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May 15, 2025

Chestertown Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown

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Mid-Shore Local Towns Face ‘Hundreds of Millions’ in Lost Property Tax Revenue Due to Mailing Snafu

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Local governments face hundreds of millions in lower property tax collections after a state agency missed a key mailing deadline.

The State Department of Assessments and Taxation failed to mail about 107,000 updated property tax assessments before the deadline at the end of last year, according to senior state lawmakers. Left unfixed, county governments might receive a quarter of a billion dollars less in anticipated property tax revenue over a three-year period.

News of the error trickled out to key lawmakers and county leaders late Tuesday night.

“We haven’t gotten to the absolute details yet,” said Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chair Guy Guzzone (D-Howard) on Wednesday. “We know it exists. We know there was a mistake made. We know that it’s significant. We rely on the assessments to be accurate and in all cases, right and so, they need to be accurate period.”

The State Department of Assessment and Taxation reviews property values on a triennial basis. Each county and Baltimore City is effectively split into thirds. Every year, one third of each jurisdiction is assessed with the property values phased in over three years.

There are roughly 2.3 million residential properties in the state. This figure does not include commercial properties, railroads or land owned by public utilities, which are also taxed but assessed annually.

This year, residential properties saw a nearly 26% increase in assessed value over the current value. Assessments on commercial properties during the same period increased nearly 18%.

In a statement provided to Maryland Matters Wednesday evening, SDAT’s director, Michael Higgs, explained what went wrong but vowed that property owners would receive their assessment notices soon.

“SDAT utilizes the services of the State’s preferred vendor, the League for People with Disabilities, for the printing and mailing of these reassessment notices, which are typically sent in the final days of December each year,” Higgs said. “This year, SDAT learned of an error in the League’s process that resulted in approximately 107,000 notices not being sent. The League has since resolved the error and the missed recipients will receive notices in the coming weeks.”

Many lawmakers still have not been fully briefed on the problem.

“We are very concerned about any instances of government officials missing legal deadlines to execute their duties,” said House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany). “While no one in our caucus has been briefed on what has happened with SDAT, media reporting makes clear that something has obviously gone wrong. We also want to make sure that property owners aren’t subjected to tax bills that are improper under Maryland law. It’s not their fault that SDAT may have failed to abide by Maryland law.”

Some details were consistent among interviews conducted by Maryland Matters.

Guzzone, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Ways and Means Chair Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard) and House Appropriations Chair Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) all acknowledged being initially briefed on the problem.

“Obviously, it’s very concerning,” said Ferguson. “I have heard that this is not the first time that something along this line has happened. And so, we’re exploring options for what might be possible but obviously everyone has to pay their fair value.”

The late assessments touch every county and all property classifications that are assessed by the department.

Atterbeary called it a “big mess up.”

Atterbeary, Ferguson, Guzzone and Barnes all said they are just starting to search for a solution.

Left unaddressed, the problem could cost local governments an estimated $250 million over three years.

Both Guzzone and Atterbeary confirmed the size of the potential fiscal hit to local governments.

“It’s a big loss of revenue,” said Atterbeary. “We’ll need a one-year fix and look at how SDAT is structured and does it continue to make sense.”

Part of that fix could include emergency legislation to allow the assessments to be sent out late while protecting property owners’ right to appeal.

The department could put in an emergency bill that allows lawmakers to move quickly to extend the already expired deadline.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be done in a standalone bill,” said Guzzone. “It could be in another something already existing.”

One such vehicle could be Senate Bill 1027, sponsored by Guzzone, which defines the term “taxpayer” as it applies to property tax appeals.

Atterbeary said lawmakers could also consider putting the changes into the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, a separate piece of legislation that is different from the operating budget, used to implement a variety of legislative and financial actions.

But extending the deadline after the fact will raise eyebrows and may draw a legal challenge.

Higgs said SDAT is working with lawmakers to craft a solution.

“The legislation will ensure that the State reassessment can be completed fairly and accurately and that all appropriate revenues are collected,” he said. “Every account in this group will receive a notice in the coming weeks and will be provided with the full 45-day timeframe for appealing the reassessment.”

The effect on state and municipal government budgets is unclear.

“I didn’t get a total number, but it was in the hundreds of millions of dollars, not in the tens of millions,” Ferguson said. “My guess is that would make sense, based on the increased assessment this year, being I think it was, overall, a 20% increase in value overall. So that seems consistent.”

Property taxes are the largest source of revenue for local governments.

“This news is alarming, but we are thankful that legislative leaders have already signaled their intentions to take swift action on this issue,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D), the current president of the Maryland Association of Counties. “It’s critical we ensure local jurisdictions receive their fair share of revenues so that we can remain focused on delivering the core services that our shared residents rely on and expect.”

Criticism of the agency and its director

The latest news about SDAT comes after legislative budget analysts earlier this year identified internal problems in the agency, including a significant shortage of real property assessors on staff, and that the accuracy of property tax assessments continues to worsen.

It is also likely to draw attention to Higgs, the agency’s director.

Higgs was appointed by-then Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in 2016. It was Higgs’ second appointment by the two-term Republican governor.

Initially, Higgs, a telecommunications attorney from Montgomery County, was appointed in 2015 to serve on the Public Service Commission. At the time, he was also chair of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee.

Higgs’ posts on the social media platform then known as Twitter derailed his confirmation to the commission, which regulates utilities in Maryland.

