The Harford County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly fared well this session, which ended at midnight Monday, but according to one member of the delegation, they could have done better.
“It was a difficult session,” said Del. Susan McComas, R-District 35B. For McComas, the major setback of this past session was that the delegation did not get the $16 million that it requested for Harford County Public Schools.
McComas said the delegation was able to secure $11 million for the schools, which could aid projects such as the construction of the new Patterson Mill High/Middle School and the proposed new Bel Air and Edgewood high schools. But the loss of the additional $5 million “shortchanged” those projects, she said.
As to some other important legislation, which is more regional than local, McComas said the General Assembly failed to enact laws that would phase in a cap on the expected 75 percent rate increase for BGE customers come July.
“The House passed a bill that would phase in the rate increase, but the Senate got into a debate over it and time ran out,” she said.
Another regional issue that McComas said did not get proper attention was eminent domain and the government condemnation of private property for development.
“The Kelo Decision is still the law of the land,” McComas said, referring to the recent Supreme Court decision allowing governments to seize and sell private property so it can be redeveloped for the benefit of the community. McComas lamented that even local bills on the matter were stalled.
On a more positive note, McComas said the General Assembly was able to augment the state teachers pension plan so that teachers can contribute more to their pensions, while the state contribution would also increase. Additionally, should local school systems have other incentives, the new legislation allows for teacher pensions to benefit from them as well.
In the end, though, McComas was not pleased: “The environment around here is so pressured ? that some bills which were no-brainers didn?t pass.”
