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November 28, 2023

Chestertown Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown

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Md. General Assembly Overrides Gov. Hogan’s Veto of Congressional Redistricting Plan

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Heading into the special session this week, two congressional redistricting proposals were on the table: one put forward by Democratic legislative leaders’ Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, and another from Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.

On Monday, lawmakers advanced the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission (LRAC) proposal out of the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee and didn’t move the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission (MCRC) redistricting plan forward.

On Tuesday, the House of Delegates approved the LRAC proposal following an unsuccessful attempt by Republicans to amend it by replacing its map with the map proposed by the MCRC.

On Wednesday, the Senate passed the LRAC redistricting plan after Republican senators made a similar attempt to amend it.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) pushes a veto stamp onto the congressional redistricting proposal passed by the Democratic supermajority in the General Assembly. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines, Maryland Matters

On Thursday, Hogan vetoed the LRAC redistricting plan at a press conference at 2:15 p.m.

And the General Assembly swiftly overrode Hogan’s veto, roughly an hour and a half after he announced it. The House voted 96-41 in favor of an override, the Senate supported the move 32-14.

Hogan’s veto was not a surprise. The governor had promised to oppose any redistricting proposal that differed from the one put forward by his Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, a panel that included three Republicans, three Democrats and three unaffiliated voters. Hogan appointed the three co-chairs of that commission.

Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate. And they also overrode Hogan’s vetoes of several measures from the 2021 legislative session during the special session.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) convened the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, which they are members of.

The debate over Maryland’s congressional maps won’t end with the override votes. Fair Maps Maryland, an organization with ties to Hogan, announced plans for a lawsuit challenging the congressional redistricting plan just moments after the state Senate approved it Wednesday evening.

Hogan said he opted to veto the maps Thursday rather than waiting until the end of the legislative session to “allow the court process to begin.”

On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced a lawsuit challenging the Texas’ redistricting plan that the state’s Republican-led legislature approved in October. Garland charged that plan would disempower Black and Latino voters.

Hogan echoed Sen. Stephen S. Hershey (R-Middle Shore), who suggested on Wednesday that Garland should also scrutinize the Maryland General Assembly’s redistricting plan.

“He needs to take a look at exactly what we’re doing here in Maryland with respect to the same reason that he’s suing the state of Texas,” Hershey said Wednesday.

The LRAC map includes two majority Black districts — the 4th and the 7th — and creates a 5th Congressional District with a Black plurality for a total of three districts with a majority people of color.

In the current congressional map, the 4th and 7th are majority Black and the 5th has a white plurality. The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission map would have included one majority Black district and three additional districts with a majority people of color.

“These gerrymandered maps will be challenged in both the federal and the state courts,” Hogan said Thursday.

The congressional map adopted by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission. Screenshot from the Maryland General Assembly website.

Democratic lawmakers have defended the LRAC congressional map. Senate President Pro Tem Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s), a member of the LRAC, said during Wednesday’s floor debate that the commission was “very mindful” of complying with the Voting Rights Act.

“I’m confident that we have provided the opportunity for minority voters to vote for their preferred candidate, as we intended,” Griffith said.

While Republicans have highlighted the fact that the MCRC aimed to minimize county splits in its congressional redistricting proposal, Democratic lawmakers have said compactness is secondary to compliance with the Voting Rights Act and minimizing population variances.

The legislative panel also aimed to keep as many voters in current districts as possible while the MCRC opted to not consider existing districts at all when drawing up maps.

“Maryland’s geography is unique, and our population is varied,” Senate Majority Leader Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery) said Wednesday. “Taking all that into consideration, I am confident that this map is a fair one, and one that reflects the lived experience of Marylanders.”

Just one Democratic lawmaker in either the House of Delegates or the Senate voted to sustain Hogan’s veto: Del. Gabriel T. Acevero (D-Montgomery). Acevero said in an interview that “gerrymandering is wrong no matter the party.”

Acevero said that, despite his objections to the LRAC map, he didn’t find the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission map any better.

“The commission was pretty much chosen by Hogan,” Acevero said. “It’s not independent.”

Acevero said all lawmakers and Hogan should support the federal For The People Act, which would require nonpartisan redistricting commissions across the country. That legislation, sponsored by Maryland Rep. John P. Sarbanes (D), passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year but has been blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

“What we need is both parties calling on the U.S. Senate to abolish or reform the filibuster and pass the Freedom to Vote Act, which does away with partisan redistricting,” Acevero said. “I believe in democracy and I think the democratic thing to do is for senators to do their job.”

Asked if he had received or worried about blowback from his fellow Democrats, Acevero replied, “Come on, man. I’m always going to do what I think is the right thing.”

The General Assembly isn’t done with redistricting, either: Lawmakers will tackle state legislative redistricting when they return for their regular session in January. As with congressional redistricting, lawmakers will weigh proposals from both the MCRC and the LRAC.

The LRAC hasn’t released a legislative redistricting proposal yet.

Like the MCRC’s congressional proposal, that panel’s legislative redistricting proposal received an “A” rating from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which scored the plan based on competitiveness, partisan fairness and geographic features. The LRAC congressional map received an “F” based on those criteria. Democratic lawmakers took issues with Princeton’s scoring system because it doesn’t factor in Voting Rights Act compliance.

