News Clips
Oct. 4th, 2007
STATE NEWS
GOP senators refuse support for slots plan
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071004/METRO/110040039/1004
Senate Republicans yesterday struck a crippling blow to Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to legalize slot machines during a special session, announcing their unanimous opposition. Republicans, who comprise 14 of the 47 senators, said they are pulling their support because they feel Mr. O'Malley took them for granted.
"This is the one area they had counted on Republican support, but frankly, no one had talked to Republicans about getting their support," said Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley, Frederick Republican.
Without Republican support, Mr. O'Malley will need the votes of at least 24 of 33 Democrats on what has become one of the most divisive issues in
Mr. O'Malley frequently said he counted on support from Republicans for his plan to legalize slot machines, but House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell of
At a press event in
"I've talked to the governor twice since he came into office, once was to congratulate me on becoming minority whip, which was in early in January, the second one was in January to let me know he was firing my mother," Mr. Kittleman said yesterday.
Mr. Kittleman's mother, Trent, was president of the Maryland Transportation Authority under Mr. Ehrlich.
GOP shuns slots proposal
Special session is expected despite decision of Senate leaders
Senate Republican leaders said yesterday that they would not vote for the governor's slots proposal during a special session of the General Assembly, potentially jeopardizing the critical cross-party partnership that has been necessary in the past to get a divisive gambling bill through the chamber.
Sen. David Brinkley, the minority leader, chided Gov. Martin O'Malley for not releasing details of his proposal to legalize slot machine gambling in
Joined by Senate Minority Whip Allan H. Kittleman and Sen. E.J. Pipkin, Brinkley said that the Republicans would be open to a slots bill when the General Assembly convenes for its annual three-month session in January - when lawmakers review the budget for the next fiscal year.
Pipkin, an Eastern Shore Republican, said that rural
"Each day the tax side goes up and the discussion of the budget goes down," he said. "As a Republican caucus with 14 votes, we don't want to come back to a special session and stamp a backroom deal. And that's what we feel is in the works right now. Where we have one caucus meeting, the other caucus shut out, and we're just not going to be party to that."
Senate republicans say they won't support special session, slots
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_04-01/OUD
Maryland Senate Republicans said Wednesday they will not support a slot-machines bill if it comes up in a special session, saying such a session aims to push through an "unnecessary" and "massive tax increase" on Marylanders.
Lawmakers need time to fully analyze the extent of Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposals, said Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley, something that is not provided in a special session.
"We want to get the package in front of us and deal with it in a regular session," said Brinkley, a
The GOP holds only 37 of the 141 seats in the House and 14 of the 47 Senate seats, but Republicans said they were expecting support from conservative Democrats would strengthen their opposition to slots.
"We don't want to vote on huge figures without knowing what next year's budget will be," said Senate Minority Whip Allan Kittleman, R-Carroll. "We want to see it all in one comprehensive package."
"We're not just saying we aren't going to vote for it," O'Donnell said.
"We're also saying, 'We had a plan and you rejected it.'" Under the Republicans plan, slots would have generated revenue much sooner than under O'Malley's plans.
"His is a slots giveaway," O'Donnell said. "There would be no significant money in the state's coffer for two years."
Views Differ On Benefits Of Tax Plan In
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302324.html
The $1.7 billion deficit-reduction plan rolled out by Gov. Martin O'Malley has sparked a fierce debate over how well it treats the working-class families whose interests O'Malley promised to champion last year as a candidate. In some ways, the plan would clearly make
O'Malley said his plan was crafted with the interests of working-class and middle-income families in mind, people "who have really been taking it on the chin.
''Republican leaders sharply questioned this week whether O'Malley's plan would benefit as many working-class families as he suggests, pointing to components of the plan not included in the analysis. The governor, for example, is also proposing to raise the titling tax, which would add $200 to the price of a $20,000 car. And the cost of an increase of 1 percentage point in the corporate tax probably would be passed along to consumers, GOP leaders said.
"This is at best confusing and at worst deceitful to
Mahlon R. Straszheim, an economics professor at the
Given the number of tax changes in play, an analysis of the plan's overall impact is relatively difficult, he said.
"You have to estimate what people spend on all the kinds of things being taxed," Straszheim said.
Smart Growth policy defended
'We did good,' says Glendening, who crafted
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.growth04oct04,0,1885922.story
The architect of Maryland's decade-old Smart Growth policy spoke up for it yesterday, arguing that despite its shortcomings at curbing suburban sprawl it has helped revitalize dying downtowns across the state and kick-started a national movement to build more transit-oriented, walkable communities.
