Political dreams smacking the pavement of reality
No, this is not a post about John Kerry.
Actually, a couple little news items from the world of Annapolis politics came to my attention and I thought they deserved some comment.
First of all, I came across this news story where State Senator Allen Kittleman (Republican and Minority Whip) wants to assure that all bills that are introduced in the Maryland General Assembly and get to the Senate at least receive a committee vote. Apparently these things are at the discretion of the committee chair. Kittleman's point is that the people who testify on behalf of a bill's passage deserve to have the item they testified on receive an up-or-down vote.
But that's silly. There's a lot of what the Democrats don't want to happen in government that gets introduced. Here's an example of an actual bill that might be affected. GOP Senator E.J. Pipkin (from the Eastern Shore) introduced Senate Bill 40, which would temporarily suspend toll collection on the Bay Bridge if the traffic backup grows to 30 minutes or more. In general, anything that denies the state government money is a no-go with the General Assembly (except that when it comes to land slated to be developed, the state is happy to buy that and take it off the tax rolls.) However, SB 40 appears to be a common-sense bill that one would be foolish to vote against.
As things stand now, it's solely up to Sen. Ulysses Currie of PG County whether that bill gets voted on in commitee, and for all I know, he may not like the idea (particularly because it has a GOP sponsor.) By right as committee chair, he can sit on the bill and kill it by bottling it up in his Budget and Taxation Committee without a vote. No recorded vote against the bill - no ammunition for an opponent when election time rolls around again.
Now Kittleman's measure has a "promise" to be "considered" when the Senate takes up rules changes later this month. But I can hear the "splat!" now as that idea bites the dust.
The other dream is where Governor O'Malley's budget will be at least somewhat frugal. I got this press release from the Maryland Republican Party today. I suppose I'm not surprised (after all, the last Democrat governor did put the state in a $4 billion hole) but O'Malley's first budget blows through just under 60% of the state's current "rainy day fund" to the tune of almost $1 billion (in a $30 billion total budget.) Included in this spending spree are an additional 1,100 government jobs, which I'm betting will either be unionized (as a payback to his Big Labor toadies) or contract jobs (where the state doesn't pay benefits.)
Remember, the governor won't have that large rainy-day cushion anymore for FY 2008 but I'm certain he will want to increase spending even further. Even the cigarette tax pushed by radicals like Delegate James Hubbard (he of the ill-fated Wal-Mart bill) is only slated to raise $200 million in its first year - that plus the remainder of the rainy-day fund would still leave a big hole for next year's budget.
At least Hubbard is honest about his intentions. Quoted from the Sun: "I know (O'Malley) said he's not going to initiate any new taxes. That's fine. He's not going to initiate this. We're going to initiate this and put it on his desk."
Now I know a dream I have would drop and splatter like a water balloon, but why doesn't the General Assembly consider (gasp!) spending cuts? Or find other ways to raise revenue?
Right off the top of my head, I have one idea. Why doesn't the Chesapeake Bay Foundation - which was so proud about the state buying the bulk of the land slated for the Blackwater development in my link above - buy that land from the state government for the $10 million the state paid for it and place it back on the tax rolls (which would help Dorchester County as well)? Put your money where your mouth is, CBF. $10 million isn't pocket change yet in this state, that's half a month's worth of the supposed revenue from the buck-a-pack additional cigarette tax.
Unfortunately, this sort of common sense that seems to occupy the Eastern Shore gets lost somewhere along Route 50 and just doesn't exist anymore in Government House.