March 11, 2010
MACo Associate Director Les Knapp testified in opposition to HB 881 before the House Appropriations Committee on March 9. The bill, sponsored by Delegate Tom Hucker, would authorize non-management library employees to form employee organizations and engage in collective bargaining. The bill also includes mediation and limited binding arbitration provisions.
Mr. Knapp argued that the bill imposed a costly mandate on both counties and local library systems. Representatives from various library systems stated the bill was unnecessary, as librarians can chose to unionize under federal law.
Washington County Herald-Mail story on local library representative testifying
At the hearing, several Delegates stated they were offering amendments to exempt their counties from the bill. As reported by MarylandReporter.com:
Delegates representing six counties have moved to exempt these jurisdictions from a bill that would make it easier for local librarians to unionize, citing concerns about the costs.
Representatives from Harford, Baltimore, Garret, Allegheny and Carroll Counties offered amendments to strike their counties from the bill.
Del. Mary-Dulany James, D-Cecil and Harford, was first to voice her opposition on collective bargaining rights for librarians.
“I’m a big proponent of local rights,” James said. “We don’t like it when the federal government tells the states what to do. I don’t think it’s an appropriate role for the state to be telling the local governments how to conduct themselves.”
The bill hearing for the bill’s cross-file, SB 225, took place on March 4.
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Posted by Les Knapp
March 7, 2010
MACo Associate Director Les Knapp joined a broad coalition of State, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies in support of HB 829 before the House Judiciary Committee on March 3. The bill, sponsored by Delegate Sally Jameson, would require a person receiving a payable traffic citation to affirmatively request a trial date in District Court, rather than having one be automatically scheduled.
Summary of SB 560 cross-file bill hearing
Mr. Knapp noted that Maryland is the only state in the continental United States that still automatically schedules court dates for traffic tickets. He stated the bill would result in significant savings for both the State and local governments by not having police officers waiting in court for people who do not show up. Instead, law enforcement resources could be directed towards more important public safety concerns.
UPDATE 2010-03-08: Baltimore Sun column describing the hearing in more colorful detail, and lending support to “one of the smartest, most taxpayer-friendly bills in recent memory.”
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Posted by Les Knapp
March 7, 2010
MACo Associate Director Les Knapp and a panel of county attorneys was the sole opposition against HB 1318 in the House Economic Matters Committee on March 3. The bill, sponsored by Delegate Carolyn Krysiak, alters the death benefit paid to a surviving spouse, child, or other dependent of an employee covered by workers’ compensation who dies due to an occupational disease or work-related accident.
The MACo panel expressed concerned that while the bill tried to make the death benefits system fairer and less costly for most payors, counties may end up paying more due to the fact that counties are often self-insured and employ more high-risk personnel, sich as police and firefighters, who enjoy broad presumptions about compensable diseases assumed to be related to their occupation. Delegate Krysiak agreed to consider amendments that would address MACo’s concerns.
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Posted by Les Knapp
March 7, 2010
MACo Associate Director Les Knapp and a panel of county attorneys and health officers testified in opposition to HB1280 before the House Economic Matters Committee on March 3. The bill, sponsored by Delegate Brian Feldman, would greatly expand the number of cancers and diseases subject to a workers compensation presumption for firefighters and rescue workers.
The MACo panel argued that the cancers and diseases covered by the bill had numerous causes that were beyond a county’s control to manage and impose a signficant fiscal burden on county governments at a time when they are struggling with their own budget challenges. The panel also noted that Maryland’s burden of proof regarding presumptions is much higher than in other states, making it very difficult for a county to challenge to rebut.
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Posted by Les Knapp
March 7, 2010
MACo Associate Director Les Knapp was part of a panel of library associations testifying in opposition to SB 225 before the Senate Finance Committee on March 2. The bill, sponsored by Senator Nancy King, would authorize non-management library employees to form employee organizations and engage in collective bargaining. The bill also includes mediation and limited binding arbitration provisions.
Mr. Knapp stated that the bill imposed a costly and unnecessary mandate on both the counties and public library systems at a time they are facing signficant State aid reductions and budgetary challenges. He described how counties have been recently criticized for giving multi-year pay raises that they are legally bound to provide under a collective bargaining agreement. Representatives from the Maryland Library Association and the various county associations also argued that the decision to organize should be left up to each individual jurisdiction and that process should not be forced on them.
The hearing for the bill’s cross-file, HB 881, is set for March 9 before the House Appropriations Committee.
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Posted by Les Knapp
March 5, 2010
MACo Executive Director Michael Sanderson offered testimony in opposition to HB 1155 in the House Ways and Means Committee this week. This bill would require counties that request major capital projects in the CTP to provide a purpose and need statement that includes a rigorous list of priorities and factors to be considered when ranking major capital projects. This would include describing how the project addresses climate action plan goals and potential land use changes.
Mr. Sanderson testified, “Although MACo does see value in ensuring that projects meet broader statewide goals, HB 1155 goes too far in replacing a productive and collaborative process with one deeply enmeshed in one-size-fits-all indicators and ill-fitting criteria.”
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Posted by Andrea Mansfield
March 4, 2010
MACo Associate Director Andrea Mansfield offered testimony today in opposition to HB 805. This bill would extend the Homestead Property Tax Credit (Credit) to the second home of a homeowner who is at least 65 years old. The second home cannot be rented to or occupied by someone other than the homeowner, and the second home cannot be used for establishing residency to receive State, county, or municipal services.
Ms. Mansfield testified that this would depress the property tax base, by providing an inappropriate advantage to homeowners who can afford second homes. MACo believes this action is unfair to other taxpayers, whose responsibilities to pay for public services would only increase as a result.
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Posted by Andrea Mansfield
March 4, 2010
MACo Associate Director Andrea Mansfield and the Chief of Treasury from Prince George’s County Stan Willis testified today before the House Ways and Means Committee on HB 817. The bill would grant a personal property tax exemption for heavy equipment used for short-term lease or rental, and would grant local governments the option to enact a new gross receipts tax on the use of that equipment. While widely described as “revenue neutral,” the bill as introduced completely repeals a current tax but, in return, only offers counties an option to pass local legislation to levy a new, explicitly capped, tax with largely uncertain net effect.
Ms. Mansfield testified that for MACo to support the bill it would need to be amended to make it a true local option and truly revenue neutral. Mr. Willis agreed with this position and added that amendments also need to clarify the business entity to which the gross receipts tax applies, the entity renting the equipment or the entity holding the equipment.
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Posted by Andrea Mansfield
February 27, 2010
MACo Associate Director Les Knapp testified in support of HB 685 with amendments before the House Environmental Matters Committee on February 24. The bill, introduced by Delegate Dana Stein, requires each county to have a recycling plan for the collection and recycling of fluorescent and compact fluorescent lights that contain mercury by October 1, 2011.
Mr. Knapp testified that because fluorescent lights contain mercury, a hazardous substance, recycling and disposal are more complicated. He stated that while MACo did not have an issue with a county having a recycling plan for fluorescent lights, MACo could not support any measure that imposed an additional unfunded mandate on the counties, especially during the current fiscal crisis. He suggested amendments making the bill analogous to electronics recycling legislation passed by the Committee in 2005 and 2007 that did not impose an unfunded mandate on county governments.
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Posted by Les Knapp
