Consensus in Maryland's Special Session?

Last Monday evening Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley addressed the general assembly and said the challenge facing the elected representatives in this special session was reaching consensus on his proposals to mitigate the 1.7 billion dollar budget deficit.

What followed was a well planned week consisting of the rolling out of the legislation proposed by the Governor. The devilish details of the six pieces of legislation proposed by the Governor are now examined with changes and amendments in the works by the members of the general assembly.

As I mentioned last week, the passage of the one cent increase in the sales tax in Maryland will most likely pass but the expansion of services which are covered by it have come under intense lobbying. For instance, the real estate lobby is strongly against including property management services in the state sales tax - there is a good chance this will be removed from the final legislation to be voted upon.

This makes one stop and think about what is and is not covered by the state sales tax - dry cleaning is not, car repair services are not, haircuts are not, and the list goes on.

The proposed referendum on Video Lottery Terminals otherwise known as Slots, continues to receive scrutiny. The main problem with a referendum is it will be difficult to spell out all the details in the legislation that would legalize slots in Maryland so it is clear to the voters what they are voting on. With a three fifths majority of the general assembly required to place a proposal on the ballot why not pass a bill with a simple majority now?

The auctioning off of Slot licenses proposed by Republicans desires some attention, but once again, it is the details that need focus - how many locations and where? - and what would be the subsequent benefit (percentage of generated revenue) to the state in yearly revenue?

A proposal that makes sense is to limit Slots to existing race track locations in Maryland. The infrastructure is in place - road network, parking, etc., waging on the races already is occurring there, and one of the main arguments for slots has been to save the ailing horse industry in Maryland.

Then have a solid discussion on the pros and cons of selling the licenses to the race tracks for a fee as opposed to the state managing. A determination of the percentage of revenues from slots the state would receive every year should then be agreed upon. Finally, this revenue should never be attached to the annual operating budget of the state.

The slots revenue received by the state should be earmarked for capital improvements shared by Education and Transportation. Revenues received for Education should go toward the repair and renovation of existing schools and to build new schools. The Transportation revenue received should go for the construction of roads and mass transit.

This is a decision the state delegates and senators should make now and avoid extending for another year, the long drawn out battle over legalizing slots in Maryland.

The modernization of Maryland taxes proposed by the Governor is receiving a lot of discussion particularly surrounding the changes in corporation taxes.

The varied increase in gas tax by county although innovative in its approach in raising funds for road construction is also receiving a lot of discussion. With the cost of a barrel of oil almost one hundred dollars and the price per gallon of gas seemingly increasing daily, any increase in tax on gas is difficult to consider.

The proposed one dollar increase in tax on a pack of cigarettes to go toward the funding of health care will most likely continue to receive bipartisan support.

The special session will be very busy this week as they work toward building consensus and scheduling votes on proposed legislation dealing with the state's 1.7 billion deficit. Lets wish them well.