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The Comptroller’s office has released its list of Maryland’s top delinquent taxpayers. At the top is Remote Surveillance Tech Solutions Inc., based in Temple Hills, which allegedly owes $430,262 in withholding. One corporate officer, Alphonso A. Tillman, owes the state $136,468.90, according to the Comptroller’s list.

From the list:

“No one is above the tax laws. If you don’t want to see your name posted on our site along with other tax delinquents, be sure to keep up with your tax obligations.”

This is definitely one list you don’t want to make. To see who is on it, check out the link.

A bill that would change the definition of beer to include flavored malt beverages has created a little bit of controversy.

It’s all about the taxes. Malt beverages, like Smirnoff Ice, are taxed as spirits, while beer is taxed at a lower rate. Opponents of the bill — who call these “youth-targeted alcopops” don’t want to reduce the price of those drinks because they think they appeal to an underage audience.

The bill has passed the Senate and is awaiting House action.

I called a few Annapolis-area liquor stores to check how these things compare. It’s actually pretty substantial, though I don’t profess to have done any scientific surveying.

Smirnoff Ice ranges around $8 per six pack, while Budweiser is generally less than $6.

Now about the argument … I can’t tell if it’s true that flavored malt beverages really are a bigger draw for younger drinkers. I would never drink one because they are revolting and they give me heartburn, and I’ve known that for years.

The Senate Finance Committee resolved a brouhaha over energy efficiency programs late Wednesday, directing some money from the sale of greenhouse gas emission credits toward programs to cut power use, and sending some back to ratepayers to reduce bills.

A bill that creates a “Strategic Energy Investment Fund” originally would have sent money to the Maryland Energy Administration to help renters and low income electric customers reduce their power use. That money would come from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state compact that would see Maryland sell carbon allowances to power plants.

But Eastern Shore Republican E.J. Pipkin passed a committee amendment Tuesday that would have sent the money directly back to ratepayers. At the last second, Sen. Rob Garagiola, a Montgomery Democrat, succeeded in suspending the discussion. Environmental groups cried foul, and on Wednesday, the committee agreed to split the difference between bill credits and efficiency programs.

One Senate estimate projects that the combined programs could save residential ratepayers around $9.35 per month. The credits were projected in the $5 range, but the efficiency programs may take longer to phase in.

So what’s better? Spending on efficiency programs or sending it all back to ratepayers? Or do you like the combo?

Each year, as college basketball teams from around the country move through a frenzied series of regional and national tournaments, Maryland’s General Assembly has a March Madness of its own.

Since the session typically concludes in early April, lawmakers dash through the home stretch in the last few weeks of March. They pass a budget and pass more bills than any other time during the session, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have time to enjoy basketball.

The Senate defeated the House in the annual inter-chamber basketball game on Wednesday. Presiding officers regularly update their membership on the status of the teams that are still participating (we’re down to the University of Maryland women). We’ll see if anybody steps into the House or Senate lounge to check the status of their brackets when the tournament starts back up Thursday.

The UMBC men’s basketball team visited the Senate on Thursday, and was warmly congratulated for winning the America East Conference and making the NCAA Tournament. The 15th-seeded Retrievers bowed out in the first round to top-seeded Georgetown, 66-47, but the Hoyas lost in the next round to underdog Davidson.

To Allan Kittleman, the Senate minority whip and a proud UMBC grad, that was no coincidence. He says UMBC softened Georgetown up.

Maybe Maryland should join a support group. We’re certainly not alone when it comes to our tight financial situation, but one major financial player doesn’t think it will be as bad as it might look

In a report issued Tuesday, Standard & Poor’s says government budgets for fiscal 2008 and the upcoming fiscal 2009 are struggling along with the housing and credit markets.

Some findings, courtesy of the report:

• “Broad-based taxes are unlikely; gaming revenues remain popular” (don’t forget to vote in November, people)

• “Spending reductions are substantial across many areas” (cut, cut, cut)

• “Tax relief remains a major theme” (computer services, anyone?)

Still, S&P wrote that it expects most states to have sufficient reserves to get through the tough times. S&P’s bond rating unit showed some confidence in Maryland when it maintained the state’s treasured AAA bond rating last month.

So what do you think Maryland has in common with the rest of the struggling states? What are we doing better or worse?

