Special-interest groups, not satisfied with O'Malleys tax proposals, want even more tax increases

(Posted 2007)

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Special interests to lobby at special session.
Times, 19 Oct 2007 (LoBianco).

ANNAPOLIS — Special-interest groups said yesterday that they also intend to be in Annapolis for the special General Assembly session, lobbying for additional state spending beyond Gov. Martin O'Malley's expansive plan.

Environmentalists are pushing for a new development tax, known as the Green Fund, that would be used to clean the Chesapeake Bay. Public-interest groups said they would like to expand the sales tax to including financial planning. And one state lawmaker would like to introduce a new "gas-guzzler" tax that could raise up to $33 million by taxing vehicles with low gas mileage, such as sport utility vehicles.

"A lot of people want to add stuff" to Mr. O'Malley's plan, said Sean Dobson, executive director of Progressive Maryland, which wants to expand the sales tax to services largely used by wealthy Marylanders and to close additional tax loopholes.
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Lawmakers already have requested that 30 bills be drafted for introduction during the special session, say analysts in the Department of Legislative Services.
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"I don't expect that it's going to be dealt with by the committees unless it deals with the" budget, said Sen. Brian E. Frosh, Montgomery Democrat and chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Mr. Frosh said he would like to introduce a new excise tax on "gas guzzlers," which would generate about $33 million a year for transportation projects, but he gave it a slim chance of success.
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Taxes are main course but sides abound.
Gazette, 19 Oct 2007 (Tallman).

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Environmentalists want the legislature to pass a tax to benefit the Chesapeake Bay. Health care activists will be looking to improve service to the uninsured.
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Even so, Del. Doyle L. Niemann plans to push ahead with a bill to help Prince George’s Hospital system, starting where the protracted negotiations left off on Sine Die. That’s when the Prince George’s County Council walked away from $158.7 million in state subsidies for the hospital.
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He said the cost of his proposal would be close to what was proposed in April, although with ‘‘a greater state contribution.” Prince George’s still would make a substantial contribution in cash or in assets.
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Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville, a slots opponent, said he would propose that his colleagues reject O’Malley’s income tax plan, which raises $161 million a year, and simply repeal a 1997 tax cut, which would raise $588 million.
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‘Just like a regular session’ for lobbyists, advocates; Annapolis corps gears up for business as usual, more than two months earlier than usual.
Gazette, 19 Oct 2007 (Brody).

ANNAPOLIS — When lawmakers return to the capital in 10 days, lobbyists and advocacy groups will be ready to pounce during a special session that could last several weeks.
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Interest groups are lining up news conferences and organizing rallies to bring attention to their cause, regardless of their relevance to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to close the state’s projected $1.7 billion budget deficit.
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Even the usually reserved League of Women Voters weighed in this week.

The league is recommending a more progressive income tax than O’Malley has proposed, supporting the 1-cent sales tax increase, backing a corporate income tax boost and opposing slot machines ‘‘because of incompatibility with social policy, equity⁄fairness principles and the many hidden costs associated with gambling.”
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Proposal would create hospital authority.
Sentinel, 4 Oct 2007 (Samuel).

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However Del. Doyle Niemann (D-Dist. 47), is back with what he believes will be the final fix to the hospital system, the Prince George's Hospital Authority Act.
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Niemann's current proposal again includes a 3-cent property tax.
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League of Women Voters eyes special session.
Cumberland Times-News, 18 Oct 2007 (Letter from League of Women Voters of Maryland).