Hayley Peterson

Tax credit bill contains loophole for illegal immigrants

Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to give a tax credit to businesses for hiring unemployed Maryland residents could benefit illegal immigrants, according to several anti-illegal-immigration groups. "I'm concerned we're going to be creating 6,700 jobs and they are going to go to people who have absolutely no right to those jobs," said Sue Payne, president of Citizens Above Party, which opposes illegal immigration. O'Malley's plan would give a $3,000 tax credit to businesses for each unemployed person they hired from now through Dec. 31. The bill defines eligible hires as residents of Maryland who are receiving -- or have already exhausted -- unemployment benefits. To be considered a...

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GOP suggests cutting jobs, taxes, Medicaid to fix Md. budget

ANNAPOLIS - Maryland Republicans are crafting a plan to cut $2 billion from the state budget by eliminating more state positions, rolling back the expansion of Medicaid, maintaining education funding at current levels and cutting taxes, among other proposals. Democrats asked Republicans for their ideas on budget cuts in a letter last week, setting a Feb. 23 deadline for their proposals. Now, Republicans are scrambling to gather the staff and research to "fix" the budget in the next month. Del. Tony McConkey said Republicans will propose cutting state positions because only a quarter of the 202 state jobs that Gov. Martin O'Malley's 2011 budget bill would eliminate are filled. The...

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Critics say O'Malley plan won't put people back to work

ANNAPOLIS -- Maryland lawmakers and business owners are questioning Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to give a $3,000 tax credit to businesses for each unemployed Maryland resident they hire. "Let's say I laid off half of my staff," Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr., R-Washington, said Thursday in a House Ways and Means hearing. "Why would I want to hire them back for $3,000, if I have no work for them?" Tony Passaro, a small-business owner and father of six from Belair, testified to that reality before the committee. "My business is failing," he said. "I'm down 50 percent in revenue; therefore, I've laid off 50 percent of my employees. How in God's name is a tax credit going to give me the...

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The 3-minute interview: Kristi Cunningham

Cunningham, along with Samuel Whitfield III, is co-founder of Curbside Cupcakes -- a mobile cupcake vendor that sells baked goods throughout the D.C. metro area from the window of a hot-pink truck. When did you realize D.C. was lacking a cupcake truck? It all started with a frustration Sam had when he and some co-workers thought it would be fun to get cupcakes but no one felt like schlepping anywhere and he thought, "Gosh, cupcakes should come to us." How did your idea materialize? The more we talked about it, the more it started to gel in our mind and we looked into the regulations. We found a truck online and we flew to Florida and drove it back, and we got workers to transform it...

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O'Malley pushes job creation in State of State speech

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley called for job creation in his State of the State address, urging lawmakers on Tuesday to pass a $3,000 tax credit for companies hiring the unemployed, expand a loan program for small businesses and pour $83 million into unemployment insurance costs. He also insisted that Maryland has seen the bottom of the recession and is on the road to recovery. "Our best days are still in front of us," he told the General Assembly. "We are not at the edge of a cliff; we are at the threshold of brilliant science, innovative technology and remarkable discoveries that will transform for the better the way we feed, fuel and heal this world of ours." Others weren't so...

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Lawmakers push for more lax divorce laws

A group of lawmakers wants to make divorce easier for Maryland couples by letting them live under the same roof during the year before the state will recognize their separation-- as long as they don't have sex. "Maryland, in my opinion, has some very archaic divorce laws which are rooted in centuries-old religious predilections making divorce for consenting adults -- who want to divorce -- very, very difficult," said Del. Luiz Simmons, D-Gaithersburg, who introduced the legislation. Currently, married couples who want a divorce must live in separate residences and abstain from sex for one year before the state will recognize the separation. "In the 21st century there is absolutely no...

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Maryland bill would add poker and blackjack to slot sites

A battle over casino table games will kick off in the Maryland legislature this week as lawmakers gather support for a bill to expand the state's slots program. Del. Frank S. Turner, D-Howard County, said he has gathered a dozen co-sponsors on legislation he expects to file by Thursday. Senate President Mike V. Miller Jr. said he supports Turner's bill, which would add games such as poker, blackjack and craps to the state's slots sites, but said he thinks it will be a tough sell in the House of Delegates. Miller, D-Calvert, and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Anne Arundel, have long clashed over gambling. As expected, Busch plans to oppose table games legislation, spokeswoman...