Higgs has served in the Department of Assessments and Taxation since 2016. Gov. Wes Moore (D), Hogan’s successor, opted not to replace Higgs upon taking office 13 months ago.

Barnes said he and his colleagues on the Appropriations Committee were less than pleased with the responses SDAT officials gave them at the agency’s budget hearing this year.

“At the Appropriations Committee, we’ve felt a bit aggrieved by SDAT this session,” he said.

Barnes, who said he just learned about the SDAT snafu early Wednesday, said that the first priority for lawmakers will be to make sure that counties are not forced to deal with an unanticipated shortfall due to the revenue shortage caused by the delayed tax assessments.

“We’re going to do what we can to help the local governments,” he said. “They can’t absorb that.”

Barnes also predicted that House leaders would look for changes at the agency.

“Long-term, the Appropriations and Ways and Means committees are going to have to look at reforms at SDAT,” he said.

Atterbeary agreed.

“There’s a larger issue,” she said. “There was talk of maybe restructuring it, bringing it under the purview of the [state] comptroller. I think that is worth a conversation. I think this issue underscores that.”

By Bryan P. Sears. Josh Kurtz contributed to this report.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Proud and Honored to have Joined John Lewis in the Fight by Sherman Howell

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“You must find a way to get in the way and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. … You have a moral obligation, a mission, and a mandate, when you leave here, to go out and seek justice for all. You can do it. You must do it.” – On recounting advice John Lewis received from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. told by John at Bates College’s 150th Commencement

My life and John Lewis’s life has been defined by our civil rights activities throughout the South. John was the son of sharecroppers who came to Eastern Tennessee around 1960 by way of Troy Alabama, his birthplace.

I, of course, was born as the son of a Tennessee cotton farmer in the town of Eads in Western Tennessee. Eads was located outside of Memphis and not far from the banks of the Mississippi. In Jon Meacham’s recent book, His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and The Power of Hope, Jon said Lewis’s life “was linked to the painful quest for justice in America.” And that link to John’s life is exactly how I came to know and appreciate the work of John Lewis. For John and I were focused on creating a reality-based in justice and equality for all.

John and I met when I was 17 years old and had just enrolled in the only historically Black College in Memphis – Owen College (now renamed LeMoyne-Owen College). Similarly, John had become enrolled at American Baptist College in Nashville, in Eastern Tennessee. Students at LeMoyne-Owen College in 1960 had started participation in the southern lunch-counter and anti-segregation interstate movements to protest the “separate but equal” accommodations laws. At that time, these laws were mandated by the U. S. Supreme Court from the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case.

The majority of most civil rights meetings, especially with the Big Six as they are called – Martin Luther King, Jr., Southern Christian Leadership Conference; James Farmer, Congress on Racial Equality; John Lewis, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee; A. Phillip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wilkins, NAACP; and Whitney Young, National Urban League, took place at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, where most dine at the renowned Four-Way Grill. This provided me with ample opportunities to experience and engage with civil rights giants on a regular basis. John, similar to many of us, frequently moved throughout the south focusing on voter registration and political education.

John and I worked at ACTION, a federal domestic volunteer agency formed during President Nixon’s administration. And it was during these civil rights activities that John that assured me that voter registration and education would be kept alive.

In the February 2009 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine, Marian Smith Holmes wrote about a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement:

On Sunday, May 14, 1961—Mother’s Day—scores of angry white people blocked a Greyhound bus carrying black and white passengers through rural Alabama. The attackers pelted the vehicle with rocks and bricks, slashed tires, smashed windows with pipes and axes, and lobbed a firebomb through a broken window. As smoke and flames filled the bus, the mob barricaded the door. “Burn them alive,” somebody cried out. “Fry the goddamn ni**ers.” An exploding fuel tank and warning shots from arriving state troopers forced the rabble back and allowed the riders to escape the inferno. Even then some were pummeled with baseball bats as they fled.

The passengers on this bus were Freedom Riders, civil rights activists who fought for the implementation of desegregation on public buses in the south. John was a Freedom Rider and actively participated in these protests.

Although Tennessee was not one of the states chosen to participate in this fight, the Freedom Rides, I decided to spruce up my car and drive alone from Memphis to New Orleans, to do what I described at the time as: “testing justice in America.” I drove straight through the heart of Mississippi and, unknowingly traveled, I later discovered through Time Magazine, on one of the most dangerous highways in America.

I joined John and other civil rights activists and others in Marches fighting injustice. Our fight, in other words, continued as we both participated in the Marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, including Bloody Sunday – a brutal and violent day for John. Important to note that we were fighting and marching for justice and equality in voting rights for Black Americans, especially for my people in Somerville, Tennessee, where hundreds of “Tent City” families there had been driven from their homes by the Ku Klux Klan because of trying to register to vote.

John was often referred to as a “troublemaker,” a label that I am often confronted with here in Howard County, Maryland. Here again, I learned from John that fighting for justice requires courage, a culture of ignoring the torpedoes, and a resoluteness of a bear continuing full speed ahead. John has been referred to as a “saint that walked among us.” And I am proud and honored to have had the opportunity to have joined this Saint, this giant, a revolutionary, in the fight for peace and justice.

Sherman Howell is a freelance writer who addresses social, political & economic issues on global level. He resides in Howard County.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

American Heart Association: Franchot’s Task Force Recommendations on Curbing Youth E-cigarette Use, Vaping Do Not Go Far Enough

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The American Heart Association said Tuesday that recommendations in a report newly released by Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot’s office aimed at curbing underage access to electronic smoking devices (ESDs) are good but do not go far enough because they do not call for an outright ban of flavored nicotine products.

