Gov. Martin O?Malley continued tohammer his “Let?s Get to Work,” message Tuesday as three committees kicked-off what may be a long and contentious battle over the governor?s proposed tax and budget plan to offset the state?s $1.7 billion projected shortfall.
The governor kicked off the special session of the legislature with a subdued 81/2-minute speech Monday evening that emphasized the need to find consensus about overcoming a $1.7 billion deficit and “making progress” on important new initiatives.
Calling Maryland “the wealthiest state in the nation,” O?Malley said, “Our challenge is not capacity. Our challenge is consensus.”
“The storm is upon us, and this looming [budget] shortfall threatens to do grave damage to the very quality of life that our neighbors have elected us to defend,” the governor told a joint session of the House and Senate.
“This is not merely about correcting the flawed math of the past,” he said. “Everything we do to restore fiscal responsibility to our state is really about making progress for the future: progress for the education of our children, progress for affordable college, progress for the healthcare of our workforce, progress on transportation, progress for the health and sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay.”
“I thought the governor was effective in bringing the body together,” said Sen. Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George?s, chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee that will play a key role in shaping the final package. “This is a great first step in the special session.”
O?Malley said he expected the legislators “to study, debate and improve upon the fairness of the framework proposed.”
Sen. Thomas Mac Middleton, D-Charles, said, “He set a very positive tone” for the session, evoking a bipartisan spirit. But “we?ve got some hard work ahead of us,” Middleton said.
Middleton chairs the Senate Finance Committee which will review O?Malley?s $250 million proposal to expand health insurance coverage. “I think he?s responding to Marylanders on that,” he said, even though it is not part of the existing deficit. “That?s part of the fix as far as I?m concerned,” he said.
Passing slot machine gambling, “that?s going to be the toughest [part] of all,” Middleton said. He has not voted for most slot machine gambling bills in the past, but “I would be inclined to vote for a referendum.”
Republicans were unimpressed with the speech. “I never seen a flatter speech or a cooler reception” in his five years in the Senate, said E.J. Pipkin, Middle Shore. O?Malley appearances in the House chamber earlier in the year drew rousing ovations, but Monday night?s talk was not interrupted by applause.
“The reality of the $750 million sales tax increase is sinking in and that?s reflected in the muted response of the General Assembly,” Pipkin said. “Clearly there?s no consensus.”
Sen. Joan Carter Conway, D-Baltimore City, chair of the Education, Health and Environment Committee, said city lawmakers are focused on maintaining Thornton school aid funding.
“There?s not a consensus on slots,” Conway said. Mayor Sheila Dixon “dropped a bombshell” on the city lawmakers at a meeting last Thursday when she proposed a slots location near Westport south of downtown. “We were very shocked, because they said that Baltimore City was not a site” for slots.
Del. Maggie McIntosh, a city Democrat, said says she’s not sure she supports slots, but could probably support a referendum. She thinks many of her colleagues agree.
“I don’t believe I support slots in Maryland,” McIntosh said. “I still haven’t gotten there yet, but [a referendum] would be better. I think the governor would pick up more votes that way.”
O?Malley will have to pick up a super majority of votes in the House and Senate to put the slots measure on the ballot for voters as a constitutional amendment.
Del. Jim Mathias, former mayor of Ocean City, said he’s torn between business owners in the resort town — where hotel, motel and restaurant owners posted anti-slots signs during the Maryland Association of Counties annual convention this summer — and the rest of his Worcester County district, which supports legalized slot machines.
O?Malley has proposed placing 3,250 slots terminals at the Ocean Downs racetrack, just outside Ocean City. Mathias said he would co-sponsor a bill that gives local residents veto power over slots locations.
He said he could support slots only if funds were funneled to support transportation and tourism in hosting counties. “If we can’t get these specifics negotiated, I can’t support it,” Mathias said. “But I’m being open minded. I’m looking to negotiate.”
Staff writer Jaime Malarkey contributed to this story.