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Maryland legislature targets sex offenders

Legislation against sex offenders is gaining momentum in the Maryland General Assembly, as lawmakers consider lengthening sex offenders' prison terms, monitoring them with GPS devices and sharing their registry information with other states. Following the murder of 11-year-old Sarah Foxwell, who was abducted by a registered sex offender on the Eastern Shore and found dead on Christmas Day, Maryland lawmakers have been trying to figure out how to tighten up their laws. Sen. James DeGrange, D-Anne Arundel County, says the loophole may be in the state's Sex Offender Registry database. Under a bill he is sponsoring, sex offenders would have to provide more information -- such as palm...

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Slots commission wants table games in Maryland

A member of Maryland's slot machine commission wants lawmakers to consider adding table games -- such as poker, blackjack and craps -- to the state's slots sites. D. Bruce Pool, a lawyer from Washington County, told commission members that Maryland needs "true casinos." Neighboring states have started adding table games as revenue from slot machines plateaus.Delaware's House of Delegates approved table games at its slot machine sites Friday, on the heels of approvals in both Pennsylvania and Charles Town, W.Va. Maryland is relatively new to the gambling ranks with voter approval of 15,000 slot machines in November 2008. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. already has said...

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Prince George's suffers blow under O'Malley's budget

Montgomery would bring in more cash Gov. Martin O'Malley's 2011 budget paints a bleak picture for Prince George's County, while next door, Montgomery County is planning to take in more state cash. State funding for primary and secondary education would be cut by $10 million for Prince George's County and increased by $72 million for Montgomery under O'Malley's budget. The discrepancies are because of enrollment changes, which are a major factor in the formulas used for state education funding, according to the Maryland Association of Counties. Fewer students attended Prince George's schools this year than years past, meaning less money. Meanwhile, more students enrolled in Montgomery's...

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Md. counties plead with lawmakers for fiscal reprieve amid downturn

ANNAPOLIS - Local governments begged Maryland lawmakers for a break from more budget cuts and from school funding requirements on Thursday. "Must we continue to watch our road system fall apart and deteriorate as we continue to defer and defer and defer maintenance?" said Todd Mohn, director of public works for Queen Anne's County and member of the Maryland Association of Counties. "Our roadways are going to crumble and fall apart." State funding to county and municipal governments has dropped 63 percent since fiscal 2007, according to a report from MACo. To manage the reductions, 17 of Maryland's 23 counties have dipped into their rainy day reserves -- a move that could hurt their...

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Virtual cost-cutters can fix Maryland budget gap

Access the Maryland Budget Game here: www.marylandpolicy.org/ Maryland citizens can play governor online by balancing the state's $2 billion budget shortfall through a new online game produced by a local nonprofit. The simulation from the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute gives residents budget-slashing power in 10 categories of government, including education, transportation, business and regulation, social services, health care and the environment. Under each category, players can make decisions on spending and cutting by using background information provided by the game or by following the advice of a dozen special interest groups. All of the game's legislative decisions...

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Va. faces budget facts, while Md. dreams on

Taxpayers lose in fiscal shell games Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is relying on the federal government and a series of funding shifts to cut $2 billion from the state budget through creative accounting that critics say will lead to higher taxes in coming years. O'Malley's $12.7 billion budget proposal is counting on $1.4 billion accrued from federal stimulus money, revenue from slot machines that have not been set up, and transfers from a construction fund to help make up the $2 billion gap. Virginia, meanwhile, is facing a $4.2 billion gap through mid-2012, with little hope of tapping the sort of stopgap measures that allowed legislators to avoid the most onerous reductions in years...

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O'Malley proposes money transfer, few layoffs to close budget gap

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed cutting more than $1 billion from state programs, laying off 44 state workers and borrowing nearly $1 billion slated for ongoing capital projects to help close Maryland's $2 billion budget deficit. O'Malley outlined his $12.7 billion budget Tuesday afternoon, ahead of its full introduction to the General Assembly on Wednesday morning. The proposal shrinks the state government by 202 positions through layoffs and eliminating empty jobs -- bringing the total number of state jobs that O'Malley has axed to about 3,500. He said most of the layoffs would be in higher education. He also proposed furloughing state employees for 10 days again this year as...

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Leggett tries to lure Costco to Wheaton

By Hayley Peterson Examiner Staff Writer The Montgomery County Council is considering a $4 million deal to bring Costco to Wheaton. The Westfield-Wheaton Shopping Mall wants to plant the bulk retail giant in a vacant space that was formerly a Hecht's department store, near Wheaton's struggling business district. Small-business owners in Wheaton have been scraping by for years, waiting for the day when the County Council would swoop in and save their imperiled neighborhoodwith some elaborate plan for revitalization.But this is not the heroic effort some were envisioning. "We've been over here 54 years and I can testify for so many businesses who are trying to make ends meet with...

