The Baltimore Sun blogs today about the O’Malley Administration’s top legislative priorities for the 2011 session:

The centerpiece of O’Malley’s legislative agenda — his fifth as governor — is the creation of a $100 million venture capital fund called Invest Maryland. Sun business reporter Gus Sentementes took a close look at the program in Saturday’s Sun, writing: “The state would invest in small businesses and start-up companies — partially through the dormant Maryland Venture Fund — and would reap both the risks and rewards.”

On a separate topic with direct county government effect, the Sun also writes:

On pension reform, O’Malley laid out a plan to shore-up the state’s sagging system by reducing benefits for new employees and requiring current workers to pay more into the program. It saves the state $100 million next year, but has already sparked outrage from the leadership of state workers’ unions.

The Daily Record also covered the release, noting:

“While cutting and balancing are important, they are not enough by themselves to create jobs in the new economy,” O’Malley said in a written statement. “Our legislative agenda focuses valuable resources on job creating initiatives, and harnesses Maryland’s competitive strengths to make this new economy ours.”