Maryland lawmakers face a thorny battle over redistricting when the General Assembly’s special session starts Monday, as Republicans cling to their majority in a congressional district that Democrats want to sever. The legislature must vote on new legislative maps that represents the last decade of population changes before the end of the year, for
Maryland to hold its primary in April. The session is therefore devoted to redistricting, but the governor is also using it as a platform to pitch his new jobs initiative. Some lawmakers also plan to use the session to discuss their own agendas, including new taxes and incentives for the development of wind energy.
Gov. Martin O’Malley is planning to outline his jobs package at a press conference Monday for the General Assembly to vote on during its regular session, which begins in January.
The governor’s office hasn’t released any details about the package.
O’Malley is also expected to introduce a redistricting proposal on Monday that would add a slew of Montgomery voters to the state’s heavily Republican 6th Congressional District, which encompasses Western Maryland. The 6th District also would lose four Republican-leaning counties, including most of Frederick, Carroll, Baltimore and Harford.
The change would make the 6th District, which is represented by 10-term Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., more competitive for a Democrat. Three Republican senators plan to introduce alternative maps that would protect the Republican solidarity of the district, create a new conservative-leaning district around Anne Arundel County and add a third majority-minority district.
By adding the majority-minority district, Republicans gain the support of minority advocates who say Hispanic and black voters are underrepresented under the proposed map.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other minority groups have threatened to sue Maryland if the General Assembly approves a map that doesn’t reflect the minority population in the state.
The governor’s map and all alternative plans will go to committees for hearings before the House and Senate begin voting.
House and Senate leadership expect the session to last no longer than one week, unless lawmakers decide to introduce legislation unrelated to redistricting.
Several Democratic lawmakers last spring floated the idea of introducing a gasoline tax increase during the special session, but they have since reneged, saying the issue should instead be addressed during the regular session. Gay rights activists, meanwhile, plan to use the session to lobby their lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriage.
At least one senator has confirmed plans to introduce legislation that doesn’t relate to redistricting.
Sen. E.J. Pipkin, R-Eastern Shore, is considering introducing a package of initiatives that target problems plaguing rural Maryland specifically. One of his initiatives would increase the Maryland Transportation Authority’s farebox recovery rate and direct the extra dollars to help repair pothole-ridden rural roads. The farebox recovery rate — what the MTA gets back in fares for every dollar it spends to operate its transit system — is now set at 35 percent. Pipkin would increase that to 50 percent.
Pipkin also would create a regional transportation authority for the Washington suburbs to “tax themselves to death if they want” to fund the planned Purple Line, a 16-mile light rail that would connect New Carrollton to Bethesda. A similar bill failed in the 2011 regular session.