“We need to remove all flavored products because they are appealing to kids,” Laura Hale, the AHA’s director of government relations, told MarylandReporter.com in an interview on Tuesday. “We need to remove all flavored products because they are appealing to kids. And it doesn’t matter if that’s in a refill they can buy in a vape shop or if it’s a refill they buy at the corner store…. All of these products are addictive. All of these products are unregulated. And leaving any of them on the market is leaving an opportunity for youth to have access to them. And this is why we really need the comprehensive removal.”

Hale said her organization backs legislation the General Assembly is considering that would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products in the state.

“That’s why HB3 and SB233 are so essential this year in their entirety.”

Hale singled out one recommendation in the report for praise. It would amend the Maryland’s Clean Indoor Air Quality Act so that emissions from ESDs are considered pollutants.

The e-Facts Task Force report was released on Monday. “Electronic Smoking Devices: A Safer Path Forward” recommends 12 policy and regulatory changes for the state. Most of the recommendations would require approval by the General Assembly. The report calls on lawmakers to act.

The recommendations include:

  • ending internet and mail-order sales of ESDs
  • limiting the sale of flavored liquids and refillable accessories to vape shops
  • limiting entry and sales in vape shops to persons age 21 and over
  • requiring manufacturers of ESDs to provide pre-sale disclosure of ingredients contained in the product
  • bringing Maryland into compliance with federal law, which prohibits the sale of nicotine and tobacco products to anyone under age 21. State law exempts military members who are on active duty and present identification as proof of that fact.

Susan O’Brien, spokesperson for the Office of the Maryland Comptroller, defended the report.

“The 12 recommendations are sensible and practical to help ensure these products are safe for public consumption and for keeping vaping products out of the hands of kids. Those were the task force’s priorities going in and Comptroller Franchot is proud of the work that the stakeholders did on this front.

“Had the American Heart Association accepted our invitation to participate, rather than criticizing from the sidelines, the organization would have known that the task force specifically deferred to the Maryland General Assembly on the issue of an outright product ban, precisely because there are bills under consideration that would do this. Whatever legislation is passed, we are ready to enforce. If not passed, these recommendations, as well as Comptroller Franchot’s ban announced last week on the sale of most flavored disposable e-cigarettes, will go a very long way to keep children and families safe.”

Former tobacco scientist-turned-corporate-whistleblower and anti-smoking advocate   Jeffrey Wigand, said ESDs are more dangerous than regular cigarettes because the devices are often found in “the hands of seventh- and eighth-graders.” He said the “onset of illness with smoking was 15 to 20 years” whereas with ESDs “the onset of illness and death” can occur within “a couple of years.”

Wigand said many of the deaths that have been attributed to ESDs were caused by people messing “with the contents.”

“There should be no way with something to make your own cocktail,” he said.

Wigand said if the product is “water-soluble” the potential exists for users to add drugs such as heroin and valium to the device.

A spokesperson for Altria, the parent company of tobacco giant Phillip Morris, declined requests by MarylandReporter.com for comment about the report.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Bill Would Deal With Disruptive Students

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House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga, R-Baltimore-Harford, on Thursday urged action on legislation to help teachers deal with students who consistently display disruptive behavior in school.

“There are students in classrooms across our state who are regularly disruptive to a point where teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn. This isn’t the run-of-the-mill disruptions. We’re not talking about passing notes and chewing gum. We’re talking about arguing, fighting, cussing at teachers, physically and verbally assaulting teachers and other students. Teachers need the tools in the toolbox to take their classrooms back without fear of administration interference,” Szeliga said at a news conference at the Lowe House Office Building in Annapolis accompanied by about a dozen colleagues.

Szeliga spoke in favor of five Republican-sponsored bills that are aimed at addressing disruption in the classroom. They are: the Right to Teach Act, the Good Teacher Protection Act, the Predator Free Schools Act, the Accountability in Education Act, and the Right to Learn Act.

The first bill would allow for alternative education arrangements for students who are regularly disruptive. They would be allowed back in their regular classrooms when their teacher believes they are no longer prone to disruptive behavior. The second bill would provide civil immunity to teachers and administrators who take appropriate action to stop acts of violence in schools — such as intervening to break up a fight between students. The third bill would provide for alternative education arrangements for students who are registered sex offenders. The fourth bill would establish a hotline in the inspector general’s office in which teachers, parents and students can reports disruption and violence “without fear of retribution,” Szeliga said. The fifth bill would allow students who are attending low-performing schools to transfer to better-performing schools.

Thursday’s news conference also included Nicole Landers, a pediatric nurse and school safety advocate. Landers said her two children no longer attend Baltimore County schools due to extreme acts of harassment and violence.

“This is the note that I found on my nine-year-old son sitting in the dark after a year of bullying and assault in school that was unrelenting,” she said, holding up the note. “It says: ‘Kill me. I mean nothing. I have issues.’ ”

Landers described how the incident affected her son. She said the school did not take appropriate action to remedy the situation.

“He wanted to die. He was prepared to take his life because the school would not separate the bullies from him. No matter how much pleading I did, I was repeatedly told that the offending students had rights that superseded my own son’s.

