The state is not the only one with budget woes.
Baltimore County is facing a $138 million budget shortfall due to income tax and property tax revenues being less than anticipated in the budget that was passed last spring.
The only question that remains is how the county will deal with the shortfall. (more…)
I sat down with the folks over at Marylandreporter.com for a journalist’s roundtable discussion about recent proposals to make state government more open and transparent and the issues that are still to be resolved.
Here’s the podcast of that discussion with Andy Rosen and Len Lazarick.
Today’s political chat with Maryland Morning News anchor Bill Vanko.
We discussed a county resolution that would impose sanctions on companies that do business with the county if they also hire illegal immigrants, and Councilman Ken Oliver’s fundraising efforts and a Democratic challenger to his seat.
Councilman Sam Moxley said Tuesday he is getting closer to a decision about his political future.
“I’m seriously considering running for clerk of the court,” Moxley said after a council work session.
Moxley has expressed an interest in the position before. Last June he said he was considering running for the office that has been held by Suzanne Mensh since 1986. (more…)
A bill that some say offered a more comprehensive approach to reforming pensions for County Council members would have been legal under federal retirement law, according to a five-page memo prepared by the county Office of Law.
The issue of legality came up last week after the council passed a 60 percent pension cap for any freshman councilman who takes office this December. The council voted that same night to kill a more restrictive bill sponsored by Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder. (more…)
The effect of Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling, allowing direct campaign contributions from unions and corporations, is of concern to one Baltimore County delegate.
Del. Jon Cardin, a Democrat who represents the 11th District, said he is not sure what effect the ruling will have, if any, on current state law but plans to ask the attorney general for an opinion. (more…)
This week’s chat with Maryland Morning News anchor Bill Vanko. This week, we talk about recently passed legislation to reform pensions for county council members and Ken Holt and Del. Pat McDonough, two top GOP prospects for county executive
A man called me the other day and wanted to talk about speed cameras.
His brother got a ticket while driving through the work area on I-695 near Charles Street, and he wasn’t happy about it. His brother was driving in excess of 60 mph in a zone where the speed limit is 50. State law enacted last year allows the state to issue a ticket using the devices to anyone driving more than 12 mph over the speed limit. (more…)
Republican former Del. Don Murphy called Monday night from an unlikely place — a hotel room in Needham, Mass.
Murphy, a political campaign consultant and Catonsville resident, and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Wargotz arrived in Boston yesterday. Wargotz hopes to challenge incumbent Democrat Sen. Barbara Mikulski this November.
The pair plan to work election day for Scott Brown, a Republican who appears to have a good shot at beating Democrat Martha Coakley in Tuesday’s special election to determine a replacement for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.
“The only thing we said we wouldn’t do is phone calls,” Murphy said during a phone interview late Monday night. “We can do those from home.” (more…)
The earthquake in Haiti has reached out and touched at least one member of the General Assembly in Maryland.
Sen. Delores Kelley, a county Democrat, told her colleagues in the Senate Thursday that her daughter-in-law is from the island nation. (more…)