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Miller pushing slot machines in Prince George's

Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said Thursday he wants slot machines in Prince George's County, to the surprise of many county officials who rejected the gambling machines last year. "Well that may be the Senate president's idea and he has a right to his idea, but in order for that to happen the legislature will have to vote on it ... and I don't support it," said Sen. Nathaniel Exum, D-Landover. Miller, D-Calvert, has been a long-time supporter of slots, unlike many of his fellow lawmakers in Prince George's, who oppose gambling. "The state is still struggling to figure out how to come up with the slots that were approved two years ago. said Del. Michael L....

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O'Malley expects end to tuition freeze at U.Md.

ANNAPOLIS - Maryland lawmakers are preparing to chop state programs to shore up a $2 billion budget shortfall before federal stimulus funds dry up in the next several months. Gov. Martin O'Malley set the tone for the 2010 legislative session that began Wednesday with an announcement that he expects tuition to rise at the University of Maryland system. Speaking on a Baltimore radio show hours before the legislature convened, O'Malley said tuition could rise 3 percent after four years of tuition freezes, though the University System of Maryland's board of regents will decide the exact increase. At the state Capitol later, O'Malley stressed bipartisanship and job creation. "We have...

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Lawmakers rally around 10-cent alcohol tax

Maryland lawmakers announcedplans for a 10-cent cocktail tax Tuesday -- equal to about $2.40 on a case of beer -- one day before the legislative session begins in Annapolis. The dime-a-drink tax is expected to raise more than $200 million for the cash-strapped state of Maryland, which is now facing a $2 billion shortfall, said Del. Bill Bronrott, D-Bethesda, who is sponsoring the bill with state Sens. Verna Jones, D-Baltimore City, and Richard Madaleno, D-Wheaton. About half the money would help expand Medicaid for childless adults, and the rest would fund services for the mentally disabled and programs for drug and alcohol addiction. "More than 19,000 people are on a waiting list...

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The 3-minute interview: Josh Wilson

Wilson is the operations director of Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry, a Maryland nonprofit that donates local deer harvests to the hungry. Where did you get the idea for FHFH? My dad actually formed it just over 12 years ago in Washington County. We learned about the idea in Virginia when we were hunting at a farm down below Winchester called Virginia Hunters for the Hungry. Then Dad thought it would be a good thing to start here in our community. We started it in our church, and a couple years after that we started having folks in neighboring states wanting to work with us. Where do you get the deer? Farmers and hunters donate the livestock and we work with butcher shops...

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Principals, police to nab bullies under proposed bill

Next time your kid gets called to the principal's office, you might get a call from the police chief -- if proposed legislation makes it through the Maryland General Assembly convening on Wednesday. Lawmakers are planning to crack down on unruly minors with a bill allowing school principals to share informationwith the local police department. "We can't expel a troublemaker," said state Del. Tony McConkey, R-Anne Arundel, who is sponsoring one of the bills. "If we can't remove them permanently by federal law, we should at least have a right to know how to monitor them." The bill would dissolve what McConkey called the "artificial walls" of privacy laws that prevent school principals...

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Another woe: Maryland pension system underfunded

Maryland's $2 billion budget shortfall is chump change compared with the $8 billion in state pension funding lost last year, some lawmakers say. "The budget problem is completely eclipsed by our state pension system," said Del. Roger Manno, D-Silver Spring. "The numbers are horrific. They are terrifying." Manno is backing a bill calling for reform and an infusion of money into the state's pension system --underfunded by $19 billion -- which administers death, disability and retirement benefits to more than 350,000 current and retired state workers. It is one of only a handful of bills before the General Assembly calling for tax increases in an election year. The state's pensions are...

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Area libraries see resurgence as economy falters

The reign of the Kindle may not spell disaster for books after all. Washington-area residents are returning to libraries in droves to check out paperbacks, hardcovers, audiobooks, e-books, DVDs and CDs as the slow economy encourages cheaper leisure. Book rentals at D.C's Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library have more than doubled since 2006 and the numbers are continuing to grow, according to branch Manager Norberta Winborne. "We used to have just a few people working nights and weekends," Winborne said. "Now, we need everybody around all the time." Nearly 2 million books, DVDs, CDs and other items have been checked out from D.C.'s public libraries in the last year -- up from 1 million...