“I could not make sense of this. It’s unfair that my son lost a year of educational opportunity at the hands of students who would not cooperate with classroom rules. The only explanation I was offered, or option, was to move my son to another class. So, he was to be punished for another student’s behavior.”

Landers said her daughter was sexually assaulted by a fellow fifth-grader. Landers held up a note her daughter wrote and presented to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos about the incident but said it was too graphic to read out loud. The school did not take appropriate action in that situation either, Landers said.

“She was asked to sit in math class, English, science — with this student. She lost an entire year of learning.”

Landers noted that the U.S. Department of Education’s repeal of Obama-era federal guidance regarding discipline guidelines for schools — thereby allowing states more leeway to enact their own policies. The guidance had been issued to address racial disparities in school suspensions and was rescinded in December 2018.

“There could be no legislation entered to take action against undisciplined students because the federal guidance said that they [schools] weren’t allowed to do that. They had to reduce their suspension numbers.”

Del. Marc Korman, D-Montgomery, told MarylandReporter.com he has not yet seen the education bills.

“I can’t comment on something I haven’t seen.”

MarylandReporter.com then described to Korman the bill allowing for chronically disruptive students to be removed from the classroom.

“I’d want to see the bill and how they’re defining that and just making sure that we’re giving people their fairness and due process in that situation. But I haven’t read the bills yet. So, I’ll give my colleagues the courtesy of reading their bills before I jump to any conclusions either way.”

Legislative Black Caucus Chair Darryl Barnes, D-Prince George’s, did not respond to a request for comment about the bills by MarylandReporter.com by the deadline for this story.

By Bryan Renbaum

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Frosh Emphasizes His Support for Legislation to Ban Flavored Tobacco Products

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Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh took aim at the tobacco industry on Thursday in emphasizing his support for legislation that would end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in the state.

Frosh was accompanied by members of the General Assembly, health advocates and community activists at a morning news conference in Annapolis. The House Economic Matters Committee held a hearing on the bill this afternoon that was scheduled for 1 p.m. EST. The bill was filed at the request of Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General. The Senate is considering parallel legislation and has scheduled a hearing for next Thursday at 1 p.m. EST.

“Vaping itself is extremely dangerous. But if we allow another generation to become addicted to nicotine…we as a society will see much more illness and much more premature deaths as a result. We need to pass this bill and make sure that doesn’t happen,” Frosh said at the Lowe House Office Building.

He said tobacco companies are targeting kids with sweet-tasting products. He mentioned “gummy-bear-flavored vape juice” as just one example.

Frosh relayed some recently publicized stories associated with the hazards of vaping.

“We’ve all seen stories of kids who become sick from vaping. We’ve seen pictures of them in the hospital, some on ventilators, some who’ve had to have lung transplants…and many who have died as a result.”

Del. Daryl Barnes, D-Prince George’s, chair of the legislative Black Caucus, said tobacco companies have long targeted minorities and low-income individuals with flavored products.

“Tobacco companies have aggressively targeted African Americans and lower-income economic groups in our state for decades with a strong emphasis on menthol. Menthol is a flavor which has been heavily targeted toward black communities.”

Barnes said: “Flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, are particularly dangerous because they are designed to soften the harsh taste of tobacco, hook new tobacco users, and can lead to the use of other tobacco products.”

Barnes said research shows that 80 percent of teens who use tobacco products start out with flavors such as “mint or menthol.”

Jocelyn Collins, who is the D.C. and Maryland government relations director at the American Cancer Society Action Network, said taking on the tobacco industry is a matter of “social justice.”

“We’re tired of seeing tobacco companies reinvent themselves to hook the next generation. We’re finally here to say ‘no more’ and stop Big Tobacco from selling these dangerous products in our state once and for all.

Collins said that while African Americans have been disproportionate targets of tobacco companies, all communities have been targeted.

“This may sound like a conversation about race. And it probably is. The African American community has been particularly hit hard. But when it comes to what and who we’re protecting right here..children’s lives matter, adults’ lives matter, white, brown, black, yellow — they all matter.”

MarylandReporter.com spoke with Del. Johnny Mautz, R-Talbot, about the legislation prior to the hearing. Mautz sits on the Economic Matters Committee. He said he is studying the legislation and is keeping an open mind.

“It’s a topic that has a lot of interest. Last year we raised the smoking age to 21. Later I found out that by doing so that also eliminated the penalties for people under 21 to have tobacco or the vaping devices — which is a big problem.

“Sheriffs, school administrators, parents — I’ve heard a lot from people who are very concerned about this…I understand the intention behind flavored tobacco but I want to know the details of what’s in this bill and how its gonna be implemented and how it’s going to affect both tobacco users, the economy of these devices and the tobacco, and how it’s being sold and what is the real result.”

Last November Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to pass legislation banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products — including menthol cigarettes. Flavored e-cigarettes were outlawed immediately and menthol cigarettes will be banned as of June 1. Vermont also is considering legislation to prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products.

David Sutton, a spokesperson for Altria Group, the parent company of tobacco giant Philip Morris USA and the nation’s biggest cigarette manufacturer, told MarylandReporter.com that the legislation is not the best way to curb underage use and is unfair to adult consumers.

“Prohibition of all tobacco products with characterizing flavors other than tobacco is not an effective way to address the issue of underage tobacco use and is unfair to those adult tobacco consumers who may prefer such flavor varieties.

