The MACo staff gave testimony this week on the following bills:

February 25, 2014:

• HB610: Maryland Income Tax Refunds – Warrant Intercept Program testimony

MACo supported this program, urging that the county governing body be granted the “local option” to participate.

• HB727: Procurement – Prevailing Wage – Applicability testimony

MACo opposed this bill, extending the state standards for prevailing wage to apply to a wider range of projects, even many with mostly county funding.

• HB770: Income Tax – Military Retirement Income testimony

MACo opposed a broad new tax exemption for retirement income, which would deplete both state and local resources.

• HB951: Procurement – Occupational Safety and Health Prequalification testimony

MACo opposed a state mandate that public works contracts – even exclusively locally-funded projects – be limited to a list of contractors who pass a state-imposed set of regulations.

• HB1232: Criminal Procedure – Pretrial Confinement and Release testimony

MACo offered several principles in support of this bail reform proposal, germane to both the pretrial risk assessment concept and the issue more broadly.

• SB781: Environment – Recycling – Public and Commercial Buildings, Special Events, and Single-Family Residences testimony

MACo opposed a wide-ranging new mandate for broad and expensive new programs designed to improve overall recycling efforts, but raised the potential for progress on many of these goals.

February 26, 2014:

• HB1181: Fairness in Negotiations Act – Sunset Repeal testimony

MACo urged an extension, rather than elimination, of the scheduled sunset of this Board reviewing education labor disputes.

• HB1271: Local Government Tort Claims Act – Injury From Lead-Based Paint – Application of Notice Requirement testimony

MACo opposed a weakening of the notice requirements that require governments to receive notice of a pending suit.

• SB858: Income Tax – Subtraction Modification – Nonpassive Income of a Pass-Through Entity testimony

MACo opposed a costly proposal designed to grant tax preference for partnerships and other small businesses, citing fiscal concerns (the effect of the bill is in the tens of millions annually).

February 27, 2014:

• SB204: Prevailing Wage Rates Reform Act of 2014 testimony

• SB232: Procurement – Prevailing Wage – Applicability testimony

MACo opposed these bills, both extending the state standards for prevailing wage to apply to a wider range of projects, even many with mostly county funding.

• SB544: Civil Actions – Award of Attorney’s Fees and Expenses testimony

MACo opposed a proposal to allow a plaintiff to recover attorney’s fees when suing on constitutional grounds, even if the case only results in an accommodation as a settlement.

• SB689: Local Government Tort Claims Act and Maryland Tort Claims Act  – Repeal of Certain Notice Requirements testimony

MACo opposed a bill deleting a government’s right to be advised of a pending lawsuit, citing a resulting inability to properly investigate the circumstance of the alleged incident, or to remedy a potential problem.

• SB774: Procurement – Occupational Safety and Health Prequalification testimony

MACo opposed a state mandate that public works contracts – even exclusively locally-funded projects – be limited to a list of contractors who pass a state-imposed set of regulations.

February 28, 2014:

• SB652: Motor Vehicles – Speed Monitoring Systems – Local Jurisdictions testimony

MACo supported a broad reform to speed camera authority, adding improved standards and accountability to the use of these public safety tools.

To see online versions of MACo’s written testimony from the 2014 legislative session, click here.