State Roundup, March 28, 2014

HOUSE OKS BUDGET: In a 100-38 vote on Thursday the Maryland House of Delegates approved Gov. O’Malley’s  fiscal 2015 budget, reports Jennifer Shutt for the Salisbury Daily Times.  Norm Conway, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee,  said when combined with the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, the budget bill ensure a balanced budget in fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015.

• The budget trimmed some spending growth from the governor’s original $39.2 billion plan but maintained a $200 million diversion of funds away from the state’s pension system, reports Kate Alexander in the Gazette.
• The House of Delegates approved its version of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s $38.7 billion budget but not before Republicans got in some licks about high taxes, Common Core and the lack of a vote on their own pay raises, writes Len Lazarick for MarylandReporter.com.

HOUSE’S ‘CARDS’ GAME: Members of the Maryland House of Delegates are still stewing over a threat from the “House of Cards” producers to leave the state if they don’t get millions more dollars in tax credits, reports Jenna Johnson in the Post.

• And so, the House adopted budget language Thursday requiring the state to seize the production company’s property if it stops filming in the state, reports Tim Wheeler for the Sun.
• “House of Cards” receives the lion’s share of the state’s tax credit for film production, writes Kate Alexander in the Gazette. Kevin Spacey, who plays the unscrupulous Frank Underwood on the show, even schmoozed lawmakers last week, hoping to secure House support for increase tax incentive. The Senate voted to increase the tax credit fund from $7.5 million to $18.5 million. The House has yet to vote.

BUDDY SYSTEM PAY RAISES: Blair Lee of the Gazette addresses an issue brought up by MarylandReporter in mid-March, the automatic pay raises for legislators. Lee calls the method of obtaining the pay raises a “buddy system” that attempts to mask the fact that legislators had anything to do with them at all.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA: The Senate passed legislation Thursday that would give Marylanders with serious medical conditions access to marijuana if it is recommended by a specially licensed physician.The Senate bill, which passed 45-1, takes a much less restrictive approach to the number of licenses for growers and distributors of marijuana, which the House had restricted to 10, reports Michael Dresser for the Sun.

• The measure would allow certifying physicians approved by the state’s medical marijuana commission to give written certification to patients to obtain the drug for medical purposes, Frederick Kunkle writes in the Post.

TRANSGENDER PROTECTIONS: Legislation barring discrimination against transgender people passed the General Assembly on Thursday, as the House of Delegates approved the bill after an impassioned debate, reports Tim Wheeler in the Sun. The vote sends the measure to Gov. Martin O’Malley, who said he will sign it.

• The House of Delegates voted 82 to 57 on Thursday to give transgender individuals the same protections already given to those who might face discrimination based on race, sex, color, creed, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, age or disability, Jenna Johnson reports for the Post.
• Supporters argued that people should not have to worry about losing jobs or being denied housing because of gender identity, writes Alex Jackson in the Annapolis Capital. Opponents said the bill gave transgender individuals too many rights and went further than civil rights measures passed in recent years, such as the one that legalized same-sex marriage in Maryland.
• Del. Kathy Szeliga read off a list of accounts of women and children who were assaulted or raped by men in restrooms in Montgomery County, writes Kate Alexander for the Gazette. But, said Del. Kirill Reznik, in none of those cases were those charged transgendered nor did any of the men charged attempt to claim protection under a similar anti-discrimination law in place in Montgomery County.

BAIL HEARINGS: A legislative proposal to replace initial bail hearings with computerized pretrial risk assessment programs came under sharp attack Thursday by senators concerned that a law-and-order governor could ensure that all arrestees are jailed pending judicial review, Steve Lash writes in the Daily Record.

WITHHOLDING TAX REFUNDS: The Senate unanimously passed bills Thursday allowing Baltimore City and Washington County to adopt a program launched in Anne Arundel County under which people with open warrants can have their state income tax refunds withheld, reports Michael Dresser in the Sun.

ARUNDEL ELECTIONS: The Senate gave preliminary approval Thursday to a bill that would restrict members of the Anne Arundel Board of Education from running for public office during their five-year term, even if they resign early, writes Jeremy Bauer-Wolf for MarylandReporter.com. The bill generated an unusual battle over a local bill.

BUDDY SYSTEM PAY RAISES: Blair Lee of the Gazette addresses an issue brought up by MarylandReporter in mid-March, the automatic pay raises for legislators. Lee calls the method of obtaining the pay raises a “buddy system” that attempts to mask the fact that legislators had anything to do with them at all.

DWYER AMENDMENT: Sen. Bryan Simonaire on Thursday introduced a constitutional amendment to bar an action like one taken by House Speaker Michael Busch against Del. Don Dwyer earlier this year, Alex Jackson of the Annapolis Capital reports. Simonaire’s constitutional amendment, he says, would bar a presiding officer from removing a member from a standing committee or stripping them of their right to vote.

STATE CENTER PROJECT GREEN-LIGHTED: Maryland’s top court has cleared the way for the $1.5 billion State Center redevelopment after finding the project’s opponents waited too long to challenge the procurement process, the Daily Record’s Danny Jacobs reports. The Court of Appeals said Thursday that opponents of the plan, a group of downtown business and property owners funded in part by attorney Peter Angelos, “slumbered unreasonably in asserting their claims.”

• Here is Luke Broadwater’s account of the decision in the Sun. “We’re thrilled,” says the lead developer.

DISTRICT 16: Suzanne Pollak of Washington Jewish Week writes about the political maneuvering taking place in District 16 as newcomers and incumbents alike seek to fill state Sen. Brian Frosh’s seat as he runs for state Attorney General.

GANSLER PICKS UP ENDORSEMENT: Attorney General Doug Gansler on Thursday picked up an endorsement of his gubernatorial bid from the Hispanic National Law Enforcement Association, writes John Wagner in the Post. “The attorney general’s record on both public safety and serving minority communities is unparalleled in the state of Maryland,” Joe Perez, the organization’s president, said in a statement.

JESUS CHRIST: A day after a federal judge barred Carroll County commissioners from invoking Jesus Christ in their pre-meeting prayers, Commissioner Robin Frazier did just that — twice — saying she was willing to go to jail for her beliefs, Blair Ames reports in the Sun. A video of Frazier explaining her beliefs tops the article.

• She proceeded to quote a prayer that she said was by George Washington, which included references to Jesus Christ, Lord, our Father, merciful father and the Holy Spirit, reports Christian Alexanderson of the Carroll County Times. But, and there is a big but attached in the sidebar to the left of this article, the head of the history department at Messiah College says Washington only invoked Jesus’ name twice in writings and neither were in prayers.
• Here’s a written statement from the commissioners saying that they will abide by the ruling as the case continues to make its way in court.
• And here’s a contempt warning from an attorney with the Appignani Humanist Legal Center.
• MarylandReporter.com editor Len Lazarick invokes Jesus’ name in an editorial, in which he quotes biblical passages in which Jesus urged his followers to pray in private.  
• The editorial board of the Sun weighs the issues of free speech and separation of church and state and concludes that Frazier should abide by the court order.

LEOPOLD’S NEXT MOVE: Former County Executive John Leopold said Thursday he is “weighing all the options” on how he might seek election this year. Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals lifted a ban on Wednesday that prevented Leopold from running for public office while serving probation, writes Rema Rahman for the Annapolis Capital.