Constitutionally, Hogan can’t veto the General Assembly’s legislative maps, but his proposed maps become law if the General Assembly doesn’t pick an alternative within the first half of the 2022 legislative session.

By Bennett Leckrone, Josh Kurtz, and Danielle E. Gaines

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

Nonprofit Group Formed to Endorse Md. Redistricting Commission Maps

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A bipartisan pair of former lawmakers that lost narrow elections in 2018 have formed a nonprofit group to pressure the General Assembly to accept new legislative and congressional district maps being drafted by a commission created by Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.

Fair Maps Maryland is the brainchild of former Hogan communications strategist Doug Mayer, former Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman (R) and former state Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County). The group will push lawmakers to adopt the maps that will eventually be drawn up by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.

The commission, a nine-member, multi-partisan panel created by executive order to draw up congressional and legislative maps that Hogan will propose to the General Assembly, is currently conducting public hearings ahead of the release of Census redistricting data later this summer.

The commission is still months away from drawing up maps, but Fair Maps Maryland launched Thursday to support the commission’s work. The group aims to abolish “politically motivated gerrymandering” and push for the full implementation of the commission’s “nonpartisan redistricting plan,” according to a press release.

Mayer will serve as the group’s spokesman, and Kittleman and Brochin will serve as its first two board members. All three men have ties to Hogan: Brochin endorsed the governor in 2018, arguing that challenger Ben Jealous (D) was moving the Democratic party too far to the left; Hogan appointed Kittleman to the Maryland Workers Compensation Commission after he was ousted as county executive by Calvin B. Ball III (D); and Mayer worked in the Hogan administration for years.

And although Mayer departed the Hogan administration in 2018, he has continued to work as a political strategist. He most recently headed up Marylanders for Tax Fairness, a group that opposed the new digital advertising tax and advocated against overriding a Hogan veto of that bill.

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission is currently undertaking a round of regional public hearings before untabulated Census redistricting data is released in August. Although the commission’s maps are months away from being drawn, Mayer said he was confident any maps the commission submits will be an improvement over the state’s current configuration.

“An overstimulated toddler could draw fairer maps on the back of a cocktail napkin,” Mayer said.

The group’s Thursday launch was accompanied by a 60-second advertisement entitled “Pop Quiz” that takes aim at Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District, comparing the district’s odd shape to a fighting crab and a broken-winged pterodactyl, borrowing a phrase from a federal judge.

A website for the group also highlights the 3rd Congressional District as “a prime example of gerrymandering and the absurdities it creates.”

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission is Hogan’s latest bid to reform the state’s redistricting process. His previous attempts to do so through legislation have been rebuffed by the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and Senate. Any maps that Hogan eventually proposes can ultimately be redrawn by the General Assembly.

Hogan’s executive order creating the commission laid out a slew of requirements for proposed districts. The commission’s districts must “respect natural boundaries” and, to the extent practical, keep communities whole. The districts must also be compact and comply with state, federal, judicial and constitutional requirements.

Hogan’s order further bars the commission from taking into account where incumbents and potential candidates live and the political affiliation of residents.

The executive order also requires, to the extent practicable, that the commission draw single-member districts for the House of Delegates.

Maryland is one of only a few states that currently uses both single and multi-member legislative districts — a practice that some residents have opposed during the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission’s first round of public hearings.

The commission has conducted public hearings for the northern, southern and western regions of the state, as well as the Eastern Shore since the beginning of June. Residents who have testified at those public hearings have overwhelmingly urged commission members to keep communities whole in their proposed maps, with single-member legislative districts also being a common request.

Other residents have urged the commission to be flexible and consider using both single multi-member districts.

Some have criticized Hogan’s requirements for what the commission can and cannot consider: At the commission’s public hearing for the northern Maryland region, Maryland Legislative Coalition co-leader Edward Johnson said panelists should “think outside the box”  in drawing up proposed maps and consider inviting the General Assembly to participate in the process.

“Unless you invite all stakeholders to participate and give their opinions during meetings of the commission, you are Hogan’s commission and not a bipartisan citizens commission, which should be your intention,” Johnson said.

Information about how Fair Maps Maryland is funded, and exactly how much cash the organization has, was not readily available. Mayer said the group will register as a grassroots lobbying organization in November, at which point more specific funding information will be available. He added that the organization currently has at least “six figures” in financial commitments from Marylanders.

“We’re very confident that we’ll be able to have the resources necessary to make sure Marylanders understand what’s going on with redistricting in Maryland, and why it’s important,” Mayer said.

The nonprofit group RepresentUs found that Maryland and dozens of other states are under “extreme” risk for gerrymandering in a report earlier this year. The Thursday release from Fair Maps Maryland charged that Maryland “is widely regarded as one of the worst offenders in the nation” when it comes to partisan redistricting.

Maryland’s 2012 congressional district map faced multiple court challenges and was addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court three times, ultimately cementing the justices’ stance that it is not the judiciary’s place to settle disputes over partisan gerrymandering in Maryland or other states.

“Gerrymandering not only attempts to silence political opponents, but it also discourages progress and innovation by preventing the free exchange of ideas and deepening political divisions,” Brochin said in the release. “I look forward to being part of Fair Maps Maryland and working hard so that every Marylander, in every corner of our state, can enjoy their right to free and fair elections.”

The group is also pushing for a transparent map-drawing process,  that mapmaking was largely done behind closed doors a decade ago.

