At a forum sponsored by Maryland Business for Responsive Government last week, four journalists wrap up the legislative session and look ahead to the prospects for a special session to resolve the budget mess. The panel included Andy Green of the Baltimore Sun, Kenneth Burns of WBAL and WNAV, Len Lazarick of MarylandReporter.com and John Rydell of Fox 45.
O’Malley emails Democrats asking for party unity, decrying Republican cheers for doomsday budget; Maryland’s corporate tax rates are unfavorably compared to D.C.; Leggett says Montgomery County is better off under the “doomsday budget;” University of Maryland College Park students protest potential tuition increases under current budget; blue crab population continues to grow; Franchot wants school year to start after Labor Day.
Lou Panos, who covered 40 sessions of the Maryland General Assembly during his 60 years as a working journalist, was inducted in the Hall of Fame of the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association Thursday night. He spent 20 years at the Associated Press, a reporter and columnist for the Evening Sun and spent five years as press secretary to Gov. Harry Hughes. He retired as political editor of Patuxent Publishing in 2007.
The chair of the gambling subcommittee in the House of Delegates said Wednesday he hopes there are no gaming bills in any special session to fix the current budget mess — there are not enough votes to pass a 6th casino.
With 73 days until the implementation of the “doomsday budget,” a coalition of Marylanders affected by the potential $500 million in cuts unveiled a countdown clock at a news conference Wednesday.
After more than a year of controversy, the Board of Public Works approved a contract granting a Maryland taxi franchise the continuing exclusive right to operate and manage the cab service at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Republican legislators and conservative groups are mounting a campaign against a special session of the legislature to raise taxes, as teachers and public employees advocates are organizing to bring the lawmakers back to Annapolis to do just that.
Moody’s Investor Services says Maryland counties could face a downgrade of their bond ratings due the state cuts in education aid and the new maintenance of effort law “limiting the ability of local governments to cut their own spending.”
As the longest serving speaker in Maryland history, he shares immense power with the governor. He is also a hometown family man who lives in a modest house on McKendree Avenue in the Homewood section of Annapolis and knows thousands of residents of the capital city from a quarter-century of knocking on their doors in election campaigns. (This feature profile of House Speaker Michael Busch by Len Lazarick is running in the May issue of the regional magazines What’s Up Annapolis and What’s Up Eastern Shore.)
O’Malley takes to the airwaves to spread the word that a special session can only come if there is consensus; some blame the budget issue on O’Malley’s eagerness for the 2016 presidential race; policymakers say sooner is better for a special session, as many local governments foresee deep buts and layoffs because of “doomsday budget;” LaFerla concedes 1st district Democratic primary, throws support to Rosen.
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