Checkout bags tax: does education work?
June 17, 2009
For almost a year now, I’ve had a reusable bag for groceries tucked in behind the front seat of my car. I care about the environment, I recycle in mass volumes, and I don’t litter. So how many times have I used that bag in my car before this week?
Zero.
I just kept forgetting. (I do save most of the plastic grocery bags I get in stores and reuse them for something else though, so don’t get too appalled.)
But then a funny thing happened this week. On Monday I wrote a story about an upcoming hearing on legislation in Baltimore that proposes putting a 25-cent charge on plastic and paper bags at checkout.
Monday night, I went to CVS and got a medium-sized bag of pretzels and a box for mailing a few items. The woman at checkout asked me if I wanted a bag (I am usually not asked this) and without thinking, I was about to say yes and then I stopped. The pretzels could fit in my purse and it wasn’t an inconvenience to carry the box to my car outside.
I told her no thanks and went on my merry way. On Tuesday, I wrote a follow up story about the city council president’s opposition to the legislation. That evening, I stopped by the grocery and for the first time in almost a year, I finally remembered to bring my reusable bag with me. Read more
Sphere: Related ContentMDLC’s reports: Budget checkpoint as budget watchdog
May 3, 2009
Del. Norman H. Conway, D-Wicomico and Worcester, readily admits he was the lawmaker who added language to the state’s budget requiring the Maryland Disability Law Center to submit financial documents before receiving funding. (The funding was untied from the reporting requirement in the final version of the budget passed by the General Assembly.)
MDLC was the only legal services organization targeted, raising alarms in the legal services community. Conway, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said MDLC was selected because he had not seen an audit from the organization recently. (Virginia Knowlton, MDLC’s executive director, has noted that her organization undergoes financial audits at both state and federal levels to receive grant money, and Conway has access to those.)
Conway also points out that the documentation requirement is not uncommon. ”Throughout the budget, you’ll see all types of reports that are requested from a list of organizations and state agencies,” he said.
Scanning through the budget (PDF), I discovered more than a dozen similar documentation requirements. The Maryland Higher Education Commission and the state’s historically black institutions, for example, have to submit a report showing the effectiveness of programs to increase graduation and retention rates before receiving $1.5 million for that purpose. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is asked to submit a report on the “proposed closing of state-operated beds” at the Walter P. Carter in Baltimore City before receiving $10 million. And the Maryland Insurance Administration is to report on “an agreed upon practice for forecasting and tracking the premium tax” before receiving $100,000.
An analyst with the Department of Legislative Services confirmed the frequent use of documentation requirements for funding, and said the unusual thing here is that MDLC succeeded in getting them untied .
Conway indicated that the selected organizations are not being accused of or being investigated for wrongdoing. Rather, it’s a way for the legislators to make sure state funds are being used appropriately, particularly in the current economic climate.
“I like to focus on what the activities are,” he said. “The committee needs to understand these different expenditures.”
Whatever Conway’s motives, MDLC and other legal services agencies see it as a shot across their bow, according to this commentary by Legal Aid’s Joe Surkiewicz. What do you think?
Sphere: Related ContentMagna strikes back at Maryland and Baltimore
April 23, 2009
Going through the latest filings in the Magna Entertainment Corp. bankruptcy case, a document filed Wednesday caught my eye. It is Magna’s response to separate motions by the state of Maryland and Baltimore that contend the company’s rights to control the auction of Pimlico and Laurel racetracks.
But really, it’s Magna’s response to the law Gov. Martin O’Malley pushed for that allows Baltimore to sieze the tracks by eminent domain.
“While couched in the guise of a mere benign request, the Motions present much more than meets the eye,” the response starts. Referring to the legislation, it continues: “By filing the Motions, the movants seek to obtain comfort for their preconceived indiscretions and the patently apparent violation of…the United States Bankruptcy Code.”
Magna said it reserves the right “and intend[s] to pursue their remedies for the recently enacted legislation and its resultant chilling effect on the Debtors’ property and chapter 11 estates.”
Oh, snap. The gloves have officially come off.
The response then goes on to cite a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo which I won’t bore you with (sorry law dawgs) but suffice it to say the tone was one of extreme annoyance and conveyed the view that the city and state had overreacted to some innocent, extra wording in one of Magna’s first day filings that sought to clarify its rights as a debtor.
Do you think the company has a point? Do you think Maryland’s overreacting?
Sphere: Related ContentThe return of Steve Bailey
April 21, 2009
The Sun’s Maryland Politics blog is speculating today that Steve Bailey might be gearing up for a political race. City/state editor Andy Green bases this idea on a letter to the editor the ertswhile Baltimore County deputy state’s attorney penned, in which he takes Baltimore County executive Jim Smith to task for spending and taxing too much.
Bailey, a Republican, ran to replace longtime state’s attorney Sandy O’Connor in 2006, when O’Connor retired. Bailey was the heir apparent, but he lost to Democrat Scott Shellenberger, who had been an assistant state’s attorney and then a trial lawyer for Peter Angelos. Shellenberger, who had Jim Smith’s political support, Angelos’ monetary support and a favorable political climate for Democrats that year, beat Bailey 54 percent to 46 percent.
Green wonders if Bailey wants to challenge Smith, a former Baltimore County Circuit Court judge and second-term county executive, in 2010. The Republicans have so far not made much noise about who they will run against Smith, he noted. “[N]obody’s raising much money or making many waves,” Green wrote.
Do you think the ex-prosecutor should face down the ex-judge next year?
Sphere: Related ContentMore on Carl Verstandig and Preakness
April 13, 2009
After speaking with Pikesville developer Carl Verstandig Friday about Pimlico Race Course, he voiced his concern about all the legislative and political steps being taken to ensure the Preakness Stakes stays in Maryland. (If you haven’t read about Baltimore’s latest action, check out my story here.)
“My attorneys and I are just watching the fiasco as it goes on,” Verstandig said last week.
While he noted he was “irritated” by legislation introduced by Gov. Martin O’Malley last week (and passed this afternoon) that would authorize the state to seize Pimlico by eminent domain — a bill that immediately followed reports that that said Verstandig intended to raze Pimlico in favor of a shopping mall — he is not about to sit idly by, either.
“We have had meetings to prepare for litigation against the city and state,” Verstandig said. “And if I’m deprived of the right to bid in a fair procedure — which we feel is being biased at this point by the city and state — I would definitely file a federal law suit. And I think it won’t be pretty at that point because a lot of slanderous statements have been made by city and state officials.”
Do you think Baltimore and the state of Maryland are going to far in their attempts to protect the Preakness Stakes? Does Verstandig (or other interested bidders) have the right to sue if the auction process gets messy?
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