So the state wants to increase the amount of renewable energy that is produced in Maryland. A major proposal before lawmakers would toughen requirements for what power companies can include when they calculate how much renewable power they provide.

Right, that’s one way to do it. Another way — this is more fun – is to add new types of renewable power, and the General Assembly appears well on its way to doing that.

On Thursday the Senate approved a measure that makes poultry litter a “tier 1” energy source under the state’s renewable portfolio standard. The standard requires that utilities make renewable energy a part of their power portfolio, and sets standards for how much they have to use.

Tier 1 sources are preferred by the state, and include power sources such as wind and solar. Tier 2 sources include things like landfill gas and hydroelectric dams. The state will keep tier 2 requirements steady, while tier 1 requirements are poised to increase over the next several years. This change, which gets its first hearing in the House next week, makes chicken litter a tier 1 resource instead of tier 2.

Had enough? Long story short, it looks like Marylanders may be burning more chicken poop for power over the next few years. The Eastern Shore can rejoice.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. wants to step up state research spending for nanotechnology by supporting a bill to create a “Coordinating Nanobio-Technology Research in Maryland Program,” which would request $5 million per year in spending.

The program would be overseen by the Maryland Technology Development Council.

According to a release from Miller’s office, “nanobiology uses nanotechnology (really small machines) in the fields of physical science, molecular engineering, biology, chemistry and biotechnology and holds considerable promise of advances in pharmaceuticals and healthcare.”

This might have some promise, notwithstanding the price tag. But if you’re scared of gray goo, a doomsday scenario where runaway nanobots reproduce beyond human control (I kind of am), maybe this article will put your mind at ease. Maybe not.

Grand Brands, the Baltimore-based maker of True Lemon and other concentrated citrus flavors, is hooking up with the state of Maryland.

Maryland’s Venture Fund, which invests in growing companies, says it put $156,250 into Grand Brands. The fund makes equity investments so the state could actually get a spiffy return if things work out.

Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve tried this stuff. It’s pretty authentic, in my opinion. Around the workplace today, some colleagues and I took it upon ourselves to give it a shot. You know, since we as Maryland taxpayers technically own a piece of the company now. The Department of Business and Economic Development also gave the company some startup money.

The finding?

Don’t eat it by itself. It’s like sucking on a lemon. Not bad with iced tea or water, but it’s not like a lemon-flavored sugar packet. Just straight up lemon, man.

According to Health Care and Biotechnology Reporter Karen Buckelew:

“I do not recommend anybody else chew them. It is a horror, an absolute horror. You can quote me. It’s burning!”

Here’s one example of state service contracts going up as a result of the living wage law passed last year. An analysis (PDF) of the Comptroller’s budget highlights a significant increase in the cost of bringing in temporary employees during tax season.

The cost of that contract will increase by $760,000 because of the living wage, according to the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services. The living wage requires contractors working on many state contracts to pay their employees $11.30 an hour for contracts performed in Baltimore City and Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties. The rate is $8.50 in all other counties.

The bill was not expected to have a substantial effect on contract costs, as Dori Berman reported for The Daily Record last year.

This one budget increase doesn’t say much, but it will be worth watching other budgets to see if there are any more living wage-linked cost increases.

I thought you might be interested in the emergency regulations set up Tuesday by Maryland’s Commissioner of Financial Regulation.

They require mortgage servicers (it’s a complicated world out there, but these are the people who manage collections on real estate loans) to tell the state every month how many loans they have, how many are in foreclosure, and what they are doing to help struggling customers.

Apparently mortgage servicers aren’t returning calls from customers when they ask for help dealing with a pending foreclosure.

Gov. Martin O’Malley and Secretary Thomas Perez of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation laid the smack down on servicers Tuesday, calling them in for meetings and launching an examination of Ocwen, a Florida-based servicer.

Maryland is one of relatively few states that regulate servicers, so this is a way for the state to extend its reach as it looks to slow a foreclosure crisis. But I wonder why the focus on servicers is emerging now.

“This is a continuous learning process,” Perez told me. “The role of servicers for me came to light in July and August.” That was only a few months before a homeownership task force released its recommendations for state mortgage reform.

Why do you think servicers are a target now, as opposed to earlier in the game?

Oh, there are so many task force reports to thumb through this year. And even with all the electric, mortgage and other reforms the General Assembly wants to achieve, we should be sure not to forget our wine industry.

Lawmakers are still working on the recommendations of the Maryland Wine and Grape Advisory Committee, formed in 2004.

The committee made several recommendations in its report, suggesting ways to make our vintners more competitive. On Monday, the House heard a bill to address one recommendation, which would allow wineries to ship directly to customers.

Check out HB 1260. Any thoughts?

Most of the power reforms being discussed in Annapolis this year give the state a heavier hand in the market, but re-regulation is tough to define. The state has never been absolutely deregulated, per se, since the Public Service Commission has retained many oversight powers over electric supply in the state.

Some legislators want to tighten things up, though, as the General Assembly moves to increase state control over power pricing and other aspects of the market.

One bill before lawmakers would tell the PSC to stop encouraging retailers to compete in the market. Instead it would direct the regulatory panel to focus on “ensuring safe, reliable and affordable electricity for Maryland’s consumers and small businesses.”

The mission statement has been the source of some divides between the policy debate and PSC regulatory actions in recent months. For instance, a move last year by the PSC allowed independent suppliers to sell their accounts receivable to utilities. That move was touted by supply companies as a way to make the market friendlier. But consumer advocates panned it as running counter to the tenor of discussion in the state, which has trended toward increased regulatory control.

Check out my story on the issue from November.

What does re-regulation mean to you? And is it a good goal for Maryland?

That’s the question film and television producers are asking Maryland before they decide to set up shop here, according to the Department of Business and Economic Development.

The an$wer probably doesn’t include excellent locations, a solid workforce, or anything like that. Those things used to matter, but now it’s about cash money, DBED officials told a Senate budget subcommittee.

The state is not competitive in the incentives it offers to companies that produce here, many at the hearing said, and they encouraged senators not to cut the money that is available.

The fiscal 2009 budget introduced by Gov. Martin O’Malley includes $4 million in tax credits for film production companies.

Interestingly, DBED and its supporters made their plea on the same day that Step Up 2 The Streets, filmed in Maryland, makes its national debut.

How’d you like to vote on every tax increase for the rest of your life? Some lawmakers here in Annapolis think that would be the most fair system, and are looking to change the law.

Senator cum Republican Congressional Nominee Andy Harris is the lead sponsor of the Maryland Taxpayer Protection Act, which would require a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly and ballot approval for any tax increase or expansion

It is due for a thrice-postponed hearing in the Senate today, so we’ll see how it goes. Would it be too much to ask taxpayers to vote on every tax change? Are your elected representatives accountable enough? I guess this is what happens when lawmakers raise taxes during the first year of a four-year term.

I haven’t seen anything like this before.

In an apparent effort to increase oversight over all aspects of state government, Del. Addie Eckardt has sponsored a bill (HB1215) that would establish a new task force, which would study — you guessed it — “task forces, commissions, temporary or ad hoc committees, and related panels.”

Now it may sound wild, but task forces often hold a great deal of power in determining state policy and crafting legislative proposals for the General Assembly. As one example, look at the Homeownership Preservation Task Force formed last year by Gov. Martin O’Malley. With very few exceptions, its recommendations comprise the mortgage reform legislation now being considered by lawmakers.

But of course you must see the problem here.

Who will form the task force to study the task force studying task forces, commissions, temporary or ad hoc committees, and related panels?