“Ensuring fair electoral maps for Marylanders isn’t just about good government and serving the public in the present moment — it’s also about safeguarding our democratic processes for the future,” Kittleman said in a statement. “Over time, gerrymandering has eroded voting rights on both sides of the aisle, across our country. As Marylanders, and as Americans, we must stand up for what is right and set an example for the rest of the nation.”

The map-making process is expected to reach fever pitch in late September, when final U.S. Census bureau figures are released. The release of Census data was delayed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayer said Fair Maps Maryland’s board will likely expand, and the group hopes to partner with “like-minded organizations” to raise awareness about the redistricting process.

By Bennett Leckrone

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

House Dems Push Through Proposed Constitutional Change, Strip Dissenter of Leadership Post

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Retribution came swiftly and publicly for a member of the House of Delegates Wednesday following a heated vote on a proposal to give the General Assembly more power over the state budget.

In the final hours of the 2020 legislative session, the House was debating a proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution, which originated in the state Senate, that would grant the legislature the power to move funding around in the state budget.

Several Republican lawmakers rose on the House floor to oppose the measure, arguing that giving the legislature more say over the budget — Maryland’s chief executive has more power over state spending than just about any governor in the U.S. — would invariably lead to more government spending and higher taxes.

They were also incredulous that the House would vote on a Senate bill that hadn’t had a hearing in a House committee — at a time when the State House is on lockdown and the public is having trouble watching legislative proceedings on livestream.

“That’s tyranny, Madame Speaker,” said Del. Robin L. Grammer Jr. (R-Baltimore County).

Del. Geraldine Valentino-Smith

Then Del. Geraldine Valentino-Smith (D-Prince George’s) rose to oppose the vote. She too questioned the wisdom of ramming the bill through when there had been no House hearing, fretting about “the integrity of the process.”

The bill wound up passing, 95-39. Only one Democrat voted against it: Valentino-Smith.

Seconds later, as the House prepared to recess for half an hour, Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) called for a quick vote on an appointment: Del. Michael A. Jackson (D-Prince George’s), she indicated without explanation, would be the new House chairman of the legislature’s Spending Affordability Committee, which studies revenue projections and the state economy.

The previous committee chairman: Valentino-Smith.

“Have you ever seen them strip a man [of a leadership position]?” Valentino-Smith asked a reporter minutes after the vote. “I’m disappointed. I have never seen that type of retribution taken against someone who has spoken out against a committee.”

Jeremy Baker, a spokesman for the Jones, said the speaker’s office had no comment.

A handful of House members privately referred to the removal of Valentino-Smith from the Spending Affordability Committee as “gangster.”

The proposed constitutional amendment itself appears to be gaining traction after several unsuccessful attempts through the years.

Under rules in place for more than a century, Maryland legislators have been limited in their budgetary power. Lawmakers can reduce or eliminate appropriations from governors’ proposed budgets, but are not allowed to increase funding.

The proposed constitutional amendment, if approved by voters in a November ballot initiative, would allow lawmakers to increase, decrease and move money around in the budget, within the restraints of an overall budget cap proposed by the governor.

Despite Republicans’ vehement objections as the bill moved through the legislature this session, the push for a constitutional amendment change giving lawmakers more say over state spending has been championed by Republican legislators in the past — including David R. Brinkley, who is now Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s Budget secretary.

The legislation heads now to Hogan’s desk.

By Josh Kurtz

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

Sweeping Education Reform Bill Headed to Governor’s Desk

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After three years of policy-making and debate, an education reform plan that has been hailed by Democratic leaders as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to overhaul outdated education policies and correct inequities of the past will be sent to the governor’s desk.

“Good work, everyone,” said House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) after the bill passed on a vote of 96 to 38 Tuesday, prompting applause from lawmakers on the House floor.

Before the vote on the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future was taken, lawmakers took one last opportunity to implore their colleagues to vote in favor of the legislation.

Del. Stephanie Smith (D), chairwoman of the Baltimore City delegation, said it was the legislature’s obligation to give kids a better chance.

“This isn’t a crisis that just arose,” said Smith, “And we cannot say ‘Oh, we don’t have time to do right by you, just like we didn’t have time for your mother, we didn’t have time for your grandmother and no, we don’t have time for you.’”

“That is over,” said Smith, whose remarks were punctuated by cheers of support from colleagues. “That is unacceptable. And in my opinion, it’s un-American.”

House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) said that the Blueprint reforms would touch students in every corner of the state.

“We are failing kids,” he said. “We’re not just failing kids today, we’ve been failing kids for decades.”

“I … represent the richest county in the state of Maryland, and in my county, too, we failed kids,” Luedtke said. “This bill provides the opportunity to change that, at long last after too many years. It provides the opportunity for the children of Maryland to get what they deserve.”

The Blueprint reforms would expand pre-kindergarten programs and career education for high schoolers, increase pay and career opportunities for teachers, and increase state funding for schools with high concentrations of poverty.

The bill heads to Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s desk, where he can chose to sign the bill, veto it, or let it take effect without his signature.

If the bill is vetoed, lawmakers could override the governor in a special session tentatively planned for late May. The bill passed both chambers with a veto-proof majority.

Throughout the debate, Hogan and legislative Republicans have expressed concern about the plan’s price tag.

The ambitious plan is expected to increase state education funding by more than $2.8 billion annually in 2030.

