Session ends with a tint of green

Economy, environment dominated legislative session

Friday, April 11, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by CHARLES E. SHOEMAKER Sen. President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert, Prince George’s) bangs the gavel to end the General Assembly session at midnight Monday, April 7, amid a flurry of confetti. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

But falling state revenues and a slumping national economy rewrote the script for the 2008 General Assembly session that finished with a flurry on Monday night.

In the end, most Southern Maryland legislators said they were largely pleased with the outcome, but were unsure how it would be greeted at home.

‘‘We were trying to be everything to everybody,” said Del. Sally Y. Jameson (D-Charles), who chairs the Southern Maryland delegation. ‘‘Whether we were effective in that, I don’t know.”

Despite the challenging fiscal climate, lawmakers still managed to secure a sizeable chunk of money for roads, schools and a variety of pet projects. The three Southern Maryland counties got more than $26 million for public school construction — St. Mary’s County’s nearly fulfilled its entire $7.3 million request. The state budget also includes money for several initiatives for St. Mary’s College and the College of Southern Maryland, as well as the relocation and expansion of the Civista Medical Center pharmacy.

The state also kicked in an extra $1.3 million for Regency Furniture Stadium, the home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs that is slated to open next month, to cover cost overruns. St. Mary’s County got almost $700,000 to expand its aging detention center. In transportation, the state committed to expanding commuter bus service and building new park-and-ride lots in the region, and putting $15 million towards land acquisition for the Waldorf bypass.

‘‘I think it was a conservative session in that we respected the fiscal challenges, but still managed to move the state forward,” said Del. Sue Kullen (D-Calvert), pointing to accomplishments in the environment, education, transportation and health care. ‘‘I think the biggest challenge in Annapolis is balancing the needs with the money you have. Everybody’s talking about reining in spending and you have to do that, but in a way that doesn’t have Maryland coming to a screeching halt.”

But declining revenues and a grim economic outlook also forced legislators to cut more than $440 million and defer numerous worthy projects.

‘‘A lot of the things that people want done costs money and a lot of those things didn’t get done,” said Del. Peter F. Murphy (D-Charles).

That suited Republicans just fine, even though House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary’s) said the legislature didn’t do enough to rein in spending at a time when the economy is plummeting.

‘‘It’s a continuation of telling the citizens one thing happened when in many instances, just the opposite happened,” he said. ‘‘For instance, the budget continues to grow. In this session, it grew by $1.4 billion and yet the governor and legislative leaders say we cut the budget. Taxes continue to go up, government continues to expand, regulation continues to multiply and yet the governor and legislative leaders say they’ve had a very modest session.”

Special session fallout

The whirlwind 22-day special session last November saw lawmakers authorize $1.3 billion in new taxes and directed Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) to reduce spending by more than $500 million as a means to eliminate the state’s $1.5 billion structural deficit, create a new Chesapeake Bay cleanup program and expand health coverage to 100,000 Marylanders.

Physically and politically fatigued legislators returned to the State House for the 90-day session hoping to build on that.

Instead, the turbulent economy cast a long shadow over the session and prompted the bottom line to dominate discussions, dooming any bill with a high price tag.

‘‘This was not a session for bold new programs. It was a time to revisit the ones we already have and improve upon them,” said Del. Murray D. Levy (D-Charles).

‘‘We were always trying to ensure we were not creating new debt for the state...” said Jameson.Ê ‘‘When you start thinking about what one-quarter of a million dollars is going to do to your budget, that’s an unusual concern.”

Enter the debate over electronic bingo machines, which had proliferated across the state, particularly in St. Mary’s County, in recent months. Outlawing the devices, which resemble slot machines, became a cause célèbre of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert, Prince George’s), who feared they were siphoning lottery revenues and would jeopardize passage of the November slots referendum.

If voters approve putting 15,000 video lottery terminals at five locations across the state, it would generate up to $700 million for the state. Miller has championed them as a remedy to Maryland’s fiscal troubles.

Bills to prohibit the machines moved quickly through the Senate, even as representatives from nonprofit groups appealed that a portion of the gaming revenues that they received was helping pay for needed services. That left Sen. Roy P. Dyson and Del. John F. Wood (D-St. Mary’s, Charles) concerned about the fate of those organizations.

‘‘I think they’re going to start turning to the state for help and there’s not much money” for us to give them, said Dyson (D-St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles).

The measure didn’t clear the House of Delegates until Sine Die and only after delegates reversed course on a planned exemption for licensed operators in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties, eventually killing the exemption. The final bill passed with about 15 minutes to spare and phases out the machines by July 2009, six months later than was proposed.

‘‘At least it stops the proliferation of the machines,” Miller said minutes after adjourning.

Kullen, however, wasn’t as happy that three facilities in her district will be impacted by the new law. ‘‘Legitimate businesses that have been licensed were caught up with the businesses that were illegal and not licensed, and to treat them all the same was inherently unfair,” she said.

Frantic finish

After a sluggish start due to the lingering effects of the special session, the legislature accomplished a lot in the final days and weeks.

They strengthened the state’s critical areas law, outlawing new development within 200 feet of the shoreline. They provided more money to jurisdictions where the cost of education is higher, as well as to regional higher education centers like those in California and Waldorf, established an energy conservation program that seeks to brace Maryland for future electricity shortages and regulated the mortgage lending industry to stem the tide of foreclosures.

They also repealed a much-despised sales tax on computer services and replaced it with a slightly less-despised new income tax bracket on incomes above $1 million. They gave police the authority to collect DNA from those charged with a crime, plugged a gap in drug prescription coverage to some seniors and approved a settlement agreement between the state and Constellation Energy Group to drop lawsuits that threatened to halt plans for the development of a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby.

‘‘It seemed as if every time we turned around, there was another issue in crisis,” said Jameson, who missed about half the session recovering from a medical procedure. ‘‘It was very hard to prioritize what was the No. 1 issue before us. Usually, it’s easy to delineate. This time it was everything.”

The repeal of the so-called ‘‘tech tax” generated much debate. Murphy opposed it because it penalizes those who have built successful lives in Maryland.

But Levy said the computer services tax could have been far more damaging to Maryland’s economy and supported the repeal.

Looking ahead, Maryland must address its energy future in the next several years and take major steps to restore the Chesapeake watershed, Levy said.