20071022 News Clips

News Clips

Oct. 22, 2007

STATE NEWS

'2 Mikes' at center of budget battle
Miller, Busch differences loom as obstacles for O'Malley to overcome
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-te.md.leaders21oct21,0,563642.story
Just a few months ago at a bill-signing in Annapolis, Gov. Martin O'Malley stood between Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch and held up their hands, saying it "felt good" to work together.
But leading up to a special legislative session called by O'Malley to tackle a projected $1.7 billion budget shortfall, it remains to be seen whether they can come together again. Potentially standing in the way are the long-standing differences between the "two Mikes," and it might well be up to the governor to find a way to bridge that divide.
"It's personal, and it's mostly about slots, but it's also about ego," said Matthew Crenson, a political science professor at the Johns Hopkins University. "I don't think there's 'two Mike' fatigue yet, but it depends on how the governor handles it."
Yet Miller went on WBAL radio yesterday with O'Malley's former political rival, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., and raised doubts about the special session's ability to close the divide over slots or to solve the $1.7 billion deficit. "He may be thwarted in his goals to pass slots," Miller said. "We're not going to get $2 billion in this special session."
He added that O'Malley should consider meeting with Ehrlich to hash out a plan that Republicans could support.

Howard legislators cool to special session
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-ho.politics21oct21,0,2365417.story
There's very little enthusiasm among Howard County's legislators for the special session of the General Assembly set to begin Oct. 29, and some legislators are downright unhappy about it. O'Malley's warnings that the potential debt is rising daily plays poorly with Republicans such as state Sen. Allan H. Kittleman. "It frustrates me. We had the budget in front of us last spring. We could have done something then. We would have saved $500 million without cutting any program, but just by reducing increased spending," Kittleman said. "But they said, 'Don't do anything.'" Then they come back later and say rush this because we're losing money." Republican Del. Warren E. Miller agreed with Kittleman, calling the special session "a bad idea" and "an incredible waste of time."
Spe aking at a lunchtime forum in Columbia on Wednesday, Del. Frank S. Turner, a Democrat, rejected Republican criticism and defended the idea of changing the tax structure. Republican Del. Gail H. Bates also spoke at the forum, and her message was quite different.There's no urgency for a special session, she said. O'Malley's proposal to raise the sales tax will hurt the state's poorest residents the most, she told the human services providers at the meeting. "A lot of working families will get hurt by that."

O'Malley To Push For Truce On Slots
Debate May Sway Special Session
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/20/AR2007102001123.html
The Maryland General Assembly's battle over legalizing slot machines has now lasted longer than the Civil War.
Gov . Martin O'Malley (D), who made that wry observation last week, is staking considerable political capital on forging a truce in the next month. Whether he succeeds may well determine the fate of the entire special legislative session he has called to close the state's $1.7 billion budget shortfall.
Though revenue from slots is just one part of the governor's budget plan, the issue, which paralyzed Annapolis during the four-year tenure of O'Malley's Republican predecessor and poisoned the relationship between the legislature's two Democratic leaders, is expected to be the most contentious.
The fight over slots has been shaped as much by the dueling personalities of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) as by policy differences. O'Malley has increasingly suggested that the best way to reach an accord on slots may be for the legislature, in effect, to agree not to resolve the issue -- and instead ask voters whether to welcome expanded gambling to Maryland. As he has pushed for slots in recent weeks, O'Malley has conferred with Miller and Busch. But he has also made the case for a referendum directly to individual lawmakers. Though it is impossible to gauge the impact of O'Malley's efforts, interviews last week suggested growing -- but hardly universal -- interest in a referendum.

'Devil Is at the Door' and Gaining Strength, Franchot Tells Crowd
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/20/AR2007102001116.html
Opponents of a plan to legalize slot machines in Maryland held four rallies across the state yesterday, saying that approving the proposal would enrich gambling interests while serving as a morally corrupting tax on the poor that would not resolve a $1.7 bill ion state budget shortfall.
Several speakers, including state Comptroller Peter Franchot, condemned slot machines as a "pernicious idea" and told those in the crowd that their help would be needed to repel the proposal once more. Franchot (D), in particular, sounded an alarm, saying that the proposal has a measure of bipartisan support never enjoyed in the past.
Franchot observed that while he was speaking, state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) was a guest on the WBAL (1090 AM) radio show hosted by Kendel and Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the former Republican governor of Maryland who, along with Miller, is a longtime supporter of legalizing slots. In the interview, Miller reiterated his support for slots, pointing to statistics that Marylanders spend $500 million to $600 million gambling outside the state.
"If we had slots earlier, maybe we wouldn't have had this deficit," M iller said.