According to analysts, state aid for education would top $10.2 billion in 2030, compared to about $7.2 billion in the Legislature’s 2021 budget plan.

And half of Maryland’s counties would be required to increase funding under the bill, with mandated annual increases climbing to a combined total of $600 million in 2030.

House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel) expressed concern that the reform bill doesn’t include specific funding for the reform. A package of tax bills to fund the first five years of the reform effort is moving forward separately in the chambers and could see final approval on Wednesday.

“If you really believe it is this great, and it is going to do these revolutionary things ― and I hope you’re right ― but if you really believe it, why don’t you pay for it?” Kipke asked.

The House overwhelmingly accepted amendments from the Senate, including provisions that failed in the House chamber earlier this month. But much has changed since then, including an urgency to pass the bill before the truncated session ends Wednesday afternoon and economic uncertainty fueled by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Senate amendments included a cap on student-to-teacher ratios from Minority Leader J.B. Jennings (R-Harford), increased gubernatorial influence over an accountability board, and what was dubbed the “coronavirus amendment” from Senate Majority Leader Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery).

That provision would limit state and local education aid if the state’s revenue estimates drop by more than 7.5% in a given year.

Even so, Republican House lawmakers cited a potential financial downturn as a reason not to move forward with the bill this year.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore City), who called King’s proposal “the coronavirus amendment,” said it provides for “exactly what most people want. And that is, if it is catastrophic, there is a stopgap.”

The final version of the bill also includes a provision that would require a “checkpoint” to test the success of the reforms by 2026.

Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Chairman Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), a staunch advocate for the reform plan, was honored in both chambers on Tuesday, even as he was absent.

The chairman worked late into the night on Monday, defending the bill and ushering its passage through the Senate chamber. His final words to the chamber on Monday night were a touching tribute to his wife, Joan Rothgeb, a retired educator who’d been battling cancer for the last year.

On Tuesday, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) shared the sad news with senators that Rothgeb died in the early morning hours. The chamber adjourned in her honor.

Passing the Blueprint bill was a top priority for Democrats this legislative session, particularly those in leadership positions.

Jones, McIntosh, Pinsky and Ferguson were at times members of the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, which crafted the reform proposal.

The commission’s work was headed by William E. “Brit” Kirwan, chancellor emeritus of the University System of Maryland, who learned of the bill’s passage from afar, after the State House complex was closed to the public last week.

Originally, he had planned to be present in the State House when the final vote was taken.

“Generations of Marylanders will remember what you did here today,” Kirwan said in a statement Tuesday night. “Seeing the groundswell of support for this effort to lift up Maryland’s children has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”

By Danielle E. Gaines and Hannah Gaskill

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

Unprecedented Three Days on Tap in Annapolis as Legislators Race to Early Finish

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For what is believed to be the first time since the Civil War, the Maryland General Assembly is adjourning early.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) announced on Sunday that this year’s legislative session, which was scheduled to conclude on April 6, will end instead on Wednesday.

Lawmakers hope to convene in special session in late May, subject to the spread of COVID-19, Ferguson said. If there is a special session, it will be primarily to override vetoes from Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R). If there are other bills they wish to consider in May, including dead bills from the current session, lawmakers would have to start at square one.

As of Sunday, at least 31 Maryland residents had tested positive for the disease — and Howard County reported a case of a woman in her 80s who lives at Lorien Elkridge, a nursing home facility. Last Monday, there were six reported cases.

The legislature’s presiding officers said the decision represented a desire to balance their official responsibilities — primarily to fund state agencies and programs for fiscal year 2021 — against the health risks of staying in the cramped confines of the State House longer than necessary.

“The COVID-19 health crisis is critical,” Ferguson said. “This was not an easy decision to make and was made in consultation with public health experts and lawmakers from both parties.”

In a display of bipartisan solidarity, Republican leaders from both chambers stood with Ferguson and Jones as they addressed reporters during a Sunday afternoon news conference.

“At times like these, it’s important for all of us to know that we must pull together, stay calm, and know that we will get through this together,” House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel) said. “So I support the actions of the leaders of the General Assembly. Collaboratively, we are going to get legislation passed to bring forth the resources that we need to address the coronavirus, we’re going to get a budget passed that brings forward resources that we need for the state and to address the crisis. And we’re going to be supporting the administration every step of the way.”

Shortly after the leaders’ mid-afternoon news conference, the Senate and House convened for a rare Sunday session — the first in nearly 30 years — and began approving bills in rapid-fire fashion. Most measures zoomed across the desk with little debate or discussion.

In the House, lawmakers voted several times to change the chamber’s rules to allow the second- and third-reading votes on Senate bills during the same floor session. Around 6 p.m., House Parliamentarian Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery) stood to announce that Jones had issued a directive to send all crossed-over Senate bills directly to standing House committees rather than to the Rules Committee, to speed up the legislative process.

As a practical matter, Monday is no longer “crossover day” in the State House — the deadline for a bill to move in one chamber and be guaranteed a hearing in the other.

Senate bills that get to the House on Tuesday or Wednesday will go straight to the appropriate standing committee, not Rules. The Senate is going to consider suspending the crossover deadline rule as well.

Members of the Senate have introduced 1,081 bills and 236 bond initiatives. Members of the House of Delegates have introduced 1,663 bills and 234 bond initiatives.

Many will not make it — either because leadership doesn’t approve of them or time simply runs out. The decision to adjourn early sets off a scramble for Maryland lawmakers to get their most cherished bills onto the top of the pile.

