SPECIAL SESSION OPENS WITH A RALLY AND A THUD.

  by Doug Stiegler   Tuesday, October 30, 2007
  

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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 “NO NEW TAXES” chant for several loud, long minutes.

Perhaps the saddest part of the day for me was watching the group that was following us on Lawyer’s Mall for the next rally.  There were representatives of several unions, teachers, municipal workers and others that had brought a bunch of kids carrying posters That many of them were too young to read, much less understand what they meant.  Most were pushing for free health care, some wanting more money for “education” and I saw one that said “Save the Bay”!  I’m sure there are some children and families that need help with health care and education issues, but to exploit young children seems wrong to me.

After being hassled by State House security personnel for being in the building we were forced to wait outside until 7:30.  When I asked about not being allowed into a public building that has been open to the public for the past 14 years that I have been working there, I was told, “It might have been like that before, but this is now.”

One security guard said, “I don’t make the rules, I just follow them”, as he threw up his hands.

Finally we were allowed into the building and made our way up to the balcony to watch the opening session of the special session.  After an hour of preliminary activity, roll calling, announcements etc the Senators joined the Delegates and the session opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and an opening prayer.  Governor O’Malley spoke for only 8 minutes and everyone seemed transfixed as he was speaking.  I know I was listening hard for some substance about what he had proposed to the legislature.  Unfortunately all we got was a lot of words that have an unknown but obviously coded meaning.  Words and phrases like “correcting course”, proposed solutions, structural deficit, “a fair plan”, “protect the middle class”, keep Maryland Competitive”, comprehensive solution, “recapture slots revenue”, plan to invest in education and transportation”, close corporate loopholes and reforming the income tax structure”.

It all ended quickly for that evening and now the committees will get to see the actual bills and hopefully begin to discover that we do not need new taxes and we cannot afford to add new spending programs to accomplish any of the definitionally challenged phrases that the Governor keeps using to confuse or scare us into the biggest tax increase in Maryland history.

I strongly suggest you follow this session closely, calling and writing or emailing every time you see or hear something that is going to affect you in your pocketbook. 

There are ten Senators that have either expressed or hinted that they are not in favor of some or all of the tax hikes proposed.  We need to call them, daily so that they know we don’t have a revenues problem, we have a spending problem.  Give them your personal stories and objections to the proposals. The list can be found here.

As the actual bills are presented and voted on we will post the results on our website www.fplmd.org.  Stop by often as we will update it as soon as we get the information.

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