(Breaking news) Owings to reveal political future after new year

Former delegate, vets secretary likely will make run for governor

Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009

Posted at 12:50 p.m. Wednesday

Former delegate George W. Owings III will reveal his electoral plans on Jan. 6 at a news conference outside the courthouse in Prince Frederick.

Owings, a Democrat who represented Calvert County at the State House for 16 years before being appointed veterans affairs secretary by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., would only say that the announcement will concern his political future.

However, Owings, 64, of Chesapeake Beach, a Vietnam veteran and motorcycle aficionado, has openly criticized Gov. Martin O'Malley's handling of the state budget deficit and has been mulling entering the 2010 contest for months.

He said he has spent the last several months travelling the state, speaking to individuals groups about his concerns and taking stock of voters' mindsets.

"I'm hearing desperation. I'm hearing fear. I'm hearing grave concern over what's going on," Owings said.

Although the latest state revenue projections show an improvement in collections, they're still coming in $77 million below initial estimates.

"The bleeding continues unabated," Owings lamented. "People don't know from one day to the next when the next shoe is going to drop."

Although he acknowledged that the governor is not responsible for the turbulent economy, he blamed O'Malley (D) for not doing enough to support the business community and promote job creation.

Specifically, he criticized O'Malley for increasing by more than 300 percent the cost of unemployment insurance to replenish an almost-bankrupt trust fund. He said it was disingenuous to do that and then propose the creation of a tax credit for businesses that hire unemployed workers and offering small-business loans and other incentives.

"That's like handing someone a shovel and asking them to dig their own grave," Owings said.

However, O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the governor last week announced an $83 million package that will provide immediate rate relief for Maryland employers and a proposal to modify the state's unemployment insurance laws that would provide access to an additional $126.8 million in federal aid to reinforce the trust fund.

He noted that O'Malley has been entirely focused on putting stimulus dollars into action and creating jobs, pointing to the recent 50-year lease agreement at the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore that is expected to create as many as 5,700 jobs and yield up to $1.8 billion in total investment as one example.

"Rhetoric aside, I think the people of Maryland understand that Governor O'Malley is focused on getting Maryland through this national recession, creating jobs and helping families that have been hardest hit," Abbruzzese said.