O'Malley: Expect deep cuts if budget plan fails
http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_21-21/TOP
Gov. Martin O'Malley describes his budget deficit plan as clear enough even for a "C" student such as himself to understand, and he sounds optimistic that lawmakers will come together to support his proposals in a special session to avoid deep government cuts. Mr. O'Malley also views the consequences of failure as a major motivator. If the plan doesn't work out, there will be a lot of pain to go around - with more cuts than he's already made and bigger tax increases.
"I continue to believe that there is so much at risk from failure that we are going to find a way to succeed," Mr. O'Malley told reporters after Wednesday's budget briefing with students at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. "If we fail, that downside will be shared by everybody, and this will not be the sort of state that we can be proud of."
A lack of bipartisan support could be a problem. Although Democrats hold strong majorities in both chambers, Republicans have been significant backers of previous slots legislation. This time, though, Senate Republican Leader David Brinkley has said the GOP is withdrawing support. That's because Republicans oppose the whole idea of holding a special session, which they view as an excuse to raise taxes without more spending cuts.

O'Malley doesn't want slots distraction in January
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/NEWS01/71022002
If the decision to legalize slot machine gambling in Maryland goes to voters in a referendum, it won't show up on ballots until November 2008, but Gov. Martin O'Malley still wants to move forward with the difficult debate in next week's special session. That's because he doesn't want slots to be a distraction during the 90-day session in January, and he believes voters should have ample time to think over a slots plan before casting their votes, the governor recently told reporters.
O'Malley said he wants to reserve the full session to take on issues like improving energy efficiency. Lawmakers, he said, should at least define a slots plan as soon as possible, I think we owe it to the voters, even given our inability to resolve this on a representative level, to at least define what a Maryland slots plan would look like so that they can properly weigh the pros and the cons in their vote," O'Malley, a Democrat, said.
The governor also said it's important to consider slots while other budget measures are being weighed, beca use slot machines represent "25 percent of the fix" to Maryland's $1.7 billion structural deficit - at least in the longterm.

Referendum would bump slots issue to '08 ballot
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/METRO/110220066/1004
The issue of legalizing slot-machine gambling in Maryland would be delayed until the November 2008 ballot if the issue is put to voters in a referendum. But Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, still wants to move forward with the debate in the special General Assembly session next week. The governor said he wants to resolve the slots issue now so it will not be a distraction during the 90-day regular session that starts in January. The House and Senate have passed differing versions of slots legislation over the years, but lawmakers h ave been unable to resolve differences between the two chambers. To put a slots proposal on the ballot, it would take a three-fifths vote by both chambers.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat, has long opposed slots but recently said a referendum has "a lot of positives" and that lawmakers appear open to the idea. A slots bill has not yet been made public, but the O'Malley administration said one is in the works.
The apparent loss of Republican support has hurt Mr. O'Malley's chances of having state lawmakers passing slots legislation.

Bartlett has plan to insure poor kids
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.kane20oct20,0,5181865.column
Bartlett, a Republican, was the only one of Maryland's eight members of the House of Representatives to vote against the re authorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. According to the Web site of the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, the insurance program "authorizes states to provide health care coverage to targeted low-income children who are not eligible for Medicaid and who are uninsured."
The debate on how the program should be expanded is a wee bit more nuanced and complicated than Democrats telling Republicans "we like poor kids, and you don't." The insurance plan was passed in 1997, when Republicans had a majority in both houses of Congress. Bartlett voted for it then, and he'll vote for it again, once what he thinks are kinks in the current legislation are worked out. On his House Web site, Bartlett explained to voters -- and bloggers in high dudgeon -- just what those kinks are. "I didn't vote against health care for poor children," Bartlett said. "I voted against an unwarranted expansion of what's been a very good health care program." Bartlett said the goal of the program was to help children of the working poor, many of whom are people who got off public assistance when welfare reform was passed. "I want to reward the working poor for working," Bartlett said. "Many entry-level jobs don't have health care coverage, and if we mandate it, those jobs will disappear."
Bartlett has co-sponsored a new bill called the "More Children, More Choices Act" that, he says, will give middle-class families something even better than enrollment in the insurance program: refundable tax credits. a tax credit would put the money that a family making $62,000 a year spends for health care insurance back into their pockets.
"How could you have a better incentive than that?" Bartlett asked.

