More than 150 of the bills passed by the General Assembly this year have been signed into law by Governor Martin O'Malley, including a bill designed to foster an offshore wind industry and other bills the Governor says are aimed at job creation. O'Malley has not yet signed into law a package of gun legislation, but that measure is likely to face challenges in court and at the ballot box. Hundreds of Marylanders will be in DC today, to rally for immigration reform legislation. Plus: the Navy's Blue Angels are grounded due to sequestration, table games are coming to Maryland's largest casino tonight, and Governor O'Malley is headed to Denmark.
Offshore Wind And Yesterday's Bill-Signings: Maryland's Atlantic coast could soon be the home to one of the nation's first offshore wind farms, now that Governor Martin O'Malley has signed into law a bill designed to foster the growth of an offshore wind industry. The measure was approved by the General Assembly during its just-finished session. It would encourage companies to build massive wind turbines miles of the Ocean CIty coast. If those windmills ARE built, Marylanders would subsidize the power they produce with monthly fees of $1.50 on their energy bills. It will likely take years for that to happen... and the Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Change Action Network, Mike Tidwell, tells WYPR that the measure a just a first step: “The governor has said for the last couple years, ‘Look, we need to place a buoy out there in the Atlantic and then we need to swim toward it. And I think that what you’re going to see with this bill is an initial windfarm of a modest size, it might be twenty or thirty wind turbines, but that’s going to be our buoy. And we’re going to build around it.” The offshore wind bill was one of more than 150 that O'Malley signed yesterday... and he plans to do more signing in the weeks to come. He's also expected to sign a measure raising taxes on gas in order to fund transportation projects, a bill repealing Maryland's death penalty, and a sweeping gun reform measure. More on yesterday's bill-signing here from the Baltimore Sun and here from the Washington Post. And there's more on the just-finished General Assembly session here, on this morning's edition of Inside Maryland Politics.
Gun Legislation Challenges: The sweeping gun reform measure passed by the General Assembly in the just-finished session looks like it'll face challenges both in court and at the ballot box. Republican Delegate Neil Parrott, who founded the website mdpetitions.com, says his group hasn't formally decided to put the gun law before voters... but tells the Baltimore Sun that it'll soon submit a plan to Maryland's Board of Elections to do just that. The gun law will also likely face a legal challenge from the National Rifle Association; the NRA's president said yesterday that the group will "absolutely" go to court to challenge the measure's constitutionality -- in particular, the ban on certain assault weapons included in the law. Governor O'Malley says he believes the gun law is constitutional. And he says he has no "fear" of a referendum on the matter.
O'Malley To Denmark: Governor O'Malley departs for Denmark today. The Baltimore Sun reports that the Governor is set to appear in Copenhagen on Friday with the prime minister of Denmark for a panel on progressive governance. This will be the first of two overseas trips for O'Malley in April, as he will be heading to Israel later in the month. There's more here from the Washington Post.
Immigration Reform Rally: Hundreds of Marylanders will be rallying for immigration reform in Washington DC today. The executive director of the group CASA de Maryland tells the Baltimore Sun says it's reserved about 190 buses to transport people from around the state to the nation's capitol. The rally comes as the US Senate negotiates over a bill that could include a pathway to citizenship for the approximately 11 million people in the country illegally. Lawmakers say that immigration reform legislation could be produced by the end of the week.
Table Games Come To Maryland's Largest Casino: Gambling aficionados will be able to play table games at the state's largest casino in less than 24 hours. Starting just after midnight, Anne Arundel County's Maryland Live! casino plans to offer games including blackjack, roulette, and poker. It's the second Maryland casino to offer table games; the Baltimore Sun reports Cecil County's Hollywood Casino Perryville began offering them in early March, and brought in nearly $1.5 million from them before the month ended.
Sequestration Grounds The Blue Angels: The federal spending cuts known as sequestration have prompted the Navy to cancel the remainder of this year's performances by the Blue Angels flight demonstration squad. The Annapolis Patch reports that the grounding means that the Blue Angels will not fly over the Naval Academy for its graduation day; and the Daily Times notes that other canceled shows in Maryland are the Ocean City Air Show in June and Labor Day weekend's Naval Air Station Patuxent River Air Expo.
Alderman Israel's Resignation: Annapolis Mayor Josh Cohen is accepting the resignation of Alderman Richard Israel. The Ward One Democrat made his intentions known in a letter to the mayor on Friday, but officially resigned earlier this week. The 70-year-old Israel is battling Parkinson's disease; he's planning to move to a continuing care retirement community out of his district; there's more here from the Baltimore Sun and here from the Capital Gazette.
In sports: The Orioles hope to turn around a 3 game losing streak when they play against the Boston Red Sox tonight. It's an away game, and the second of a three-game series.
And: Now that the Baltimore Ravens have built a Super Bowl championship, they're turning to building houses. As the Baltimore Sun reports, Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake is putting team members to work to help build three row homes in Pigtown. The construction will be near M&T Bank Stadium in an area that needs good housing.