“We will be essentially condensing the last month of session into three days with a third of the staff,” said the Senate president. “This is going to require us to focus on the most important and prioritize policies.”

Unprecedented budget meeting

The first hour of the Senate’s rare Sunday session saw passage of over 50 pieces of legislation, including a few bills that had already passed in the House.

Several of those bills are now poised to be sent to the governor’s desk — most notably Jones’ House Bill 1260, which would provide an extra $57.7 million annually to fund the state’s historically black colleges and universities.

Should it be signed by Hogan, the bill’s passage would finally put to rest a long-fought lawsuit levied against the state by the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education.

Ferguson thanked the members of the Legislative Black Caucus for pushing the legislation.

“This is not a bill that will improve the lives or opportunities for black Marylanders,” Ferguson said. “This will improve the life of all Marylanders, and it’s something that all of us should have been working for a long period of time.”

On Monday, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and House Appropriations Committee will take the unprecedented step of meeting together for budget negotiations before a budget bill reaches the House floor. The goal is to come to consensus on a budget bill that will be able to pass through the House, then move to the Senate for a quick concurrence, lawmakers said.

Also on Sunday, Ferguson and Jones announced the creation of a Joint Committee on the COVID-19 Response. The new panel, made up of 24 lawmakers from both chambers and both parties [see related story], will “monitor the effects of the COVID-19 virus in Maryland and advise the General Assembly in our role as a co-equal partner in government in oversight and lawmaking roles,” Ferguson said.

In a bid to address criticism that the General Assembly is currently meeting in a vacuum — having barred the public from the State House and the rest of the legislative campus earlier this week — Ferguson announced that the Senate will improvise a system to livestream floor debates and committee voting sessions.

“We know this situation is not ideal for any of us,” he said. “But we are doing our best to ensure open government in this type of a public health crisis.”

There was a palpable sense of exhaustion and anxiety in Annapolis on Sunday. Lawmakers are nearly 10 weeks into their annual 90-day session. Many are worried about family members back in their districts. And now there is the concern that legislation they’ve worked on for months will fall victim to a shrunken session.

There is little room to spare in the State House, hearing rooms or legislators’ individual offices, putting personal space at a premium.

Although there have been no reported cases of exposure in or around the legislature, the question, “Have I been in close proximity to someone who is infected with COVID-19?” hangs unspoken in the air.

“There is a lot we don’t know about this virus,” Jones said. “What we do know is that public health research shows the more steps we can take right now to prevent transmission, the better off we are.”

Maryland joins a growing list of states in which legislatures are adjourning early due to the spread of COVID-19.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a dozen legislatures (Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) have postponed or paused their legislative sessions. Two additional chambers, Missouri Senate and Ohio House, have also postponed their session.

Sunday’s session was particularly strange. Although there was intense action in both chambers, the galleries overlooking them were empty. The grand hallway on the main level of the State House was empty, save for the security team. There were few if any lobbyists outside the State House hoping to snag a committee chairman for a whispered word. And there were no pages to help distribute amendments on the floor.

Most staff members worked from home, while a skeleton team supported legislative operations.

Just before the news conference was to begin, dozens of lawmakers crowded the lectern where Jones and Ferguson were to speak — to show their support for the decision to end early. As soon as staff realized that a “family photo” of lawmakers jammed in close together was the ultimate bad look, rank and file members were shooed to the back of the room.

Jones, Ferguson, Kipke and Jennings ended up representing the legislature.

Hogan’s not-so-subtle pressure

Michael Ricci, a spokesman for Hogan, said the governor had no response to the legislature’s decision to go home Wednesday.

Over the past several days, however, Hogan and his supporters have attempted to exert subtle and not-so-subtle pressure on lawmakers to leave town.

On Friday, Hogan issued a statement saying the legislature should only focus on “measures immediately necessary to protect the public health and safety of Marylanders” — specifically passing the budget, confirming a new state police superintendent and passing emergency legislation designed to address COVID-19.

Hogan’s supporters spent parts of the weekend using social media to question why lawmakers were staying in town to pass tax increases — a reference to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, an expensive and expansive education reform package.

And then at 3 p.m. Sunday — the precise moment legislative leaders were scheduled to have their news conference — Change Maryland, one of Hogan’s political organizations, issued a news release reprinting a Fox News story with the headline, “Maryland Democrats plow ahead with expensive education bill as legislative session may end early due to coronavirus.”

By Bruce DePuyt, Danielle E. Gaines, Hannah Gaskill and Josh Kurtz.

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

Md. Legislature Will Adjourn Wednesday, Return in Late May

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The presiding officers of the Maryland General Assembly on Sunday said the legislature will adjourn Wednesday due to the outbreak of COVID-19, almost three weeks earlier than scheduled.

It will be the first time the legislature has adjourned early since the Civil War. The session was supposed to run through April 6.

The decision to adjourn “didn’t come lightly,” both House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said during an afternoon news conference in the Miller Senate Office Building.

“It is a critical time in our state’s government and a fragile moment in our efforts to secure our state’s health,” Jones added.

Legislative leaders said working for 3 1/2 more days would enable lawmakers to focus on must-pass legislation — like the operating and capital budgets and an emergency bill to guide how the state will operate during the crisis — but will also allow them to work on other priorities, like major education reform legislation and a plan to provide more funding for the state’s four HBCU’s.

