Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Bus Econ Maryland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bus Econ Maryland. Show all posts

Friday, March 15, 2013

Mismanaged Maryland

Mismanaged Maryland

Despite talk of reforms and budget cuts, Annapolis dabbles in excessive borrowing, noncompetitive projects and risky investments

March 11, 2013 | By George Liebmann

There is a sharp disconnect between the image and reality of the O'Malley administration's fiscal policies. The image features pension reforms, reduced structural deficits, a rainy day fund, and protection of programs. The reality includes deferred maintenance, transfer of costs to local governments, "Medicaid cuts" that shift costs to hospitals and the privately insured, revenue bond financing for core functions, failure to curb pensions and health benefits, raids on open space and Injured Workers' Insurance Fund revenues, over-reliance on gambling (both literally and within the state's pension funds), and set-asides for public employee and construction unions and politically engaged businesses and investment bankers — payoffs funded by kicking the can down the road.... http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-03-11/news/bs-ed-state-finances-20130311_1_pension-system-pension-fund-school-construction

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Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Doing business in the state of Maryland is an ordeal in hell: Permitting issue ends local firm's recycling of food scraps


Maryland Department of the Environment calls for operations to cease due to lack of permits http://tinyurl.com/7wkz6k5

By Kevin Rector, krector@tribune.com February 6, 2012


A Woodbine company that had been processing food scraps into composted materials with commercial applications — a process lauded by state and local officials as the next great frontier in recycling — has ceased those operations after hearing concerns about pollution from the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The impact has been far reaching, causing a string of institutions and the Howard County government, which were all sending food scraps to the facility, to find other, out-of-state facilities to handle the material.

Recycled Green Industries, which is still processing yard waste at its Carroll County facility off Kabik Court, received a verbal request to stop its food waste operations from the department on Dec. 22 because it did not have correct permits or processes in place to handle food scraps, according to a department spokesman… http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/business/ph-ce-recycled-green-0205-20120205,0,5133383.story

[20120206 ExpCar Permitting issue ends firm recycling]

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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Bob Ehrlich for Maryland campaign video: “Remember”

The Bob Ehrlich for Maryland campaign video: “Remember”


September 24th, 2010



The Bob Ehrlich for Maryland campaign released the following television advertisement, which will air in the Baltimore market beginning this weekend.  The ad focuses on Martin O’Malley’s legacy of misleading Marylanders, from his 2006 campaign statements regarding electricity rates in Baltimore to his more recent statements about Maryland’s economy. 

EHRLICH ANNOUNCER: “Remember this promise?”

2006 MARTIN O’MALLEY CAMPAIGN AD: “Martin O’Malley – taking on BG&E to stop the rate hikes.”

EHRLICH ANNOUNCER: “Never happened.  Your bill went up 72%.

“And O’Malley gave the bureaucrat who approved the increase a huge raise.

“Now Martin O’Malley promises we’re moving forward.

O’MALLEY VIDEO FOOTAGE: “The fact of the matter is our economy is doing much better now.”

EHRLICH ANNOUNCER: “Really?  Nearly 7,000 Marylanders lost their jobs last month.” 

“Four years ago Martin O’Malley mislead us. Now he’s just making stuff up.”

BACKGROUND
The (Baltimore) Sun’s June 10, 2007 article “Did The Sun go too easy on BGE rates, O’Malley?” states that, “combined with the 15 percent rate increase approved by the General Assembly in 2006, BGE customers would now be paying the 72 percent that produced such an outcry when the prospect surfaced last year.”

The Martin O’Malley campaign for Governor in 2006 aired a television advertisement entitled “Tough,” which specifically states that, as Governor, Martin O’Malley will “lower utility rates.” The ad can be viewed on Martin O’Malley’s Youtube page by clicking here.

The (Baltimore) Sun’s February 24, 2007 article “Beleagered PSC Member resigns” states that Public Service Commission Chairman Steven Larsen would be paid $185,000, even though his predecessor was paid $117,000. That’s a $68,000 raise.

The (Baltimore) Sun’s January 14, 2008 article “O’Malley to offer energy package” states that O’Malley, “campaigned on the unfulfilled promise of undoing a 72 percent electricity rate increase for 1.2 million Baltimore Gas & Electric customers.”

The (Baltimore) Sun’s June 10, 2007 “The Perils of Promises” called O’Malley’s 2006 campaign ad a “TV campaign commercial that included a risky promise – or at least the appearance of a promise: ‘taking on BGE to stop the rate hike.’ There’s not much wiggle room there.”

