20070424 News Clips

News Clips

Posted April 24, 2007

State News H/T: GOPCharlie

Clean Cars Bill Goes To The Governor

http://wbal.com/news/story.asp?articleid=56805

A Maryland bill to tighten emissions standards on new cars will be signed into law today.

Governor Martin O'Malley will sign bills including the so-called "Clean Cars" bill, which will require tougher emissions standards by model year 2011. The bill does NOT affect current cars, but it could eventually lead to less air pollution.

The bill means Maryland will join California and several other states that have tighter emissions requirements than the federal government.

O'Malley plans to sign bills related to the environment today. Also on the schedule is a bill to study oyster restoration.

PSC brings BGE hearing to Annapolis

http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/04_23-38/TOP

In the last week's round of hearings on Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s request for a 48 percent rate increase, the Public Service Commission heard from company officials and electric industry experts, scrutinizing all the factors that hit people's wallets.

And now it's ready to hear from customers. The PSC has scheduled a public hearing in Annapolis where the public can weigh in on the rate increase.

O’Malley’s Governing by the Numbers seen as national model

http://www.examiner.com/a-691011~O_Malley_s__Governing_by_the_Numbers__seen_as_national_model.html

Gov. Martin O’Malley has been barely been in office three months, but the performance-based governance model he just instituted, StateStat - a version of CitiStat, which he implemented seven years ago as Baltimore City mayor is now being promoted on the national level.

Data-driven policymaking is exactly the medicine we need at this time, said John Podesta, president of a Washington think tank, the Center for American Progress, and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.

O'Malley pushes CityStat model in speech at liberal think tank

Government efficiency said to thrive under results-driven system

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.omalley24apr24,0,3284037.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Measuring the effectiveness of government is the key for progressives to earn the trust of voters and beat out small-government conservatives, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said at a liberal think tank yesterday.

Speaking at a seminar on performance-driven government management, O'Malley preached the virtues of CityStat, the high-tech system he employed as Baltimore mayor to measure everything from pothole repair to violent crime, and its infant cousin, StateStat. He gave the keynote address at the seminar, held at the Center for American Progress.

Mayor pressured on crime strategy

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.council24apr24,0,3104683.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake asked officials in Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration yesterday to outline specific plans for dealing with violent crime, weighing in on an issue traditionally overseen by the mayor.

Rawlings-Blake, who took over the council presidency when Dixon became mayor in January, also introduced a City Council resolution yesterday that calls on police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm and other city leaders to explain the administration's plan to address crime.

Energy supplier looks to raise Maryland rates

http://www.examiner.com/a-691040~Energy_supplier_looks_to_raise_Maryland_rates.html

Washington Gas Light Co., a Washington-based energy retail business, announced that it has filed an application with the Maryland Public Service Commission to increase its rates and charges in Maryland.

National News

Lawmakers: Coast Guard can't protect gas plants

http://www.examiner.com/a-691010~Lawmakers__Coast_Guard_can_t_protect_gas_plants.html

Federal lawmakers said they fear a cash-strapped Coast Guard lacks the resources to protect a growing list of liquefied natural gas facilities nationwide, including a proposed terminal on Baltimores Sparrows Point peninsula.

Elected officials met at a House Coast Guard subcommittee hearing in Baltimore on Monday to discuss the agencys ability to handle security on a growing roster of LNG terminals nationwide despite an $8 billion deficit. The Coast Guard already enforces security buffer zones, conducts on-board sweeps and provides armed escorts for five terminals operating in the United States.

We’re stretching and stretching and stretching, but if the resources aren’t coming in like they should be, we’ve got a problem, said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the committee’s chairman.

Kelley described the system as burden-sharing, a phrase U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., changed to burden-shifting.

We’re training the sheriff to be the Coast Guard by proxy, Mikulski said.

Hearing examines LNG safety

O'Malley, Mikulski, Smith testify at session held in Baltimore

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-md.co.lng24apr24,0,4548756.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Gov. Martin O'Malley said the state's billion-dollar economic engine at the port of Baltimore would be crippled if anything went wrong at a proposed liquefied natural gas facility on Sparrows Point. Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. predicted that local emergency responders could not begin to evacuate residents and workers or fight a fire at the plant.

And Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski said she was worried that an LNG plant would create a terrorist target in the Washington region and the potential for "an accident with ghoulish consequences."

Md. focuses on regional planning

At base realignment meeting, officials encourage cooperation in face of coming influx

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.brac24apr24,0,1380775.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Despite facing huge financial gaps in preparing for the influx of people and jobs coming via the federal base realignment and closure process, Maryland is using the changes "to do regional planning we should do anyway," a Maryland congressman told about 175 people gathered for a semiannual BRAC summit yesterday in Crownsville.

"BRAC has become a very useful vehicle," said freshman Rep. John Sarbanes. "It's teaching us how to cooperate across regional, political and administrative lines," and "jumps the state forward. I'm doing a lot of learning and listening."

President Bush Discusses Emergency War Spending Supplemental After Oval Office Meeting With U.S. Commander In Iraq General Petraeus. "US President George W. Bush said Monday he would oppose any effort to set a timetable for a US withdrawal from Iraq and said that a US-led security crackdown had reduced sectarian violence there. 'There's been some progress. There's been some horrific bombings, of course, but there's also a decline in sectarian violence,' Bush said as he met in the Oval Office with the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus. ... 'I believe strongly that politicians in Washington shouldn't be telling generals how to do their job. And I believe artificial timetables of withdrawal would be a mistake,' said Bush." ("Bush Sees Drop In Iraq Sectarian Violence," Agence France-Presse, 4/23/07)

National Security Council Director For Iraq Brett McGurk Says "You Need A Baseline Of Security To Get [A] Political Solution In Place." MCGURK: "I just returned from Iraq last week. We got full briefings from General Petraeus, General Odierno, General Gaskin in the west, out in Falluja, about that they're seeing. And Senator Reid makes the point that the long-term solution is a political solution. We all agree with that, General Petraeus said that, and President Bush said that. But General Petraeus has also testified and explained ... you need a baseline of security to get that political solution in place. And what this strategy does is fundamentally different on the diplomatic line, on the economic line, on the security line, and on the political line, and it does two things. It provides space for the Iraqi political leaders to pursue reconciliation at the national and local level, and it also provided room to increase the capacity and effectiveness of the Iraqi security forces. And that's critical." (CNN's "The Situation Room," 4/23/07)

The President's Identity Theft Task Force Releases Comprehensive Strategic Plan To Combat Identity Theft. "A U.S. task force created to curb identity theft urged federal agencies Monday to help protect consumers by ceasing unnecessary use of Social Security numbers. A plan put forward by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission also recommended that Congress toughen and expand existing laws to make some identity thi eves face a mandatory two-year sentence. The identity theft prevention task force, chaired by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, was established last May by the White House. It now includes 17 federal agencies and departments such as the Homeland Security Department and the U.S. Postal Service." (Rachelle Younglai, "Identity Theft Task Force Urges Tougher Penalties," Reuters, 4/23/07)

Number Of U.S. Tech Jobs On The Rise. "Despite fears of tech jobs going overseas, tech employment is on the rise. About 5.8 million people worked in the industry in the USA during 2006, says a study out today from tech trade group AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association). The industry added 146,600 jobs during the year, although employment is still below the highs reached during the dot-com boom of 2000. Tech accounts for about 5.1% of the U.S. private-sector workforce, and the jobs are lucrative ." ("Number Of U.S. Tech Jobs Rises Despite Fears Of Outsourcing," USA Today, 4/24/07)

The Wall Street Journal Argues The State Children's Health Insurance Program Should Be Returned To Its Original Purposes. "Schip was conceived or at least sold as a way to insure children from low-income families that aren't poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. The Bush Administration wants to add $4.8 billion to the Schip budget, bringing it to $30 billion over the next five years. Democrats want to see that and raise by $50 billion to $60 billion. They pronounce Schip 'underfunded' and sure enough, 2007 funding already falls short of covering enrollees in 18 states by about $900 million. But this 'crisis' arose because some states have grossly exceeded Schip's mandate. They are using the program to expand government-subsidized coverage well beyond poor kids to children from wealthier families and even to adults. And they're doing so even as some 8.3 million poor children continue to go uninsured." (Editorial, "HillaryCare Installment Plan," The Wall Street Journal, 4/24/07)