“We’re going to focus and prioritize but we’re going to continue to legislate,” Ferguson said.

In a sign of bipartisan cooperation, House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel) and Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings (R-Harford) also spoke at the news conference and expressed their support for the early departure.

“It’s times like this we come together,” Jennings said.

The presiding officers said they expected to return to Annapolis for a special session during the final week in May to tie up loose ends.

“We want to give enough time for the public health crisis to pass,” Ferguson said.

In the meantime, legislative leaders will establish the COVID-19 Response Legislative Workgroup, which, Ferguson said, “will monitor the effects of the virus and advise the General Assembly in our role as a co-equal partner in government and oversight in law and lawmaking.”

The members of the new workgroup are: Ferguson, Jones, Jennings, Kipke, Senate President Pro Tem Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s), Senate Budget and Taxation Chairman Guy J. Guzzone (D-Howard), Senate Minority Whip Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore), Senate Finance Chairwoman Delores G. Kelley (D-Baltimore County), Senate Majority Leader Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery), Senator Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard), Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Chairman Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), Sen. James C. Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s), Senate Judicial Proceedings Chairman Will C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), Sen. Jason Gallion (R-Harford), House Speaker Pro Tem Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-Middle Shore), House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery), House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County), House Appropriations Chairwoman Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore City), House Health and Government Operations Chairwoman Shane M. Pendergrass (D-Howard), House Economic Matters Chairman Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s), Del. Michael Jackson (D-Prince George’s), Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s), House Majority Whip Talmadge Branch (D-Baltimore City), and Del. Jeff Ghrist (R-Upper Shore).

The House and Senate shuffled quickly into session immediately after the leaders’ news conference. In the House, lawmakers voted several times to change the chamber’s rules to allow the second- and third-reading votes on Senate bills during the same floor session. While the maneuver allowed several bills to reach final passage in the House, most of them contained amendments that could require further negotiation with the Senate.

By Josh Kurtz and Danielle E. Gaines

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Legislators Narrowing Priorities Amid COVID-19 Uncertainty

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The number of people with access to the State House complex is dwindling, even as lawmakers ramp up efforts to pass key pieces of legislation amid uncertainty over COVID-19 and whether it could force an early adjournment.

House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) announced Friday morning that only House members, their essential staff, the media and anyone with appointments will be permitted to enter the House office building effective at the close of the day’s business, with the addendum that hallway-lingering is off the table.

“As everyone knows, this is an ever-evolving situation, and I will continue to update you with information as I get it,” Jones said on the floor. “It is important to note that we are … not closing but operating under a modified status.”

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said that leadership has been following Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s safety guidelines and exploring options, but lawmakers have no choice but to pass the state’s operating budget before an adjournment.

“We cannot leave the chamber until we pass a budget, or else government will stop on July 1 of this year,” he said after the morning session. “That’s not acceptable. That’s not something that will happen.”

Ferguson said that despite being in the midst of a public health crisis, lawmakers are still responsible for ensuring that the state is functioning.

“At the end of the day, this will end. We will still have a state to run. We will still have the great state of Maryland,” he said. “We will do some important and tangible work over the next few days here, and we’re going to take it day by day.”

Republican lawmakers, though, pressed against that narrative, urging the chambers to focus on a narrow band of legislation, even as regular calendars of dozens of bills moved through both houses.

“The minute somebody in this chamber or the other tests positive, we’re going to be quarantined and everything is going to shut down. We need to stop dragging our feet and dealing with all of these other bills,” Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings (R-Harford) said. “Yes, they’re important … but the world changed yesterday and we’re in a new environment. We need to make sure we keep everyone safe. Let’s do the emergency stuff and get out of town.”

Jennings also said his colleagues should no longer consider the signature piece of legislation championed by Democrats this legislative session: the 229-page Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan that would increase the state’s public school funding by about $4 billion annually within 10 years.

“We should not move Kirwan now. ….We don’t have anybody in the building, we don’t have staff. The public’s not here. The lobbyists aren’t here. We’re going to pass this $32 billion bill operating at 30% staff?” Jennings said, combining several years of total education funding throughout the state.

The Senate got a first look at committee amendments to the bill on Friday and was expected to take up debate on Saturday.

Throughout the State House complex, legislative leaders were working Friday to prioritize measures to move out of their committees.

The House Appropriations Committee on Friday afternoon zoomed through proposed budget amendments in about an hour, passing a budget with minor changes from the Senate’s proposal, setting up a quick conference committee process.

The budget is expected to reach the House floor on Sunday or Monday.

“We ought to be here and doing our job,” Appropriations Chairwoman Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore City) said, while acknowledging that would all change if someone in either chamber were diagnosed with COVID-19. “…I think that most people feel that being here and doing our job is very important.”

After the Senate adjourned Friday evening, the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee headed back to the Miller Senate Office Building for a short voting session to move a bill that would increase funding to settle a lawsuit about inequities at Maryland’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The House bill passed the House of Delegates on Thursday.

Sen. Craig J. Zucker (D-Montgomery) said the top remaining priorities are to pass a balanced budget that funds “critical” needs, the Kirwan Commission’s reforms, school construction funding ― and “then helping with revenue” ― a reference to the various measures that have been floated to fund the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

The revenue measures and school construction bill came to the Senate floor Friday evening and could be debated during floor sessions on Saturday and Sunday.