The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation’s August 2010 Monthly Labor Review states that 216,591 Marylanders were unemployed in August, an increase of 6,674 from the 209,917 in July 2010.

20100924 RLE Video Remember


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O’Malley-Brown Campaign Releases New TV Ad


On September 27, 2010, in Bob Ehrlich, Governor O'Malley, by Maureen Higgins


In response to Bob Ehrlich’s misleading TV attack ad and desperate attempt to score political points at a press conference this morning, O’Malley-Brown Deputy Campaign Manager Rick Abbruzzese issued the following statement:

“This is embarrassing for the failed former governor: Bob Ehrlich has spent this election season misleading voters about his failed record of increased taxes and spending, and now he’s trying to blame Governor O’Malley for the failures of his own Public Service Commission.

“Everyone knows a fee is a tax, and everyone knows it was Ehrlich’s cronies at the PSC that failed to do anything about the 72% BGE rate hike. When voters fired Ehrlich, Martin O’Malley stepped in to clean up Ehrlich’s mess and won $2 billion in rebates from the electric companies, all while Ehrlich was enriching himself to the tune of $2.5 million working for a lobbying firm representing special interests.

“Now Ehrlich is trying to play the same desperate blame game with economic statistics and betting against Maryland’s future success. Here are the facts: since January, over 33,000 jobs have been created in Maryland. It’s the best job growth in a January to August period in Maryland since 2000.”



20100927 OMalley Brown Campaign Releases New TV Ad

Washington Post: First Click Maryland - A review of two records on revenues by John Wagner

First Click

A review of two records on revenues

Read much more:  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2010/09/first_click_marylanda_review_o.html?wprss=annapolisYour daily download of political news and analysis:
36 days until the Maryland elections




Monday, Sept. 27, 2010:
The Agenda
WagnerEven the casual observer of the Maryland governor's race has no doubt heard Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) knock his Republican predecessor for "jacking up taxes and fees by $3 billion." It's a common line on the stump and in campaign ads.
The number is based on an analysis by Maryland's nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services of revenue increases that took place during former governor Robert L. Ehrlich's four-year tenure. The figure -- actually $2.9 million -- requires some explanation, and it is unfair to pin the full total on Ehrlich (R). But more on that in a moment.
Thumbnail image for O'Malley bill signing.jpgnewer DLS analysis is now circulating that provides close to an apples-to-apples comparison of revenue increases during O'Malley's four years. That figure: $3.6 billion (a higher number than the Ehrlich era but lower than some, including the Ehrlich campaign in a recent Web ad, have suggested).
In the final five weeks of the campaign, voters are certain to be treated to cacophony of numerical claims from both sides, some more firmly rooted in reality than others. The DLS numbers are probably as objective as we're going to get, so they seem worth exploring.
First off, the numbers are "cumulative," meaning they are intended to measure the additional revenue that resulted across all four fiscal years that began while Ehrlich and O'Malley were in office.
The state property tax, for example, was raised early in Ehrlich's term, so DLS scores the impact of that tax increase as $170.8 million in fiscal year 2004, $185.1 million in 2005, $205 million in 2006 and $132 million in 2007 -- for a cumulative impact of $692.9 million.
Secondly, it is important to note that the analyses do not take into account how the revenue increases originated.
Ehrlich scoff.jpgThe Democrat-led legislature, for example, approved an HMO tax during a 2004 special session to subsidize doctors' medical malpractice insurance costs and to enhance Medicaid coverage. Ehrlich vetoed the bill that included the tax, but his veto was overridden by the legislature. Still, nearly $190 million in revenue increases attributable to the HMO tax are included in the analysis during Ehrlich's tenure.
Moreover, the definition of "revenue measures" in the analysis is broader than just tax and fee hikes. The Ehrlich-era total includes his better-known fee increases, including those on vehicle registrations, sewer systems and corporate filings. But Ehrlich's tenure also includes several "tax compliance measures," which are hardly the political sin these days that tax and fee increases have come to be.
The O'Malley-era total includes some revenue related to the state's fledgling slot-machine gambling program and speed cameras initiative.
But the $3.6 billion figure is almost entirely attributable to a 2007 special session in which multiple taxes were raised in an effort to fix the budget, and the imposition of a temporary "millionaires' tax" in 2008.
The 2007 tax measures included an increase in the personal income tax on high-end earners, as well as increases in the sales tax, corporate income tax, tobacco tax and vehicle titling tax.
The four-year impact of the special session is scored at $4.2 billion. O'Malley's overall figure is brought down some by backing out the impact of a tax on computer services, however. Lawmakers passed that tax in 2007 but repealed it in 2008 before it took effect. The four-year impact of the "tech tax" alone would have been $661.5 million, according to the analysis.
Got all that? We can promise it won't be the last time you'll hear some of these numbers between now and Nov. 2.
-- John Wagner


Trust First Click for critical news and analysis you need to navigate Maryland politics each weekday. You can also find First Click onFacebook and Twitter.