Speaking in Annapolis at a conference reviewing the growth-management law he crafted, former Gov. Parris N. Glendening acknowledged that a few metropolitan areas and states such as
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bay_environment/bal-md.green04oct04,0,1737618.story
A coalition of several environmental groups and the home builders association are urging Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly to support a new tax that would raise an estimated $85 million a year to clean up the
"
The latest "green fund" proposal would assess on commercial, industrial and institutional properties an annual fee of 1 cent per square foot of hardened surfaces --- areas impervious to rainwater such as roofs, roadways, and parking lots, said Kim Coble, the foundation's Maryland executive director.
Environmentalists said that despite a projected $1.7 billion shortfall in the state budget starting July 1, 2008, the time is right to set aside more funds for bay restoration.
Rick Abbruzzese, an O'Malley spokesman, said the governor has not taken a position on the proposal released yesterday.
County officials take wait-and-see approach on slots
Area churches voice opposition to governor's slot machine proposal
http://www.gazette.net/stories/100407/prinnew164533_32359.shtml
Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to legalize slot machines in
O'Malley has said the proposed state-owned slots would have little effect on the upcoming spending plan, since the bulk of the revenue wouldn't start to come in for another two to three years. But his proposal would seek to eventually recapture the $400 million
Both
''Bringing slots into Maryland will do much more harm in the long run than any good created by short term financial gains. Slots are low-end gaming that exploits the poor and harms local communities," Wynn said in a statement.
EDITORIALS/OP-EDS
Cut taxes to stimulate city growth
http://www.examiner.com/a-970739~Cut_taxes_to_stimulate_city_growth.html
Would you move to
Sure, everybody is delighted revised Census figures show
New residents mean more money for essential city services and a more vibrant community. But 897 new people is hardly a "reversal of fortune," as Mayor Sheila Dixon said earlier this week or a harbinger of a flood of new residents. If anything, the mayor should ask: 'What took so long?' 'Why so few?' and most of all, 'Why did it cost so much?'
If
What's clear is that Mayor Dixon should use the Census information as evidence the city needs to radically overhaul its tax structure - not praise dubious accomplishments.
Cigarette tax increase plan is flawed
http://www.examiner.com/a-970741~Marc_Kilmer__Cigarette_tax_increase_plan_is_flawed.html
As part of his effort to close
It's highly questionable whether smokers, as a group, should be made to pay this subsidy. Smokers are disproportionately lower-income, and raising the cigarette tax takes more money out of the pockets of the poor than any other tax. It thus seems odd that Gov. O'Malley would want to increase this tax on the poor when he has repeatedly criticized
If Gov. O'Malley and the majority of Marylanders agree that all state spending is so vital and efficient that the structural deficit should not be closed by budget cuts, then Marylanders should agree to pay the taxes necessary to close that deficit. They should not try to foist an unfair share of that tax burden on smokers. After all, given the increasing level of cigarette tax avoidance, it's likely that all state taxpayers will ultimately pay the cost, anyway.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Governor's tax plan to put bigger burden on families
http://www.gazette.net/stories/100407/prinlet121652_32363.shtml
The [Sept.] 20 edition of The Gazette noted that
Wake up,
NATIONAL NEWS
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=65912
Democrats and health care advocates are targeting U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett as a potential swing vote to override President Bush's Wednesday morning veto of a children's health insurance bill.
Bartlett, a Republican who represents
Last week, he voted against a reauthorization bill that would have expanded the program.
The political battle is focused on
Since
If popular program folds, children 'would have nothing'
http:/ /www.times-news.com/local/local_story_277093356.html
Originally created in 1997, the joint federal and state program offers low-cost health insurance to children in low-income families. It has provided coverage to about 6.6 million children while the expanded coverage would bring in another 4 million. In a bipartisan vote, the Senate and the House last week agreed to reauthorize the program and increase spending for it from about $5 billion to $12 billion each year for the next five years.
Saying the increase is too much, Bush vetoed the bill Wednesday.
Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican representing
"Only Democratic congressional leaders could demand that a family earning $82,000 a year should qualify for their expanded SCHIP program that Republicans created to help children of the working poor and simultaneously call that same family rich and force them to pay the AMT, Alternative Minimum Tax," Bartlett said via a release. "It just goes to show that what Democrats really want is to have the government control how to spend the money that American taxpayers earn."
In the Senate,
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