Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Gun control, a repeal of the death penalty and a budget deal were among the victories for Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
The last 90 days have been good to Gov. Martin O'Malley and the state lawmakers who supported his vision for a more progressive Maryland. The 2013 session of the Maryland General Assembly was contentious, but productive and, according to at least one Republican staffer, "the most liberal," maybe ever. See what lawmakers and their staff are saying about "Sine Die," a Latin phrase meaning "without day" that signifies the last day of the legislative session, in the collection of tweets above. Among the bills that passed this year: Unsuccessful bills:
Friday, January 25, 2013
Local grocery store manager and an economics professor weigh in on topic.
As reported by Germantown Patch on Tuesday, a Maryland lawmaker is introducing legislation seeking to raise the state's minimum wage from its current rate of $7.25 per hour to $10.00 per hour by 2015. When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, was passed by Congress, a number of business leaders, including Papa John's CEO John Schnatter expressed concerns over the negative financial effect the law would have on business. Curt Grimm, professor at Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland College Park, said that he expects there to be a "big outcry from the business community—they have to protect their own interests" but is not sure it will rise to the level of resistance to Obamacare. …
Friday, December 28, 2012
Sandwich would join litany of official "state" items.
- GOVERNMENT
- Ben Gross
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Friday, December 28, 2012
The black-eyed Susan. The Baltimore Oriole. The striped bass. The white oak. The calico cat. Jousting. Lacrosse. Astrodon johnstoni. What do these things all have in common? They have all been designated as the official Maryland state something-or-other (flower, bird, fish, tree, cat, sport, team sport and dinosaur respectively.) So why not a state sandwich? If Senator Richard F. Colburn (R-Dorchester) has his way, there will be one - the soft-shell crab sandwich. It has been four years since Maryland last designated something as the "official state" something - walking, as the state exercise in 2008, according to a recent Washington Post story. Senator Colburn believes that promoting "a Maryland delicacy can boost the state's …
Monday, April 18, 2011
Focusing on easy-to-please agenda items, legislators did nothing to ease pressing environmental, energy, budget or transportation concerns.
The annual Maryland legislative session in Annapolis more often than not qualifies as a disappointment, but the record of ‘accomplishments’ in this year’s 90-day fiasco must certainly rate as one of the most dismal on record. Fact is, the legislators failed miserably to tackle any of the most pressing issues faced by the state. Instead, they opted for last-minute special interest deal-making, lots of posturing and essentially ignored the big-picture issues. Nothing was done on transportation. A big zero for the environment. Zip on energy or on putting the state on a sound financial footing for the future, as far as this observer could tell. Gov. Martin O’Malley went 0-for-2 on his much-ballyhooed environmental agenda. The centerpiece …
Angela Fiori
12:58 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
Professor Grimm would like to see electronic order takers rather than live human beings taking orders. In other words, put more people out of work so that we can pay the lucky ones who keep their jobs an extra couple dollars an hour. Nice. more ›