focuses on other news; Rep. Harris denies slamming Speaker Boehner; Harris also wants federal probe of Maryland Health Care Exchange foul-up; raw milk would be made legal again; restrictions on license plate data proposed; District 12 fundraising, and District 16 candidates; Israel boycotts would be banned; sales tax on appliances dropped this weekend; pay hikes for Howard County officials; denial of gun purchases based on background checks decline; rating agencies eye chicken tax debate; vacant judgeships linger on O’Malley’s desk; Common Core standards are important to business; ex-Sen. Wagner dies; Duncan slams Leggett in debate; domestic violence bill passes.
State Roundup, February 13, 2014
Legislators discuss expanding pre-kindergarten to even more 4-year-olds; five Republicans withdraw NSA punishment bill after learning more details; U.S. Rep. Harris seeks probe into federal funds used for Maryland health exchange website; a twist to minimum wage debate is allowing counties to set their own rate; environmental group’s fracking report bolsters ban on practice; board to oversee handling of public information requests could be formed; chicken tax sponsor say he’ll stand behind the proposal; even as marijuana discussions come to the fore, most legislators stay mum on whether they have smoked; but most gubernatorial candidates are open about use; and Brown seeks Prince George’s restaurant recommendations as a tweak to Gansler’s remarks.
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