Conduit Street

Governor O’Malley, Senate President Miller and House Speaker Busch announced the names of an 11 member work group yesterday to study to expansion of gambling in Maryland.  If consensus is reached, a special session will be called for July 9 to discuss and vote on casino legislation. From the press release:

John Morton, III, has been selected to chair the Work Group. Mr. Morton, a senior business and financial services executive, brings extensive experience to the work group having served as CEO and President of three major financial institutions, as a board member for six public corporations and as a leader in business, professional, educational and civic organizations.

The other members of the Work Group are:

• Governor’s Chief of Staff Matthew Gallagher
• Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management T. Eloise Foster
• Secretary of Appointments Jeanne Hitchcock
• Senior Policy and Legislative Advisor Joseph Bryce
• Senator Edward Kasemeyer
• Senator Nathaniel McFadden
• Senator Richard Madaleno
• Delegate Sheila Hixson
• Delegate Peter Hammen
• Delegate Frank Turner

Alternate members of the group are Senator Douglas Peters, Senator George Edwards, Senator Robert Garagiola, Delegate Dereck Davis, Delegate Robert Costa, and Delegate Eric Luedtke.

The work group plans to hold its first meeting on June 1 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 101 of the House Office Building.  Two additional meetings have been tentatively scheduled for June 12 and June 20.

The full-time, professional position of Policy Analyst is available at the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo).  Principle responsibilities include covering and advocating on legislative and administrative policy issues affecting county government, policy research, survey oversight, and coordination with county professional organizations.

Requirements for the position include: excellent writing and oral communication skills, familiarity with Maryland state and local government, and computer proficiency.  Law or Masters Degree in relevant policy area preferred.

Interested parties should refer to the application packet for information on the application process, complete position and benefits detail, and background on MACo.  Completed applications are due by June 1.

Baltimore County Government has launched its official blog, Baltimore County Now.   Blog articles will be posted several times throughout the week and will feature a variety of county related news.  The articles will be authored by a variety of County employees, including County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.

The blog is available through the County’s website. Individuals may also subscribe to an RSS feed of Baltimore County Now here.

The Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) is seeking proposals for consideration as 2013 legislative initiatives. Each year, MACo adopts up to four topics for specific focus during the session of the General Assembly. Past MACo initiatives have included a wide range of topics designed to improve county government services, enhance state support of joint programs, protect local land use authority, clarify or extend county authority, and defend county liability exposure. Typical initiatives call for MACo to work closely with Senate and House sponsors of the county-sought legislation, and often to partner with like-minded organizations or other stakeholders.

Read about MACo’s 2012 legislative initiatives here.

Proposals will be discussed before a committee of MACo leaders, and a slate of recommended initiatives will be proposed to the Legislative Committee before the end of the year.

MACo is pleased to receive suggestions from county elected officials, any of its professional affiliate organizations, or others within the county community. To contact MACo to submit one or more topics as possible legislative initiatives, email Legislative Director Andrea Mansfield or contact the MACo office. For full consideration, proposals should be received no later than June 29.

As recently announced, Governor O’Malley will convene a special session beginning on May 14 to finalize Maryland’s FY 2013 budget plan.  This budget plan, which did not pass on the last day of session, would have shifted teacher pension costs to county governments and enacted a number of revenue measures to fund certain priorities in the budget.  Instead a “doomsday” budget, which would cut approximately $500 million from education, state agencies, and other programs,  passed the General Assembly. These issues are to be addressed during the special session.  As reported by the Washington Post:

Legislative aides said Friday that they expect the first special session to last about three days. Although a few details remain to be worked out, lawmakers have agreed to pick back up with a pair of revenue bills that House and Senate negotiators approved but did not come to votes in both chambers before the midnight deadline April 9.

Under that legislation, single filers making more than $100,000 and joint filers making more than $150,000 would pay higher income tax rates. Depending upon the bracket, the increases would be 0.25 percent or 0.5 percent. The legislation also would reduce or eliminate personal exemptions for higher-end earners.

Together, those changes would net the state nearly $250 million in the coming fiscal year, legislative analysts project.

Lawmakers are also expected to take up again a provision that would partially shift teacher pension costs from the state to counties.

Counties have long resisted the change, but it was included in legislation that leaders of both chambers intended to pass on the final night of the session.

Previous posts on Conduit Street summarize what occurred on the last day of the session, the effects of the “doomsday’ budget on county governments, and the compromise on the teacher pension shift.

Based on conference committee discussions at the end of the session, it appears that the teacher pension shift incorporated into legislation to be considered during a special session would largely follow the House’s more aggressive shift schedule in the first year, with a move of 50% of the employer’s normal cost in FY 2013.  The additional costs would then be phased-in over 3 years (65%, 85%, 100%). The following offsets, which were included in either the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2012 or the State and Local Revenue and Financing Act of 2012, would still be included as a part of the plan.

• Forgives repayment of $367 million to income tax reserve fund
• Changes to personal exemptions generating $31.5 million for local governments
• Closes the recordation tax loophole on Indemnity Deeds of Trusts (IDOT)
• Provides $27.6 million to certain counties through the Teachers’ Retirement Supplemental Grant
• Restores cuts to local police aid and inflationary increases for health departments beginning in FY 2014

Tune in to Conduit Street to follow the special session.  Search “State Budget” for current and previous posts summarizing state budget actions and their effect on county governments.

If you have knowledge or an interest in a certain issue area or concerns about the effects of federal legislation on your county, then you should become a member of a National Association of Counties (NACo) Steering Committee. The Steering Committees enable county officials from member counties to become actively involved in NACo’s policy process. The eleven NACo Steering Committees include:

• Agriculture & Rural Affairs
• Community & Economic Development
• Environment, Energy, & Land Use
• Finance & Intergovernmental Affairs
• Health
• Human Services, & Education
• Justice & Public Safety
• Labor & Employment
• Public Lands
• Telecommunications & Technology
• Transportation

The nomination process for membership on NACo policy Steering Committees is underway.  As a NACo Steering Committee member, you are responsible for debating and creating national policies and priorities affecting counties and serving as NACo’s front line in their grassroots efforts.

If you are interested in serving on a Steering Committee, please fill out the Steering Committee Nomination Form and email completed forms to Emily Hollis (ehollis@mdcounties.org) by June 1.

NACo makes every effort to accommodate the nominee’s first choice of steering committee assignments.  Committee appointees serve on a committee for one year (beginning in September) and cannot transfer membership to another committee, or serve on more than one steering committee, during that year.