THE SESSION HAS
BEGUN!
From the 2nd Wednesday in
January and for the next 90 days we will be in not only a political battle
between the right and the left, conservative and liberal but n a spiritual
battle as well.
We know that prayer will be the
power that breaks through and will give us spiritual victories, not necessarily
political victories. Please join us in prayer for our legislators through our
Legislative Prayer Schedule, the Prayer House prayer times on Fridays and
special prayers throughout the session as particular bills are heard in
committee and voted on by the Delegates and
Senators.
During the opening day activities I
sensed a reserve and quietness among many legislators. Perhaps it was because
of the just recently ended Special Session that many elected officials on both
sides of the isle were not happy with. Many felt it was not needed at all while
others felt the process was not handled properly. Even the Judge that ruled on
the lawsuit to overturn the Special Session described the legislature’s actions
as ‘reprehensible’ and ‘egregious.” Regardless of your feelings about taxes
and slots, we must be concerned about the abuse of power by the House and Senate
leaders to violate the Constitution and perhaps other
laws.
Usually there are a few days of no
or minimal hearings as committees hear briefings from departments and staff on
broad topics of concern listing facts and figures without specific proposals
that will follow. However, because of a clever maneuver on the last day of the
2007 Session, there was an administrative definition that had to be brought
before the AELR Committee. That committee met yesterday to discuss the
definition of domestic partners. There were many reasons presented by several
legislators, the Maryland Catholic Conference and by the Family Protection Lobby
(us), which pointed out the lack of need for the hearing and for the devastating
effect it will have on the definition of marriage and the further deterioration
of the family structure in Maryland. But the lopsided make up of the
committee, which reflects the lopsided make up of the General Assembly, produced
the expected outcome; Maryland now has defined domestic partnerships and in the
process has “legalized” cohabitation harmed marriage and
families.
There have already been 61 bills
introduced in the Senate and 81 in the House. Shortly you will be able to see
the bills that we follow in our Bill Status Chart at http://www.fplmd.org/bills.asp
TAXPAYERS LOSE IN
SPECIAL SESSION
Using words like
“fair”, long term solution”, “path to progress” and “have to “sacrifice more” to
“invest more”, Governor O’Malley smiled as he signed the $1.4 billion tax
hike on Maryland residents. Listed below are the most
of the tax increases passed by 2:00 AM Monday morning. (Some we still don’t know
about)
120% increase in
motor vehicle title registration fee
100% increase in
cigarette tax
20% increase in
sales tax (5 cents to 6 cents)
Expansion of
sales tax to computer services (estimated to raise $200 million per
year)
20% increase in
car titling tax (limited relief granted by trade-in
allowance)
20% tax on net
proceeds for electronic bingo and tip jar amusements (an entirely new
tax)
18% increase in
corporate income tax rate
Increases in
personal income tax rates for wage earners under graduated tax brackets (highest
wage earners face 16% increase)
New transfer tax
on real estate transfers of “controlling interests”
Knowing the
Purpose of the Special Session was to raise taxes to cover a supposed deficit of
$1.7 Billion the Governor and the Democrat party leader, without a budget,
convinced legislators to authorize over $1.7 billion in NEW SPENDING over the
next four years!
Your guess is
probably as close as you are going to get as to what other “promises” were made
to lawmakers to get their vote for ... read full article
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SPECIAL SESSION
OPENS WITH A RALLY...
For me the 2007 Special Session of
the Maryland Legislature began early. After a few quick hours in the office I
was off to Annapolis to attend and speak at the noon Press
Conference hosted by smartgov.net along
with the Maryland Taxpayers Association (MTA).
That press conference was well attended by no-tax organizations, business
interests and pro-family and religious leaders. At 4:00 PM the Citizens Rally
began. Quickly many, if not most, Republican legislators arrived and took their
place behind MDGOP Party Chairman Jim Pelura who served as M/C for the
rally.
One after another of the delegates
and Senators from across the state shared their opposition to the still sketchy
or unknown proposals put forth by the Governor.
We know for sure the proposals
contain tax increases into nearly every facet of our lives. But the exact
details have been very hard to mine out of the Legislative Services or the
various websites that usually have the information available.
After, and sometimes during, each
speech the crown would respond to the chant of “NO NEW TAXES!” At one point
Senate President Mike Miller arrived by car to enter the State House and was
promptly greeted by the... [read full article]
Court Upholds
State's Gay Marriage Ban
Tuesday, September 18,
2007
WBAL Radio as reported by Steve Fermier and
Anne Kramer and The Associated Press
Maryland's highest court
Tuesday upheld a state law defining marriage as a union between a man and a
woman, ending a lawsuit filed by same-sex couples who claimed they were being
denied equal protection under the law.