“At a time when youth usage of cigarettes and other traditional products are at historic lows, enforcement of the FDA’s e-vapor flavor guidance is an important step which, combined with raising the legal age of purchase to 21, should have a significant impact on reducing underage vaping.”

By Bryan Renbaum

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Record Funding, But Legislators Want More for Schools and Search for Ways to Fund It

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Record funding for education, record funding for health care, record funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment in a record state budget just shy of $48 billion. And no new taxes.

Gov. Larry Hogan takes credit for record after record in spending on schools and sick people. And then he lambasts the spending mandates in state law that control 83% of the budget and drive the record spending – though in some cases Hogan has added money to the mandated spending.

In many cases, he takes credit for what he is forced to do. But given the mandates, it is no small feat to balance a state budget where expenses are rising faster than revenues, and to do it with no new taxes.

Democrats this session are pushing for one of the biggest increases in spending mandates to fund the sweeping school reforms of the Kirwan Commission on education. These include universal pre-Kindergarten, enhanced services for schools in impoverished areas, better career, and technical education, and higher pay for teachers.

Hogan has agreed to fund the start of these mandates – but balks at any further changes that will balloon the budget and require higher taxes.

The new Democratic Senate president and House speaker – the first change in legislative leadership in decades – have recognized that Marylanders feel they are already overtaxed. This strong voter sentiment helped Republican Hogan get reelected twice in a Democratic state.

Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones both have ruled out increasing the sales, income or property taxes – this year at least.

Taxed too much, voters tell pollster

A new poll commissioned by the House Republican Caucus puts hard data behind the opposition to any tax hikes. The survey by longtime Maryland pollster Patrick Gonzales found that voters in every subgroup thought they paid too much in taxes. That included 60% of Democrats, 78% of Republicans, 72% of women and 73% of African Americans. (The poll question did not distinguish between federal, state and local taxes. The poll of 838 likely voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%)

Graphic by Gonzales Research

On the flip side, the poll then asked: “How much would you be willing to pay every year in new taxes to increase public school funding in Maryland?” Statewide, there was a slight majority (52%) who opposed any new taxes, but even among the 60% of Democrats who said they would be willing to pay more for schools – the group most amenable to tax hikes — 25% of Democrats said they would only be willing to pay $250 more, while 19% said they would be willing to pay $500 to $1,000 more. This is not enough to fund the package long-term.

When fully implemented in 10 years, the Kirwan recommendations are expected to cost $4 billion more a year than is already spent on public schools which is now about $15 billion statewide, $7.3 billion coming from the state. The state would pay about $2.8 billion more in the 10th year, and the counties $1.2 billion more. Of course, they are taking money from the same taxpayers.

Scrambling for other sources

That’s why legislators are scrambling for other sources of taxes that do not hit Marylanders in their personal wallets.

A referendum to approve sports betting has been introduced again. Based on the experience in Nevada, legislative analysts estimate that sports betting might only bring in $35 million, chump change for the huge budget. Legalizing recreational marijuana has been put off the table this year, but medical marijuana brought in $10 million in taxes last year.

Ferguson and his predecessor, Senate President Emeritus Mike Miller, are proposing a novel idea to tax digital advertising (SB2), primarily the kind you find from Google and Facebook. The bill expressly targets companies that bring in more than $100 million in global ad revenue. The biggest companies with billions in total sales would pay up to 10% tax based on where the ads are appearing on a device registered in Maryland.

Google and Facebook have faced these issues in other states, but no such tax has passed. They would certainly be expected to put up a vigorous fight, despite the high-powered sponsors. Both Google and Facebook have the same lobbying firm in Annapolis, mainly to keep an eye on anything that might hurt them.

A hearing last week drew the expected a long list of opponents, from Comcast and advertising trade groups to the Motion Picture Industry and Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association. (Disclosure: I am treasurer of MDDC and sit on its board.)

The opponents cited legal, constitutional and technical problems with the bill, problems also cited by the legislature’s own staff. There’s federal law that may prevent it, there are U.S. Supreme Court and Maryland court decisions that say it would be a violation of the first amendment, and there are all sorts of technical issues that might make it difficult to track. Making the tech giants pay more than Maryland advertisers may also violate the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

A group of Montgomery County legislators are proposing a carbon tax on energy use and polluters, with part of the proceeds going to Kirwan funding. The bill also includes a tax on gas guzzling autos and SUVs, however that might be defined.

Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-Prince George’s, and other progressive groups have proposed that old chestnut, combined reporting of the corporate income tax. This tries to target out-of-state corporations that supposedly do not pay their fair share in state taxes, such as Walmart. SEIU, the service employees union, and a group of progressive legislators has also proposed an increase in the state personal income tax for earners making over $1 million but that is a nonstarter for the presiding officers.

Taxing services

As the economy has changed to emphasize services rather than goods, especially online, this is an area of opportunity for tax-writing legislators, hence the digital advertising tax. But attempts to tax services have failed before.

The most glaring example occurred in 2007 when the Maryland legislature passed a package of tax increases – including the current 6% sales tax — that taxed computer services to the tune of $200 million a year. The computer industry was taken by surprise but pushed back so strongly that the legislature repealed it before it could take effect.

Lawmakers then added a temporary surcharge on millionaires, which pushed some of them to Florida and other states that have no income tax.

The hard part is devising a service tax that captures some of that huge market without hurting the local economy or forcing companies to leave the state, as a tax on accounting or legal services might do.

The challenge won’t keep legislators from trying, despite Hogan’s opposition to any new taxes.