By John Wagner  | September 27, 2010; 6:45 AM ET Categories:  First ClickJohn Wagner

Your daily download of political news and analysis:
36 days until the Maryland elections

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

A Message from the Governor: 40,000 Jobs


July 20, 2010

A Message from the Governor

40,000 Jobs

This morning, we announced that for the fourth straight month, Maryland experienced job growth. In June, Maryland employers added 1,600 jobs to their payrolls, marking a gain of more than 40,000 jobs since January – the most net jobs growth in a January to June period since 1996.

Today's announcement is another positive sign for families and businesses in Maryland. Building on our progress for the past four months, Maryland employers created jobs during a month when the rest of the country as a whole experienced a decline. In these tough economic times, we have made the tough choices necessary to create and save jobs, improve conditions for Maryland businesses, and fuel economic progress.

Maryland's unemployment rate fell to 7.1 percent from 7.3 percent in May, remaining about 25 percent lower than the national average. The addition of 1,600 jobs last month marks the first job gain in the month of June since the start of the recession in 2006.

Together, we continue to leverage the enormous job-creating potential of our State, including strategic tax cuts for businesses that hire unemployed workers, and investments in important growth sectors of our economy, a world-class workforce, and America's #1 ranked public schools.

Martin O'Malley
Governor


Governor O'Malley, New York Governor Paterson Announce Information-Sharing Partnership

Governor O'Malley and New York Governor David Paterson recently announced a joint crime-fighting initiative in which the states will share information every day on arrests of parolees and probationers.

The agreement closes a gap in the sharing of criminal justice information. Previously, a parole and probation officer in one of the states would not necessarily know that an individual under his or her supervision had been arrested in the other state without a time-consuming search of criminal record databases. Under this new partnership initiated by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, this information will be relayed automatically on a daily basis.

The O'Malley-Brown Administration currently has similar agreements with DC and Virginia, and the Department regularly shares information on gangs and other critical public safety issues with more than 100 local and regional law enforcement agencies. In the past three years, together, we've driven violent crime down to its lowest rate since 1975.


Governor O'Malley Outlines Plan for the Future of Medical Innovation in Maryland

Today, Governor O'Malley joined Lt. Governor Brown to convene a roundtable forum of industry leaders and experts, including medical system Presidents, Hospital CEOs, State officials and other stakeholders to discuss health care reform and innovation in Maryland. Governor O'Malley used the forum to outline the future of Health Information Technology (Health IT) in Maryland, and opportunities to move Maryland forward in the areas of health care reform and innovation.

Maryland remains home to some of the world's most respected medical institutions. In 2008, more than 219,000 jobs existed in Maryland's health care field. By 2018, that figure is expected to grow to nearly 264,000, representing a growth rate of more than 20 percent over a ten year period. A strong Health IT sector in Maryland has the potential to create even more jobs for Maryland's hardworking families. Governor O'Malley and Lt. Governor Brown have set a goal for Maryland to become a national leader in Health IT by 2012 by developing a safe and secure statewide health information exchange and promoting the adoption of electronic health records among providers. By 2012, the Administration aims to have universal compliance by all health care providers in the State.


State Closes Financing for Hampden Lane in Bethesda

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Raymond A. Skinner announced that DHCD has closed financing for Hampden Lane in Bethesda, a new affordable rental housing project for individuals with special needs. The property will consist of 12 one-bedroom units. The units will be available for tenants with incomes at or below 30% of the Area Median Income which translates into $21,550 for a one-person household.

Hampden Lane received $1 million through ARRA's Section 1602 Tax Credit Exchange Program, which funds capital improvements in affordable multifamily rental housing projects that have previously been awarded federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, administered by DHCD. The project had previously received a federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit allocation of $338,350, which leveraged $2,106,660 in funding. Additional financing includes $944,829 from the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs and a developer contribution of $270,428. The project is estimated to create 22 construction jobs.

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