Kids get free dental exams in E. Baltimore
Effort comes after 12-year-old died in Feb. from untreated tooth inf ection
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-dental1022,0,5462801.story
About 300 children were preparing to get free dental exams this morning at an East Baltimore community center, the latest effort to help poor youngsters after the death in February of a 12-year-old Maryland boy who died when a tooth infection spread to his brain. Outrage over dental care grew in February after the death of Deamonte Driver of Prince George's County. U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, accused the Bush administration of failing to provide adequate dental care to poor children. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an investigation into the boy's death and into the Medicaid program.
Cummings sponsored today's exams, which begin at 9 a.m.

First Nigh t canceled
Annapolis plans a smaller New Year's Eve arts celebration
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.first21oct21,0,5201840.story
First Night Annapolis, the city's New Year's celebration, has been canceled this year to allow its organizers to dig themselves out of debt. But don't toss out your "Happy New Year" party hats and horns yet. The city is putting on its own arts celebration - Annapolis Alive! New Year's Eve 2008 - to coincide with the celebration of its 300th anniversary.
The City Council is expected to approve a resolution sometime next month that would allow for the event, which would run from 6 p.m. Dec. 31 to 1 a.m. Jan. 1. The council is also expected to transfer a $7,500 grant earmarked for First Night to the city to pay for the festivities. Stephanie Duncan Troxell of the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau, who is helping to organize the event, said organizers are hoping to entice tourists to the city, which will provide a "very important ecomonic impact."

EDITORIALS/OP-EDS

Putting the old verities to the test in Annapolis
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.fraser21oct21,0,531444.column
Maybe it's just the early jockeying for position, but the special legislative session set for Oct. 29 will test some home truths. This session is a forced march into a reality created by Democratic governors and legislators. They gave Maryland some goodies without providing a way to pay for them. The bills have come due. In earlier financial crises, the General Assembly's fiscal wiza rds solved big money problems under the general radar scope. They shifted things around, recalculated formulas and stopped covering various expenses, leaving no fingerprints to be pointed at later by angry voters or opportunistic opponents.
Not this time. Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed tax increases have been all over the papers.
It's the how of the whole thing that could jam the gears. It's one thing to recognize the need for more money - not even for new spending, again, but to take care of obligations already on the books.If all of that were not enough, Mr. O'Malley walks into his special session uncertain of support from the usually supportive Montgomery County.
It may be no surprise to learn that as much as 80 percent of the new income tax revenue requested by the governor would come from Montgomery. That doesn't make it an easier sell. Legislators in Montgomery will not come to Annapolis ready to open the wallets of their constituents.

Reality-based budgeting
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.funding21oct21,0,4759135.story
If you think Maryland suffers from profligate government spending, you probably don't have a child with a developmental disability. Those who do know that the waiting list for services - short-term temporary care, perhaps, or a vocational program - is an unacceptable 16,820 families long. The reality of state government is that most tax dollars go straight into schools, public safety and health care - and often, it's still not enough.
When the General Assembly convenes one week from tomorrow in special session to consider Mr. O'Malley's plan, every option should be on the table, including eliminating government programs that are no longer vital.The deficit wasn't caused by waste; it's primarily the result of failing to pay for programs that most people living in this, one of the wealthiest states in the nation, would regard as sensible and prudent.

SMART Fund would be a start on cleaning up the bay
By JOHN R. LEOPOLD
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_21-15/COL
The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are among Anne Arundel County's greatest natural resources. Unfortunately, 30 years after Congress enacted the Clean Water Act, the bay has been listed as an "impaired water body" under that act, due to excess nutrients and sediment. National and state efforts to stem this mounting tide of pollution have not succeeded. Our county government must step up and play a proactive role in cleaning up the waters that touch our shores.
I have proposed increasing our capital construction progra m to save our waters through creation of the Stormwater Management and Restoration of Tributaries, or SMART, Fund. The SMART Fund could add more than $55 million to our 10-year program to reduce stormwater runoff and help clean up our waterways. The fund could also be a source of matching funds to leverage additional federal or state grants that could be used for these projects. Keeping our waterways clean and healthy is a solemn obligation that we owe to ourselves and our children and grandchildren. The SMART Fund is a start on meeting that obligation. --- The writer is Anne Arundel County executive.