A version of this column appears in the February issue of The Business Monthly newspaper, serving Howard and Anne Arundel counties. It has been updated to reflect last week’s hearing.

By Len Lazarick

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Marylanders Used to be Like Iowans in Access to the Candidates

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I have never been to Iowa. My 45-year career as a journalist based in Maryland has taken me to New Orleans and New York City, to Paris and Beijing, but Des Moines and Davenport – meh.

Nothing against Iowa with its 99 rectangular counties – except this mess with their irregular caucuses.

To an Iowan, Maryland’s counties must look as bizarrely shaped as our state’s gerrymandered congressional districts. But why can’t Iowans just vote like normal people?

There’s real value in seeing the candidates in person. Long ago, that used to happen in Maryland.

In August 1975, less than a month into my first full-time reporting job at the Columbia Flier, a free weekly newspaper, I was standing in the basement of a townhouse there listening to a peanut farmer from Georgia.

Jimmy Carter had just come from a private meeting at the Route 108 home of his lead Maryland supporter, Sen. Jim Clark, Howard County’s lone senator and a farmer as well. The only journalist allowed at that meeting was columnist George Will – yes, he’s been writing that long too.

I recall little about what Carter said but I got a little revelation about campaigning that day when Carter went to a more public event at Howard County’s VoTech high school. At the same point in the same speech he had given at Judy Nieman’s house shortly before, Carter took off his blue blazer, rolled up his shirtsleeves and became once again a man of the people.

In mid-1975, no one really thought this peanut farmer – also a former nuclear submariner who had gone to the Naval Academy and governor of Georgia – would become president. But a year later, I was in New York City at my first national convention, where he was nominated. Six months later I was at the Capitol seeing him sworn in.

All the others

Over the course of that year, I got to see in person all the Democratic candidates for president. I interviewed Oklahoma Sen. Fred Harris outside his camper in Patapsco State Park. “I was chairman of the Democratic Party, and there is no such thing,” said Harris.

There was a day-long candidates’ forum in early 1976 in Shriver Hall at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. After they spoke to the crowd, the candidates sat down with local reporters at a conference table downstairs.

Gov. Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania was running. “The guzintas [goes-intos] have to equal the guzoutas [goes-out-ofs],” he said. Revenues have to equal spending – the federal budget must be balanced. What a quaint notion, one that Sen. Clark campaigned to put in the U.S. Constitution for decades.

Heck, I walked to see Mo Udall, the Arizona congressman and one of the finer politicians of his day. He was up at the Long Reach Village Center in Columbia near my home. He told a self-deprecating joke I still recall.

Earlier that year, he walked into a barbershop in New Hampshire and said, “Hi, I’m Mo Udall and I’m running for president.” To which the barber responded,
“Yeah, we were laughing about that just the other day.”

Jerry Brown

This nostalgia is about the long-distant time when Maryland was relevant in choosing a nominee for president, and even a young reporter from a small, free weekly tabloid had access to the candidates.As Carter’s support mounted before the Maryland Democratic primary in May, the old-line Democratic leaders in Maryland, including Gov. Marvin Mandel, tried to derail him by backing California Gov. Jerry Brown, then just 38 in his first hitch as governor. He gave a speech at a rally in front of the Clyde’s gazebo at Lake Kittamaqundi in Columbia, site of many political events.

Four years ago, the best I could do was attend a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton at the University of Maryland College Park, cordoned off like the other scribes some distance away. And that year I got to the Hagerstown airport too late to get into the crowded hangar to see Donald Trump live, but the video was probably just as good.

It is good to see candidates face to face and ask them questions, as you can in Iowa, “the heartland,” as they call it. But what about the headlands on the East Coast?

I don’t know if there is a good way to choose a president. Certainly not debates where a bully like Donald Trump can humiliate candidates far more knowledgeable and qualified than him. And certainly not these caucuses in Iowa.

By Len Lazarick

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Gun-Control Activists Urge Passage of Background-checks Bill

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Andrea Chamblee, the widow of slain Capital Gazette editor John McNamara, speaks in favor of background- check legislation for rifles and shotguns. She spoke at a news conference Thursday in Annapolis. (MarylandReporter.com photo by Bryan Renbaum)

Hundreds of gun-control advocates converged on Annapolis on Thursday to urge passage of legislation that would require background checks for secondary transfers of rifles and shotguns.

The legislation is on its second reading in the House of Delegates. Further debate is expected on Friday. Most bills pass on the third reading. The legislation was the subject of intense floor debate on Wednesday.

“Unchecked sales of rifles and shotguns pose a serious threat to public safety in Maryland,” Danielle Veith, a volunteer with the Maryland chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said at a news conference at the Lowe House Office Building. “The 2018 mass shooting at the Capital Gazette was a tragic reminder that a shotgun is every bit as deadly as a handgun and should be kept out the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. It’s past time for lawmakers to close this loophole and pass legislation that requires a background check on every single gun sale and transfer.”

Veith pushed back against opponents’ claims that the legislation would restrict the activities of responsible gun owners.

“Extremists arguing against this common-sense legislation would like us to believe that private gun sales are always between responsible gun owners and a neighbor or a friend they know well. If that were true, we wouldn’t be here asking legislators to close this dangerous loophole.”

Andrea Chamblee, the widow of slain Gazette editor John McNamara and a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, fought back tears as she voiced her support for the legislation. McNamara and four other Gazette employees were killed in the June 28, 2018 shooting. Chamblee testified in support of the legislation at a hearing earlier this month.

