The Maryland General Assembly opened its 434th term Wednesday in a day mostly occupied with welcoming words, networking and acknowledging the presence of distinguished visitors in the two chambers.
As a first order of business, members voted in leadership for the next 90 days, which elicited little surprise. Sen. Thomas “Mike” Miller was returned to his post as Senate President, a roll he’s had since 1987. Del. Michael Busch will continue to lead the House.
The issue everyone expects to be front and center this term is a raise in the state’s minimum wage. At $7.25 an hour, many lawmakers say it’s too low. In his opening remarks, House Speaker Mike Busch said Maryland has a lower minimum wage than 21 other states. “We are the wealthiest state in the union for five years in a row,” the delegate said. “It is time for us to take an appropriate look at raising our minimum to the working, middle class families of the state of Maryland.”
But Republican Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley says he’s concerned that raising minimum wage will hurt Maryland businesses and kill jobs. “Increasing the minimum wage at the state level is policy decision that would be made in Annapolis that puts Maryland at a competitive disadvantage, particularly in rural parts of state,” he said.
At the top of the Republican agenda is repealing the state’s storm water fee, which requires Maryland’s nine largest counties and Baltimore city to collect money to pay for upgrades to the states failing storm water systems. Republicans in the House and Senate have already filed bills to repeal the so-called rain tax but there’s little chance a full repeal will pass.
Democratic Sen. Jamie Raskin says he is willing to make minor tweaks to the law, but he defends the law. “Stormwater is the fastest growing threat to the integrity of the Chesapeake and our waterways,” Raskin says. “We have got to invest in protecting the waterways from the toxic pollutants that pour into the waters when the rains come.”
Others had environmental issues they wanted the Assembly to put a stop to. Before the session even started, the first of what will surely be thousands of demonstrators showed up on Lawyer’s Mall near the State House steps to urge lawmakers to pass a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. “Protect us from fracking,” the protestor’s chanted. They say blasting shale formations deep underground with water and chemicals is too dangerous a way to extract natural gas.
The fracking debate has focused on Western Maryland, which covers the Marcellus Shale layer, but central Maryland could be fracked as well. A Texas-based company is planning to drill for gas in a basin stretching from central Virginia into Maryland. “This is no longer just a far off Western Maryland issue and landowners in rural areas,” Mike Tidwell of Chesapeake Climate Action Network says. “We’re now talking about a drilling threat that could be posed for Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Charles counties.”
More than 200 bills have already been filed in the House and Senate, though not one of them deals with fracking. Most are pro-forma odds and ends that won’t make much news. Others are smaller items – things like making a soft-shell crab sandwich the state’s official sandwich.
Few expect 2014 to see the kind of path breaking legislation passed in recent years – things like same-sex marriage to a repeal of the death penalty. Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is termed out and in his last year, has already accomplished much on his agenda.
Also, elections for state races have been moved up, and will now take place just after the legislative session closes. “Very rarely does anything happen in the last session [before an election],” says Sen. David Craig who is running to be the Republican gubernatorial nominee. “It’s just everyone’s being patient and waiting until election day to make their vote.”
But Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown told lawmakers this is not a year that they can rest on their laurels. “There will be no coasting this session. None whatsoever,” Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said to the Senate and the House. “There’s lots of work to do and we’re looking forward to doing it with each and every one of you.” Brown is also looking to replace his boss, and is hoping to be the Democrats' choice for governor.
It’s fair to say we can expect a bit of showmanship from members of the Assembly, and assembled gubernatorial hopefuls, looking to prove themselves to their constituents.
