Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Legislative Briefing Focuses on the Budget & Transportation Funding
Thanks to everyone who attended Business Day in Annapolis yesterday. We had more than 200 business people in Annapolis to learn more about the key issues of the 2011 session and visit their lawmakers.
During the Leadership Briefing, members received an update from the legislature’s presiding officers and Republican leaders. Much of the briefing focused on the state budget and transportation funding.
State Budget
Lawmakers are still going through the budget Governor Martin O’Malley submitted last week, but it’s clear that the budget will dominate the session.
“I actually thought the Governor’s budget was going to be a little more stark than it actually is,” House Speaker Michael Busch said.
“The governor’s budget was timid,” said House Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell. “I think the governor is expecting the legislature to do the hard work.”
Senate Minority Whip E.J. Pipkin said that he thinks this is the year the Maryland General Assembly finally has “The Talk.”
“We are going to have an honest to goodness discussion about what the size and scope of spending should be, what the size of scope of government should be and tax policy in the state of Maryland,” Pipkin said.
Transportation Funding
House Speaker Michael Busch said that the transportation system will be extraordinarily challenged.
“Once again the Governor takes all the highway user money, which is 25 percent of the Transportation Trust Fund. It goes to local governments for their road systems. It’s all going to be transferred into the general fund. He also takes $60 million out of the Transportation Trust Fund for state projects,” Busch said.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said that he hopes lawmakers will support a gas tax increase to generate additional funding for transportation projects. “We’ve got to find some way to increase the money in the Transportation Trust Fund so we can get people back to work,” Miller said.
He also said that he would like to see a constitutional amendment to create a “lockbox” to ensure that transportation funds are not transferred into the state’s general fund to be used for purposes other than transportation projects.
The Republican leaders oppose a gas tax and the constitutional amendment idea. “The Transportation Trust Fund today was supposed to be a lock box,” Pipkin said.
Business Regulation
With all the focus on the state budget, Pipkin also urged business leaders to be on the lookout for more business regulation bills this session. He mentioned environmental legislation, the recently proposed minimum wage bill, and a series of workplace regulation bills that were introduced last session. “It’s the rules and regulations that are the killers for job creation and business growth,” he said.