“There’s nothing I can do for John now. But there’s so many more people who need us and we can’t let them down…As long as people can easily buy that rifle or shotgun without a background check, there’s a serious threat to public safety in our state.”

Cindy Camp, the Baltimore c0-lead for Moms Demand Action, said the law should treat rifle and shotgun transfers the same as it treats handgun transfers.

“For more than 20 years Maryland law has required background checks for all handgun sales and transfers. The same should be true for rifles and shotguns.”

Camp hammered the point home.

“This bill will make a difference. It will save lives…It’s simply wrong that in a state like Maryland some guns aren’t subject to criminal background checks. To exclude certain types of guns from that simple requirement endangers public safety and defies common sense.”

But Del. Haven Shoemaker, R-Carroll, told MarylandReporter.com that the legislation would do little to address gun violence.

“It’s a feel-good, virtue-signaling bill for the majority party and that’s all it is. It’s gonna do absolutely nothing to combat crime.”

Shoemaker said that since the General Assembly passed the last “gun-grabbing bill” in 2013 only “2.5 percent of all homicides in the state of Maryland have been committed using a ‘long gun,’ ” referring to rifles and shotguns.

The legislation passed the House during last year’s legislative session but did not make it through the Senate. It is sponsored by Del. Vanessa Atterbeary, D-Howard.

A spokesperson for Gov. Larry Hogan told MarylandReporter.com that the administration has not yet taken a position on the legislation.

A spokesperson for the National Rifle Association did not respond by the deadline for this story to a request for a comment on the legislation.

By BryanRenbaum

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Hearing on School Construction Funding Highlights Desperate State of Some Schools

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County and city leaders testify on school construction funding before the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday in Annapolis. (MarylandReporter.com photo by Bryan Renbaum)

Their testimony was in support of legislation that would provide more than $2 billion over the next five to ten years for school construction and renovation throughout the state.

“The need for school construction funding in our county is great. We have a construction renovation backlog of $8.5 billion,” Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks told the House Appropriations Committee.

Alsobrooks said the county’s schools are the “second oldest in the school system.” She said the average age of a school in the county is 41 years old.

Alsobrooks referenced a meeting she attended with state officials that took place in November at Forest Heights Elementary School. She said the location of the meeting was meant to highlight the 90-year-old school’s desperate need for funds.

“We choose that location because something was missing there. And it was our students and teachers-who could not be in that school building on that day because it was deemed unsafe for them to do so.”

Alsobrooks said the students and teachers were moved to a different school. She went on to describe the renovation in graphic detail.

“Because of the emergency renovations that were underway, half the building was being held up by large hydraulic jacks. This is unbefitting of children in our school system.”

Baltimore Mayor Jack Young said some city schools lack basic utilities such as heat and air conditioning.

“Baltimore City has the oldest inventory of school buildings in the state of Maryland. Some schools lack heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer. Others do not have power or water because they are old enough to have been constructed with lead water pipes.”

Young said the legislation would provide a big boost for city schools.

“We believe that the additional money provided by HB1 would allow us to keep our promise and ensure that our students have the healthy modern school facilities they need and that they deserve.”

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said that even though his community is one of the wealthiest in the nation, the school system still needs more money.

“Despite our perceived affluence in Howard County there is a significant need for increased capital investment for our schools. We are in dire need of extensive renovations for our older schools and the construction of new ones to keep pace with our student enrollment. Even in Howard County we have over half-a-billion dollars in deferred maintenance alone.”

Ball said he anticipates the county will need more than $145 million from the state over the next five years “just to keep pace” with “critical projects.”

The legislation, HB0001-Built to Learn Act, would, according to its text: “authorize the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue up to $2.2 billion in revenue bonds, backed by annual payments from the Education Trust Fund beginning in fiscal 2022 that phase up to $125 million annually by fiscal 2024.”

Gov. Larry Hogan said in statement on Thursday that he supports the legislation.

“Last year, we introduced record funding for school construction legislation, but the legislature failed to support it. We are pleased that they now seem to agree with us on the need to provide local school systems, and most importantly our students, with the healthy, efficient, heated, air conditioned modern school buildings that they deserve. We look forward to working with the legislature to get this historic investment in our schools passed.”

Hogan’s FY 2021 budget provides $733 million for school construction. It provides $7.3 billion for K-12 education and more than $350 million to fund the recommendations of the Kirwan Commission.

By Bryan Renbaum

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Sponsors of Vetoed Dream Act Bill Defend Legislation, Override Expected

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The House and Senate sponsors of vetoed legislation that would provide tuition exemptions for certain undocumented immigrants in Maryland say the bill seeks to clarify existing law rather than expanding upon it.

The legislation is scheduled for override votes this month.

“I don’t think it’s really an expansion. I think it’s a clarification of the intent of the legislation when it was passed,” Sen. Clarence Lam, D-Howard, told MarylandReporter.com in an interview at his Annapolis office on Tuesday. “If you read the governor’s veto letter, he goes on about how this is a much broader expansion of the program, and I think that’s a misread of what this bill actually does.”

“This bill is really just trying to help students and help kids in college, and those who may want to seek a job in between, or serve their country — to have that flexibility to be able to do so.”

Del. Eric Luedtke, D-Montgomery, echoed similar sentiments.