Environmentalists are looking to the House of Delegates to move forward with an ambitions plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 90 percent. The Senate is working through an emission reducing bill, but it has been stripped down to take some authority away from the Maryland Department of the Environment. The MDE would oversee the reduction plan.

Business and industrial groups have warned that mandatory reduction could cripple Maryland’s economy, especially if Maryland has tougher emissions limits than competing states.

Monday morning, The Alliance for Global Warming Solutions, a group made up of Maryland environmental organizations advocating for the bill, got creative in punctuating their point. They drew a chalk line across the center of Main Street in Annapolis, which they said illustrates the potential reach of the Chesapeake Bay if there was a sea level rise around 20 feet.

It was a striking visual, a thick blue line that nearly reached Chick & Ruth’s Delly, a popular State House dining destination. Anne Arundel County police hovered nearby to make sure the line got washed off the historic brick street when the demonstration was done.

The bill could come to a final vote in the Senate late Monday. I’ll keep you posted.

Above: Claire Douglass, the Maryland Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, painted a blue line in chalk across Main street in downtown Annapolis to illustrate a projected 20 foot rise in sea level and the future waterline of the Chesapeake Bay if the Greenland ice sheet melts. (AP Photo/Jamie C. Horton)

Be careful when you’re hooking up to a wireless connection that is not your own. The state of Maryland is on to your little game.

Slashdot.com reports that the General Assembly is considering a bill that would punish people who knowingly surf the Web on someone else’s dime.

I thought this was already technically illegal, but this bill would impose a penalty of up to three years imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000.

The Hagerstown Herald-Mail reported that the bill’s sponsor, Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr, intended it to clarify accidental versus intentional use.

I’ll keep my eye on this, but I wonder how many people are guilty of the practice. I know I tried it in college. But what’s the harm really? Bandwidth is valuable, but couldn’t this be dealt with by blocking access with a password?

One of the most powerful legislative alliances flexed its muscle Thursday on the Senate floor, as the Camel Hair Jacket Caucus celebrated a blustery first day of spring with a grand photo-op.

It’s a broad coalition, including Democrats and Republicans, men and women, and senators from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore. There was even variety in the color of the jackets, from pale beige to reddish brown. And it wasn’t just lawmakers, either. Legislative aides and even a television cameraman got in on the action.

At first I just thought this was a little bit of fun. Senators often wear camel hair coats, and they usually do it on Thursdays, which I’m just realizing now. Later, I learned this is a tradition that’s been going on for more than a decade.

Sen. Brian Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat, was sporting a light-colored number from JoS. A. Bank Clothiers. He said he became aware of the camel tradition soon after he joined the Senate in 1995. He said he had a camel hair coat before he joined the Senate, but bought another one to maintain his place in the caucus. His wife likes the coat, too, Frosh said.

“If somebody asks, we say ‘hmmm, it’s a Senate thing,” Frosh said.

So what are the legislative priorities for the caucus? That’s easy–classy apparel and nice weather.

Illegal immigration foe Del. Don Dwyer attempted to call federal immigration officers to a House hearing Wednesday.

He had warned what he called a “largely Hispanic audience” that his staff had called Immigration and Customs Enforcement to a hearing on HB 288. The bill would require people to show that they are citizens or legally present in the United States before they can get a driver’s license or identification card.

Here’s a quote from a news release from Dwyer:

“If you are here illegally, you might want to leave safely but quickly because there has been a request for a Federal investigation.”

The release added, however, that the agents declined to come in the absence of “proof of a specific crime.”

The House passed a bill Tuesday that would create a task force to study whether gasoline wholesalers should be able to price their product differently depending on where in Maryland they’re selling it.

As Danielle Ulman wrote this week, the practice known as “zone pricing” has raised some questions in the General Assembly this year.

A bill to ban the practice outright failed this year, but if the task force finds that zone pricing is no good, that could revive the proposal.

“Economists have said it allows gas stations in aggressive markets to stay open because the wholesalers charge them less. But lawmakers have said the system is too arcane,” Danielle wrote Monday.

Check out her story for a complete explanation of how the zone pricing works.

If Maryland moves forward with the proposal, we’d be the first state in the country to get rid of zone pricing. Is it worth the risk to give it a shot?

There’s still awhile to go. The task force bill hasn’t come up for a vote in the Senate yet. And if the task force is formed, it won’t report on zone pricing until the end of 2009.