Maryland Senate Republican Slate

SINE DIE 2012----5 THINGS TO WATCH ON THE FINAL DAY

By Senator Joe Getty

As long as the state budget passes both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly sometime today, the legislature will adjourn Sine Die.

Under the Maryland Constitution, the General Assembly meets annually for ninety days - beginning on the second Wednesday of January and running until it adjourns Sine Die at midnight on the last day of the session.

The literal translation of the phrase Sine Die means "without day." In legislative lingo, it means final adjournment. It signifies the closing of the legislative session without resumption. For the legislature to meet after Sine Die, it must convene a new regular session or special session and start anew all legislative processes (committee appointments, bill filing, etc.)

Here are five other things to watch for as legislators attempt to resolve loose ends as they conclude the 2012 legislative session:

1. Will the Budget Pass on Time? - Most legislators expect the budget to be completed today. If not, the session is extended for an additional 10 days so that the budget can be passed. Moreover, this year the budget has been treated as a package of four bills: (a) Budget Bill; (b) Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (which contains the teacher pension cost shift to counties); (c) Tax Hike Bill; and (d) Maintenance of Effort Bill (which requires counties to meet new thresholds in maintaining funding for local school boards). With so much in play, anything could go awry.
2. How High Will Personal Income Tax Rates Go? Personal income tax rates are a key factor when fiscal organizations rank states for being "business-friendly." Gov. Glendening lowered the personal income tax rate. Gov. Ehrlich balanced 4 economically-strapped budgets without raising the personal income tax rate. Gov. O'Malley's budgets will have increased the personal income tax rate twice in 5 years. Maryland's business rankings have plummeted as the personal income tax rate has risen from a flat rate of 4.75% to a graduated rate with the top bracket at 5.5%. As local governments piggyback a personal income tax rate on top of the state rate - just how high will it go in 2012?
3. Will Wind Power Miraculously Blow Out of the Senate? The votes are not there to bring a wind power bill out of the Senate Finance Committee. But this bill is important to Gov. O'Malley's national political profile as the "greenest" Governor in the land - so look for the Governor to work furiously on last minute tactics to power this bill out of the Senate in the waning hours of the session.
4. Who Will Win the Gaming Game of Chicken? The differing Senate and House versions of an expanded gaming bill are on a collision course. The Speaker does not particularly want to expand gaming in the state and wants to protect the nascent Anne Arundel County location at Arundel Mills (due to open this summer). The Senate President wants authority to establish a new location in Prince George's County with table games authorized at all six sites in Maryland. The Senate has sent 2 different bills to expand gaming over to the House - the House has yet to respond. Expanding gaming requires a Constitutional Amendment with a three-fifths vote threshold (29 in Senate; 85 in House). Are the votes there? In Prince George's County, is Rosecroft Raceway in or is National Harbor the pre-determined site? Who blinks first?

5.    Will the County Governments Wave the White Flag of Surrender and Concede All Remaining Power to the State? No doubt the counties and traditional local government authority took it on the chin this session. Plan Maryland, septic bans, costly stormwater management fees, doubling of the flush tax (which the counties collect and pass through), teacher pension shift and education funding mandates leave the counties with little power set their own priorities and minimal flexibility to manage their own budgets. After a tough session, the Maryland Association of Counties managed to stave off the worst - and local officials will be closely watching in the final hours to fend off any additional attempts to undermine local governmental powers.

Offshore wind will cost much more than reported.

The O’Malley administration has been less than forthright on how much offshore wind will cost Maryland ratepayers. A finance lawyer and consultant in the climate change field wrote an eye-opening op-ed for The Baltimore Sun that explains the misrepresentation surrounding the bill. Here is a re-print of the letter as it appears in today’s paper.

Dear Baltimore Sun:

Have any of your reporters actually read the offshore wind bill? I don’t think so or perhaps they simply don't understand it. 

Every article or opinion piece I’ve read, whether in support or opposed, contains the same misrepresentation over and over again.  The bill does not, I repeat not, guarantee that a residential ratepayer will face a surcharge of only $1.50 per month after the wind farm is built and energy is flowing through the transmission lines. 

What the bill actually says is that the Public Service Commission may not approve a developer’s proposed project unless the projected net rate impact does not exceed $1.50 per month in 2012 dollars.

Pay close attention to the words “proposed” and “projected”. As part of its review of a developer’s application, the PSC will review the developer’s project finance report. These reports include assumptions about what the wind farm will cost to build and operate along with assumptions about what income will be generated.  If the developer wants to include a ratepayer surcharge on the project’s estimated income side, the bill requires that it cannot assume the surcharge to be more than $1.50. 

The $1.50 is a cap on what a developer can plug into its proposal. It is not a cap on what a ratepayer might actually have to pay.  When pressed in hearings, even the Governor’s office, the Maryland Energy Administration and the Public Service Commission concede that this is true.  As Abby Hopper, the Governor’s emissary on the bill, testified before the Senate Finance Committee on February 14, 2012, and I quote, “It is not a cap.”  She also conceded that when the time comes for a surcharge to show up on a ratepayer’s bill, it could be a lot more than $1.50 even after the effects of inflation.  Listen to her recorded testimony if you don’t believe me.

There is nothing in this bill or in any other Maryland law or regulation that will guarantee or limit how much a ratepayer will have to pay extra for offshore wind generated energy.  If this bill is passed and if a developer succeeds in building an offshore wind farm, don’t be surprised if the surcharge exceeds $1.50 in 2012 dollars.

I urge you to correct your erroneous reporting.  Whether Maryland’s citizens support or oppose the bill, they should be given the correct facts on which to base their conclusions.

Drowning Boaters with Weighty Fees

Boaters, anglers and working watermen will soon be hit with a more than tripling of boat registration fees.

The House Environmental Matters Committee is hearing an Administration-sponsored bill today that drastically increases the current $24 bi-annual flat fee to $50 -$350, depending on the boat length.

The recreational boating industry has been hit hard in the recession, and boat sales have plummeted. The DNR says the money in the Waterway Improvement Fund, which is paid for by the boat excise tax, has been depleted. This fund is used for dredging and maintaining channels.

But, O’Malley has pilfered $40 million dollars from the fund over the years to help balance the budget. Some of the funds have been replaced with bonds, but that means the state is using its credit card instead of paying cash for the waterway projects.  

Boaters who fill up their tanks dockside are paying the gas tax on each gallon they pump. That tax goes to mass transit and roads in the state, but should be used for channel improvements.  

There’s a misconception that boaters will somehow absorb the fees, but this proposal will result in diminished returns with fewer boat slip rentals, fewer boat sales, and less maintenance and repair work for our working marinas.

O’MALLEY’S ADMINISTRATION IS CARELESS WITH OUR MONEY

State Agency Move Will Cost Millions and Lacks Transparency