“When the Dream Act was passed and then approved overwhelmingly by voters at the ballot, it had some restrictions on it that over the years have proven to be a little bit unwieldy and unnecessary. Kids who qualify under the Dream Act have to jump through hoops that other kids don’t have to jump through.

“So this makes it a little bit easier for kids who have proved that they paid their taxes and have graduated from a Maryland high school to access a college education through the Dream Act.”

Gov. Larry Hogan announced the veto of SB0537 and HB0262, Higher Education-Tuition Rate-Exemptions, in a letter to then-Senate president Mike Miller and House Speaker Adrienne Jones on May 24, 2019. In the letter, Hogan chided lawmakers for passing the legislation instead of proceeding with his proposal, which would have provided U.S. citizens, permanent resident immigrants and undocumented Dreamers free tuition at a four-year institution for the final two years of their education.

“Inexplicably, the General Assembly refused to support this common sense expansion to help all Maryland students. Instead, you adopted legislation that only narrowly expanded existing law to the total exclusion of all Maryland students holding U.S. citizenship or permanent resident (‘Green Card’) immigration status. This is unfair and unacceptable.”

Hogan encouraged lawmakers to go back to the drawing board.

“Moving forward, our goals must be more broadly focused to ensure all Marylanders have access to a world-class education, instead of giving favorable treatment to just one small group.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office declined to comment at this time about the legislation and the possible veto overrides.

Hogan vetoed six other bills passed during the 2019 legislative session. The House was scheduled to take up the bills today but a motion passed to place them on the “special order” calendar for Jan. 30. The Senate is scheduled to take up the bills on Wednesday but passage of a motion to special order is possible in that chamber as well. A special order motion delays consideration of legislation.

Lam and Luedtke’s bill would eliminate the requirements that undocumented immigrants attend community college in the same county where they graduated from high school, go to community college before attending a four-year institution, and attend college within four years of graduating from high school.

The General Assembly approved the Dream Act in 2011 and voters approved the measure in a referendum a year later. It allows undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria to pay in-state tuition for higher education.

Lam said the legislation would address uncertainties that exist at the federal level.

“It also ensures that folks who had in-state tuition under the DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] program or the Temporary Protected Status program under the federal provisions — that they can continue to have these benefits under the Maryland Dream Act as long as they still pay state taxes.”

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the Dream Act last year. The measure is unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Senate.

DACA is the subject of numerous legal challenges.

By Bryan Renbaum

The legislation is scheduled for override votes this month.

“I don’t think it’s really an expansion. I think it’s a clarification of the intent of the legislation when it was passed,” Sen. Clarence Lam, D-Howard, told MarylandReporter.com in an interview at his Annapolis office on Tuesday. “If you read the governor’s veto letter, he goes on about how this is a much broader expansion of the program, and I think that’s a misread of what this bill actually does.”

“This bill is really just trying to help students and help kids in college, and those who may want to seek a job in between, or serve their country — to have that flexibility to be able to do so.”

Del. Eric Luedtke, D-Montgomery, echoed similar sentiments.

“When the Dream Act was passed and then approved overwhelmingly by voters at the ballot, it had some restrictions on it that over the years have proven to be a little bit unwieldy and unnecessary. Kids who qualify under the Dream Act have to jump through hoops that other kids don’t have to jump through.

“So this makes it a little bit easier for kids who have proved that they paid their taxes and have graduated from a Maryland high school to access a college education through the Dream Act.”

Gov. Larry Hogan announced the veto of SB0537 and HB0262, Higher Education-Tuition Rate-Exemptions, in a letter to then-Senate president Mike Miller and House Speaker Adrienne Jones on May 24, 2019. In the letter, Hogan chided lawmakers for passing the legislation instead of proceeding with his proposal, which would have provided U.S. citizens, permanent resident immigrants and undocumented Dreamers free tuition at a four-year institution for the final two years of their education.

“Inexplicably, the General Assembly refused to support this common sense expansion to help all Maryland students. Instead, you adopted legislation that only narrowly expanded existing law to the total exclusion of all Maryland students holding U.S. citizenship or permanent resident (‘Green Card’) immigration status. This is unfair and unacceptable.”

Hogan encouraged lawmakers to go back to the drawing board.

“Moving forward, our goals must be more broadly focused to ensure all Marylanders have access to a world-class education, instead of giving favorable treatment to just one small group.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office declined to comment at this time about the legislation and the possible veto overrides.

Hogan vetoed six other bills passed during the 2019 legislative session. The House was scheduled to take up the bills today but a motion passed to place them on the “special order” calendar for Jan. 30. The Senate is scheduled to take up the bills on Wednesday but passage of a motion to special order is possible in that chamber as well. A special order motion delays consideration of legislation.

Lam and Luedtke’s bill would eliminate the requirements that undocumented immigrants attend community college in the same county where they graduated from high school, go to community college before attending a four-year institution, and attend college within four years of graduating from high school.

The General Assembly approved the Dream Act in 2011 and voters approved the measure in a referendum a year later. It allows undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria to pay in-state tuition for higher education.

Lam said the legislation would address uncertainties that exist at the federal level.

“It also ensures that folks who had in-state tuition under the DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] program or the Temporary Protected Status program under the federal provisions — that they can continue to have these benefits under the Maryland Dream Act as long as they still pay state taxes.”

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the Dream Act last year. The measure is unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Senate.

DACA is the subject of numerous legal challenges.

By Bryan Renbaum

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.