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With stimulus spigot drying, Md. and Va. face budget crises

Lawmakers in Maryland and Virginia, a year after they used billions in federal stimulus dollars to delay severe cuts and layoffs, will return to work Wednesday with their budgets again deeply in the red and a dwindling pool of federal cash to help them. Stimulus money is slated to run dry over the next fiscal year as the economic crisis outlives the stopgap funds. The loss means legislatures in both states will reopen caustic arguments they shelved a year ago, likely eliminating jobs and dismantling services that had been expanded or saved by the $787 billion federal spending bill. "Last year, the legislators were too optimistic," said Maryland Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, R-Somerset, who...

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State lawmakers balk at pay raises

Maryland lawmakers have a chance to increase their salaries after four years without a pay raise. Two citizens panels have recommended pay raises for lawmakers and top elected officials this year, but legislators are leaning against voting to line their pockets when the General Assembly convenes next week. "The timing is horrendous," said Simon G. Powell, head researcher for one of the commissions. In an election year in a poor economy, and with lawmakers facing a $2 billion budget shortfall, legislators are shunning the prospect of a pay raise. "I would be opposed to any increases for legislators," said state Sen. Mike Lenett, D-Aspen Hill. "The state is already asking so much...

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D.C. offers millions in tax breaks to lure Bethesda company

The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to offer $6.1 million in tax breaks over 10 years to a big-time real estate company, hoping it will relocate its Bethesda headquarters into the city and open at least 100 jobs to District residents. "This is an opportunity to lure business into the District of Columbia and recognize increased revenues," said Councilman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, adding that CoStar Group Inc. could add to D.C. coffers more than $3 million annually in corporate income tax. The approved legislation -- which was amended three times during nearly two hours of debate -- would require CoStar to hire at least 100 D.C. residents before tax abatements could kick in. Once those...

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Pepco asks to raise electricity rates in Maryland

Maryland residents soon would be paying more for electricity if state regulators approve Pepco's new bid for higher rates. Rates for Pepco customers would increase by 2.5 percent -- equal to about $4 on a $150 bill -- beginning in July with theMaryland Public Service Commisson's approval. Pepco needs more money to protect against power outages as demand increases from customers using more energy-sucking technologies, said spokesman Andre Francis. "The more people purchase more plasma TVs and everything, the demand goes up," Francis said. Pepco plans to invest the potential $40 million annually in extra profit in new technologies such as automatic circuit breakers -- which restart...

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Montgomery considers composting deer to cut costs

Montgomery County officials are considering turning deer carcasses into compost in an effort to cut in half the nearly $150,000 spent on carcass disposal each year. "We are only in the initial stages, but it's definitely something we're considering," said Capt. Michael Wahl, director of the county's animal services division. "We still need to research more into site requirements, permit requirements and those issues." Hunters in Montgomery are responsible for their deer, which typically land on a dinner table or donated to Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry, a nonprofit that gives the meat to the homeless. Otherwise, removal and disposal of dead deer from county roads costs nearly...

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Taxes, toll increases among new year's new rules

Also new in Maryland: » Expansion of substance abuse coverage » Creation of a delegation to examine the accuracy of physician-rating systems » Requirement that commercial and workers' compensation insurers notify policyholders of increases in premiums The new year will bring higher Dulles Toll Road fees to Virginia, speed cameras and iPod insurance to Maryland, and a bag tax and increased parking fees to D.C., as new laws are enacted across the region Friday. Dulles Toll Road rates will increase to $1 at the main toll plaza and 75 cents at the on- and offramps Friday. The 25-cent increase is the first of several planned over the next two years to help...

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Washington Times lays off editors, will fold sports

The Washington Times laid off several top editors Wednesday, along with its entire sports section and several other journalists as the newspaper continued a radical downsizing in the face of economic difficulties. The exact number of layoffs was not announced. Staff members were handed an envelope after a mandatory afternoon meeting Wednesday that informed them whether they were to be retained. Among those leaving the paper was Jeffrey Birnbaum, the newspaper's digital managing editor and a key player in its operation since the November resignation of former executive editor John Solomon. He will continue to write a column and "to consult for the paper about news," according to a memo....

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EPA announces Chesapeake pollutant penalties

The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that the states surrounding the ailing Chesapeake Bay will face stiff penalties and increased federal oversight for failing to comply with new pollution standards. The agency plans to use its power in choosing which local agencies may receive permits for waste disposal and which development projects -- as possible sources of added pollutants -- can move forward. The EPA outlined its plans in a letter to the District, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware and West Virginia as part of President Obama's Chesapeake restoration plan. The agency also plans to redirect federal grant money according to the relative success of...

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