“We’re still expecting to adjourn Sine Die,” Zucker said, referring to the scheduled conclusion of the legislative session on April 6. “We’re functioning on a normal schedule right now. We’re trying to get as much done as possible.”

House Ways and Means Chairwoman Anne R. Kaiser (D-Montgomery) said her committee was focusing on the Blueprint bill, revenue measures, revitalizing the state’s thoroughbred horse racing tracks, and sports betting, along with other measures that would have to go on the 2020 ballot for approval by voters.

House Health and Government Operations Chairwoman Shane E. Pendergrass (D-Howard) offered little about prioritized legislation but said that her committee is working to shuffle legislation in and out as quickly as possible.

“We were almost finished with House bills,” she said. “We’re trying to finish up with the House bills that we can, and then we’ll try to move the Senate bills for hearings as quickly as we can.”

‘It’s a little like the SAT’

Del. Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery), chairman of the House Environment and Transportation Committee said his committee will be voting on measures related to the Hogan administration’s plan to rebuild the American Legion Bridge and widen Interstate 270 and the Capital Beltway.

“It’s a little like the SAT: Do the questions that you know the answer to and skip over the ones that are harder and then try to come back to them,” Barve said about the process of prioritizing bills in an uncertain time. “The bills that are important for public policy and that are the easiest to pass go first. Then the bills that are important for public policy and take a little more time go second. That’s how it filters out.”

The great unknown, he and other lawmakers said, is how much longer lawmakers will remain in Annapolis.

“I don’t believe we’re going to adjourn early, but I think we have to act as though we were,” Barve said.

House Economic Matters Committee Chairman Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s) said his panel had been working to get bills to the floor in case time becomes an issue, including a bill to expand the state’s tobacco tax, which passed the chamber on Friday.

“Many of the things that we had considered a priority, they’re either already in the Senate or they’re in the pipeline [in the House],” he said. “So we’re in good shape.”

Davis said his committee is starting its work on Senate bills — “in the unlikely event that we have to shut down early.”

“Everything is just so fluid,” he added. “We’re getting updates real-time. The same time you’re hearing it, we’re hearing it. We’re in something that’s unprecedented in my 26 years down here but we’re going to get the peoples’ work done.”

Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), the chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said his committee and other panels will place priority on passing bills that deal with programs whose funding expires soon.

“Anything that sunsets while we may be gone,” Smith said. “For instance, we have $3 million to fund programs like Safe Streets and the other community-based crime-prevention programs. Their funding will lapse [if we don’t act] and they’re counting on that money, so those are the types of things we want to get through.”

He said the bills that haven’t passed yet can potentially be taken up at a later date. “If we adjourn, then come back, we can kind of resume and pick up,” he said.

Regarding the just-below-the-radar discussion of a possible special session after the COVID-19 crisis subsides, Smith said, “It’s looming over everything we do.”

“The more you start understanding what we’re dealing with, in terms of the numbers, I’ve never seen this before,” Smith said. “All 24 jurisdictions, school closed. You look at the numbers from the CDC. It’s unreal. That’s the specter we’re operating under. It kinds of puts things in perspective.”

By Danielle E. Gaines, Bruce DePuyt, and Hannah Gaskill

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Report: State Lost Billions by Not Closing Corporate Loopholes

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A liberal-leaning think tank is pressing for passage of a series of revenue bills targeting business loopholes and tax breaks ― by looking back at what could have been.

The Maryland Center on Economic Policy released a memo on Thursday detailing $2.8 billion in revenue that could have been raised by their bill package if lawmakers had passed the measures last term.

The center, which produced the memo independently, is part of the Fair Funding Coalition, which is pressing for passage of 10 bills that they say would close corporate loopholes, end policies that benefit special interests and establish a more equitable income tax system in the state.

The goal of the proposals is to raise dedicated revenues to help the state cover the costs of Kirwan Commission education reform proposals, which could become substantially more expensive in coming weeks as lawmakers consider tweaks to relieve local spending mandates.

“We made it much harder on ourselves because we didn’t take these steps sooner,” said Benjamin Orr, executive director of the Center on Economic Policy.

The analysis found that eliminating pass-throughs in corporate tax reporting and implementing combined reporting for multi-state corporations could have generated more than $1.8 billion between 2014 and 2018.

The center also would have ended some businesses subsidies during that time period, amounting to $194 million.

Levying a 1% state surtax on capital gains would have generated $455 million, and closing the “carried interest loophole” by taxing income of investment fund managers at 17% ― instead of the lower capital gains tax rate ― could have generated $209 million.

Orr said he was still optimistic that lawmakers might pass one or more of the measures included in the analysis this legislative session. The bills, he said, would minimize impact on low- and moderate-income residents while, in cases like combined reporting, bring Maryland in line with the majority of other states.

Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s) has introduced a combined reporting bill for more than a decade.

“We would have had a hell of a lot of money,” Pinsky said, if his bill had been passed earlier.

He believes there’s still a chance that his bill and others could be part of a revenue package advanced this session, and that it makes sense to focus efforts to raise revenue for education reforms by focusing on businesses.

“I hear from some of these companies that say we have jobs, but we don’t have people to fill them. So I think there’s a nexus between them paying their fair share and investing in education, because they’re the ones who are going to take advantage of it,” Pinsky said. “We’re the ones preparing their future employees. I think it’s way past due.”

