The highwire acts and thrilling midair twists and turns are over for another year.
The Maryland General Assembly session ended last night at 11:59 to the delight and relief of the delegates and senators. The session was actually quieter than most ending, as always, with a flurry of bills passed on the last day of the session. So what happened? Let’s take a look.
Sex Offenders. It seemed almost certain as the General Assembly convened that there would be legislation to strengthen laws against sex offenders and provide more rigorous tracking of convicted offenders, but it almost didn’t happen. Competing House and Senate bills were tied up in conference until late Monday night. The final legislation which passed repeals credits for good behavior in prison, lengthens some sentences and providing lifetime supervision for repeat and violent offenders.
Child Support Guidelines. The legislature updated the child support guidelines in Maryland for the first time in 20 years. The guidelines state the amount of support that should be provided to children based on the number of children and the parents income. The new guidelines increase the guidance a bit and provide guidance for combined monthly incomes up to $15,000 rather than the $10,000 limit in the current guidelines. The compromise between the House and Senate bills provides that the new guidelines will be effective in October of 2010 but will not apply to cases already adjudicated.
Cell Phones. The General Assembly approved a bill to ban use of a hand-held cell phone while driving. Drivers could only use their hands to turn the phone on or off. Violations get a $40 fine.
Traffic Court. Those who get a traffic ticket will have to request a court date instead of having one assigned automatically under legislation that was passed. This brings Maryland in line with 34 other states and will substantially ease a significant burden on our police departments.
Rocky Gap. The tax rate on slots at Rocky Gap resort has been lowered in an attempt to get someone to take over this white elephant. Rocky Gap was the only slots venue to receive no bids last year.
Gangs. Legislation to make it easier to prosecute gang members and to stiffen penalties against them was approved. Additional legislation passed to require cooperation between police and schools on monitoring and tracking gangs.
Foreclosure. The assembly approved legislation to require mediation between borrower and lender in foreclosure cases if requested by the borrower. The mediation will be funded by a $300 charge on lenders to file a foreclosure.
Solar Power. Also passed was a bill to require more use of solar power by Maryland electricity providers. The bill will add about six cents a month to the average consumers bill to begin and up to 80 cents a month eventually. Proponents say this will create jobs in Maryland. I say that’s nonsense; it will create jobs somewhere else and we’ll be paying for it.
Transportation Policy. The house and senate passed a bill that would require specific environmental criteria in evaluating transportation projects. Supporters say this will promote ‘smart growth’ and add transparency to the decision on which projects to fund.
Some strongly-supported bills have failed:
- Increased tax on alcohol (this will be back next year)
- Direct delivery of wine to consumers from out of state (this will be back)
- gambling at Rosecroft (this won’t be back, Rosecroft will close)
- tax credits for donations to private schools (this won’t be back either)
- shifting some of the cost of teacher pensions to localities (this will be back and will pass next year)
I’ll have more in a later post! Oh, and the Clothesline Bill passed with a bunch of amendments.