Why Maryland needs slots
http://www.examiner.com/a-1002503~Tom_Moore__Why_Maryland_needs_slots.html
Del. Jon Cardin, D-11 argues that slots won't really help racing in Maryland. As he correctly poin ts out, in other jurisdictions where slots exist at the track, the handle (amount bet on horses) rarely increases, while solid gains have been shown instead in the size of the purses. Increases in purse size mean that more jockeys will want to race in Maryland.
Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich's 2004 proposal of adding 4,000 machines would have brought the state between $500 million and $1.3 billion, depending on whose estimate you believed. One simple solution is for the state to allow the machines only at racetracks and tax the revenue, with the caveat that at least 20 percent of all money earned must go to track improvements, and at least 10 percent to a locally-run neighborhood improvement fund to help support neighborhoods in track areas.
In Maryland, former Attorney General Joseph Curran said in a report that casinos bring enormous crime increases with them.
However, slots are not the same thing as casinos. Slots are simply one form of isolated gambling, like horse racing. The bottom line is that the state needs the money, and horse racing needs saving.


NATIONAL NEWS

Bush: Halt commercial harvesting of rockfish
Officials say state's current limits work well
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_21-31/TOP
In addition to reinforcing protection of rockfish in federal waters, President Bush had a surprise suggestion yesterday for East Coast states - make the fish off-limits to commercial watermen in state waters."I respect the state's role in the management of the natural resources under their care," Mr. Bush said. But he said states should consider the commercial shutdown "where appropriate." U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, R-Kent, s tood with the president and said afterward that Maryland already does a good job managing rockfish. He said the state can "bridge the gaps" that may exist between commercial and recreational fishermen and that he'd like to see a move toward "ecosystem based management" of fish, which takes into account various factors such as predator-prey relationships, water quality and availability of habitat.
A temporary ban on all fishing for rockfish is credited with bringing the species back to abundance.

Distance to Dulles drives Hagerstown airport funding
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=177353&format=html
A federal funding quarrel hinges on the driving distance from Hagerstown to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. The length of the trip is an essential measurement for Hagerstown Regional Airport, which has been receiving a subsidy to help communities far from larger hub airports. The subsidy is in limbo until Congress passes a bill to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running another four years. The last authorization legislation expired Sept. 30.
At a Chamber of Commerce luncheon Monday in Washington County, U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., accused the DOT of "resistance" and "making it difficult" for the subsidy to continue. During an interview afterward, he upgraded his accusation to "hostility." The House of Representatives has passed a bill to continue the FAA's operations and the EAS program for four more years. Cardin predicted the Senate would vote on a measure by Thanksgiving.
The bill that expired Sept. 30 ordered the DOT to sanction the most common route from Hagerstown to Dulles, as decided by the state of Maryland, not the shortest route. Cardin and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., have urged the DOT to let the exemption continue until Dec. 31 while a new bill is considered.

Republicans Uphold Bush Veto of Children's Health Funding
http://somd.com/news/headlines/2007/6590.shtml
House Democrats are readying another bill after failing to override President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program Thursday, while a Maryland Republican has his own ideas on the subject. Of the eight Maryland representatives, only Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Frederick, voted "no." "I want to thank Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid for recognizing that I cast the only correct vote in the Maryland delegation against the Democrat version of SCHIP," Bartlett said previously. "I'm proud that I voted to create t he bipartisan SCHIP program in 1997. I support continuing SCHIP health insurance for all children of the working poor, but that is not what this debate is about."
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, criticized the Democrats' postponement of the override vote for two weeks after the veto, saying the delay was an "example of the political games that the American people are tired of." "We could be here today on a new bill," if the override vote had been taken immediately, he said. "Today's vote is only the first chapter in the campaign to ensure our nation's most vulnerable citizens have access to quality health care," said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, in a statement. The Democrats' next version could deny the children of illegal immigrants coverage and cap eligible families' income, according to published reports.
Both have been sticking points for Republicans, some of whom say a family of four can make $83,000 per year - 4 00 percent of the poverty level - and still be covered by SCHIP, according to debate on the floor Thursday. New Jersey has the highest eligibility threshold at 325 percent of the poverty level.