The Center on Economic Policy’s push for business tax reform has been boosted by Warren Deschenaux, who retired as the General Assembly’s long-serving top fiscal analyst in 2017.

On Thursday, he said it was critical that lawmakers increase state revenues not only to fund education reform, but also to address the state’s structural deficit.

“If you look at the outlook, things are rather grim ― and that’s before anything bad [like a recession] happens,” Deschenaux said.

The Fair Funding Coalition’s package of bills are just a small portion of an influx in revenue measures introduced this year, encompassing everything from sports betting to digital downloads and a recent proposal to dramatically expand the state’s sales tax to services.

A hearing on the sales tax proposal ― which sponsor Del. Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) has said could generate an additional $2.6 billion ― is expected to draw strident opposition from corners of the business community on Monday.

Orr said while the center has endorsed limited sales tax expansions for specific services in the past, it has not yet taken a position on the broader 2020 sales tax proposal.

“Our top priority remains closing loopholes and getting rid of tax breaks that only benefit special interests,” he said.

Deschenaux said the sales tax proposal could end up making the other proposed revenue bills more attractive to lawmakers in contrast.

“Some of those consumers are wealthy and they’re getting lawyer advice and having their taxes done,” he said of the proposed tax on services. “But a lot of those people are having their dry cleaning done, their cars repaired, and so forth. And so it reaches perhaps more broadly than one might prefer.”

by Danielle E. Gaines

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Dems Question Need for Hogan’s School Accountability Proposal

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A school accountability plan floated by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) was met with skepticism Tuesday by senators, who said the plan to allow specialized teams to take over struggling schools is duplicative of current law and would create an undue burden on school communities.

Hogan’s “Community and Local Accountability for Struggling Schools Act” would allow school-based committees to take over schools with persistent low showings in the state’s star-rating system. The committees ― comprised of the county superintendent, a county board of education member, a parent, a principal and two county teachers ― would develop a five-year plan for the school, including new goals for student achievement and changes to curriculum, budget, school schedule, staffing policies and professional development.

Fourteen schools have received a one-star rating from the state for two consecutive years and would qualify as an “Innovation School” if the program were in place now.

In unveiling the legislation in December, Hogan said it was key to improving accountability in public schools.

“Local communities will be able to take charge of that failing school and be empowered to enact critical changes,” Hogan said.

The proposal is based on a similar model implemented in Massachusetts under the former Democratic governor, Deval Patrick.

But Democrats and education advocates who oppose the bill say it also largely mimics the school improvement process in existing law, and only adds an additional layer of bureaucracy.

In 2017, the majority in the General Assembly passed the Protect Our Schools Act to guide the state’s implementation of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. That bill set parameters for identifying struggling schools ― defined federally as the lowest performing five percent of Title I schools and high schools with a graduation rate later than 67 percent ―and implementing locally developed “Comprehensive Support and Improvement Plans.”

The first batch of so-called CSI schools were identified in April: 42 schools statewide, including 37 in the city of Baltimore, three in Prince George’s County and two in Anne Arundel County.

The process is underway to develop local improvement plans by panels that include principals, school leaders, teachers, and parents.

“I’m just trying to understand, substantively, how this is different,” Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Chairman Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s) said of Hogan’s proposal. Sen. Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard) said the bill seemed to add an additional layer of unnecessary bureaucracy.

Hogan’s bill was supported by outgoing State Superintendent of Schools Karen B. Salmon and the state Board of Education, which is comprised mostly of Hogan appointees.

Salmon said the process in current law is very state-driven and the Hogan proposal could add an additional option to identify additional struggling schools by using the star-rating system instead of the federal guidelines.

The bill was opposed by the Maryland Association of Boards of Education and the Maryland State Education Association, the union that represents 75,000 teachers and school employees.

Those groups argued in opposition testimony that the proposal could contradict collective bargaining agreements and would create confusion by layering on a similar, but not identical, intervention program.

“The governor recently introduced a bill on a separate topic with the goal of ending, in his words, a purported ‘mass confusion’ in school calendar policy,” MSEA’s Tina Dove wrote in written opposition. “Whether or not that exists is debatable, but this legislation would quickly create mass confusion in school accountability policy.”

Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-Lower Shore), who is a sponsor of the bill, said she didn’t understand the resistance to the bill, particularly if everyone agreed on a basic goal of improving public schools for Maryland children.

“I don’t really understand when I hear from a lot of rank-and-file teachers, school leadership and board of education members that are open to accountability and these type of proposals, and then to have these statewide organizations come in and not even appear to want to work on an initiative like this,” Carozza said.

Sean Johnson, assistant executive director of MSEA, responded that the union and other statewide organizations were part of the process to create the accountability plans in existing law, as well as additional new accountability measures expected to be a part of Kirwan Commission legislation.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland also opposed the proposal, arguing that the “bill unjustly targets a small number of Baltimore City and Prince George’s County schools by proposing unreasonable oversight and mechanisms that force undue administrative burdens on the Superintendent, teacher unions, parents and principals.”

A hearing has not yet been set on a cross-filed version of the bill in the House of Delegates.

The Senate committee also held a brief hearing Tuesday for Hogan’s AP Opportunities Act of 2020, which would provide $1.1 million annually to help low-income students cover the fees to take Advanced Placement examinations free of charge.

There was no opposition to that bill.

By Danielle E. Gaines
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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

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