A divided Court of
Appeals ruled that Maryland's 1973 ban on gay marriage does not
discriminate on the basis of gender and does not deny any fundamental rights,
and that the state has a legitimate interest in promoting opposite-sex
marriage.
The decision
essentially sent the gay-marriage issue back to the
legislature.
"Our opinion should
by no means be read to imply that the General Assembly may not grant and
recognize for homosexual persons civil unions or the right to marry a person of
the same sex," Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. wrote for the four-judge majority,
which also included Judges Dale R. Cathell, Clayton Greene Jr. and Alan M.
Wilner.
Chief Judge Robert
M. Bell and Judge Lynne A. Battaglia dissented. Judge Irma S. Raker wrote a
separate dissent but also concurred ... [read full article]
+ SAME SEX MARRIAGE ARGUMENTS BEGIN
Same-sex couples
in Maryland are denied equal protection under the law because they are not permitted to
marry, an attorney for plaintiffs in a gay-marriage lawsuit told the state's
highest court today. An attorney for the state argued that Maryland's 1973 ban on
same-sex marriage did not constitute gender discrimination and read full article+
+ ELECTION RESULTS AMF will be providing the Electon Results as we get them in. A complete list of the results may be found at the elections boards website.
VALUE VOTER
REGISTRATION SUNDAY-This Sunday, October 1
and October 8 are designated as Maryland Value Voter Sundays. Over 280 churches
have agreed to provide opportunities for their members to register to vote for
the November General Election on November 7. If your church has not
joined yet, it’s not too late. Call us at 410.836.2413 and we will help you with the
project.
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+ AMF LAUNCHES STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE- Working with Focus
on the Family, the Association of Maryland Families will be conducting Voter
Registration, Voter Education and Voter Turnout drives in churches throughout Maryland. As of June 8, 2006, we are beginning the
process of setting up the following organizational structure. To help, call the office@ 410.760.9166.
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+ IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT OUR FUTURE GROWTH - The
following email from Lee Merrell, former Director of Christian Coalition of
Maryland, will
be of exciting interest to all E-news For The Family members.
We
are delighted about Lee’s announcement and hope you will want to join us in this
exciting growth opportunity for pro-family/pro-life supporters in Maryland. This
is something I have been praying over for several years. The wider our network
the more influential we can be in State and local government actions. We will
have more ability to turn the tide of family and cultural destruction in
Maryland
Please
read the announcement by Lee below click here for full article +
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+ 2006 GENERAL ASSEMBLY ENDS SESSION OF PUNISHMENT POLITICS Down to the last minute bills were
passed, defeated or ignored all too frequently with the intent of
inflicting "punishment” on the
Governor and conservatives. Generally this means Republicans,
but some Democrats felt the pain as good bills and needed bills went down in
flame because of the “get even” mentality. The promise of a contentious session
began ... click here for full article +
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+ LEGISLATIVE UPDATE- In today’s session (March 28) the
Maryland Senate voted to not allow a petition to bring SB 690- Valid
Marriage bill to the Senate Floor. The Senate Judicial Proceedings
Committee chairman, Sen. Brian Frosh, Dist 16 refused to allow the committee to
vote on the bill. Several Republican Senators used a little know rule to
try to bring the bill to the Senate floor without a committee vote on the
bill. This procedure was refused by a vote of 26-21.
So that
means the right of Maryland Voters to put the
definition of Marriage into our Constitution has been denied. If the Appeals Court agrees with Judge Murdock, same-sex marriages could be legal in Maryland this summer.
On the
good side, SB 297-
Dispensing of Emergency Contraceptive pill by Pharmacists was defeated 22-24
after several very well articulated amendments by pro-life Senators were
defeated. Evidently the arguments were persuasive, because the final vote
defeated the bill.
In the
House, SB 144-
Embryonic Stem Cell Research Act was passed on to Third Reader after several
attempts to amend it to be a more baby friendly bill failed.
The final
vote could come as soon as tonight, if they meet, or probably tomorrow.
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+ RESOLUTION TO IMPEACH JUDGE DEFEATED IN COMMITTEE Del. Don Dwyer has long promised to impeach any judge that would overturn the state's marriage law. Such a ruling, by definition, would be "judicial activism, abuse of power, and a violation of the public trust," according to Dwyer. However, near midnight last night, the Judiciary Committee voted to cease impeachment procedures... more
