Last week, the Board of Public Works banned former Baltimore County Senator Thomas Bromwell (D) and his associates from doing business with the state government.
Bromwell is doing seven years after pleading guilty in 2007 to a complex criminal conspiracy in which the former senator had agreed to stay in office to help steer publicly funded contracts to Poole and Kent, a Baltimore-based construction company.
More from The Baltimore Sun.
Today is the day that the Board of Public Works is expected to approve $300 million in budget trimming being proposed by Governor Martin O’Malley (D). O’Malley also sits on the board with Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) and state Treasurer Nancy Kopp (D).
The Baltimore Sun says that O’Malley is proposing steep cuts to health care and higher education in addition to other programs. There were plans to furlough state workers and reducing school funding, particularly to areas where the cost of education is higher, but they have been taken off the table.
State Republicans smacked O’Malley for not slowing the rate of government growth sooner. They also criticized the governor for raising taxes and backing new spending.
The cuts are making for a busy day on the Lawyers Mall in naptown. Not just one, but two groups are going to be there this morning before the meeting. One group will be protesting cuts against the Development Disabilities Administration of Maryland. Thier message, “NO MORE CUTS TO DDA.”
The other group, The Tax Foundation, will be holding a press conference with the Maryland Public Policy Institute to highlight that the free state is now in the top 5 of least friendliest business states, at number 45, a big slide from number 24. While we are on the subject, good news for House Speaker Michael Busch (D-Dist. 30), according to a report from earlier this year by the Tax Foundation, Maryland now has the 4th highest tax burden in the country. Bad news for us, we now have the worst personal income tax in the country, significantly lower than California.
From The Baltimore Sun:
The State Board of Public Works denied a former state employee over $400,000 from a wrongful termination lawsuit, suggesting his firing was justified based on court records.
David Reier worked for the Department of Assessments and Taxation. He won a judgment against the state in the Court of Appeals this past spring over his firing a decade ago. An administrative judge found that he was owed back salary in benefits.
But Acting Chief Of Litigation Steve Sullivan for the Attorney General said that the court decision was based on an interpretation of procedural requirements and not case merit.
Governor Martin O’Malley and Comptroller Peter Franchot said hell to the no while Nancy Kopp abstained from voting.
Other Board of Public Works news involves checking contract renewals and making sure they have sufficient minority participation. Â A representative from the American Minority Business and Contractors Association questioned four renewals of four contracts for commuter bus services with zippy minority business participation during the Ehrlich Era.
Deputy Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley said the decision to renew the contracts were made under the Ehrlich administration and that there would not be enough time to re-bid them before the current contracts expire at the end of the month.
Arnold Jolivet, president of the AMBCA says that it’s a tragedy that $30 million will be spent and not one dime would be going to minority firms.
After two recent land purchases in Queen Anne’s County to preserve open space that were questioned by Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp, Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin presented his idea to the Board of Public Works for a stat-driven system of organizing the most important land purchases.
The Baltimore Sun said the presentation was made yesterday before the board. Franchot calls the idea a strong vision, but the board will still need to scrutinize individual purchases.
Even though the news is one week old, it is my obligation to point this out on my forum. Last week, Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) questioned another land deal on the Eastern Shore in Queen Anne’s County. What is with this county and questionable land deals?
Anyway, this patch is 74-acres on the northern tip of Kent Island. The deal approved by the Board of Public Works was purchased under Program
As expected the Board of Public Works have approved the proposed $213 million in budget cuts from Governor and fellow board member Martin O’Malley (D).
That makes the official/unofficial MarylandPT debt watch tally at: $1.3 billion dollars.
The Baltimore Sun says that Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) believed that O’Malley’s cuts were far enough. Too far as a matter of fact when it came to targeting state programs.
Treasurer Nancy Kopp had a differing view point (shocker) saying that O’Malley found ways to make government efficient while not harming any important state programs.
O’Malley said more cuts are possible but will now focus on raising revenues and modernizing the tax code.
The person that you are about to hear from next is calling those code words for a tax increase…and I don’t mean me.
House Minority Leaser Anthony O’Donnell (D-Dist. 29C) made an appearance by phone on WAMU (88.5FM) during the Maryland Politics Hour. He says that half of the deficit could be resolved through trimming and through a new revenue source (not taxes). By the way, that new revenue source that was indeed mentioned by O’Donnell was slots. He adds that a proposal on slots could be written that results could be seen for this year.
O’Donnell did something unheard of at least in recent memory, he PRAISED former Governor Robert Ehrlich (R) did a good job in reducing spending and believed that the problem would have been resolved had Ehrlich won a second term. In turn, he BLAMED O’Malley for squandering a surplus worth $1 billion plus and waiting a year to look for efficiencies. O’Donnell agreed with Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley (D-Dist. 4) that O’Malley has not made the tough decisions so often talked about and that the budget cuts are a PR campaign to raise taxes.
Lt. Governor Anthony Brown (D) is an O’Malley fishing trip away from presiding over a Board of Public Works meeting, which was the case yesterday.
The Baltimore Sun reported that Brown presided over a meeting with no controversy, accomplishing what Governor Martin O’Malley (D) seems to not do. Brown started close to on-time (at 10:05a.m.) and finished before noon. There is no word as to why O’Malley was not present.
Also at the meeting, Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) doing what he does best in my opinion, talk at greater length than necessary. Â Â He gave a firsthand demonstration of what meetings can be like (fine.)Â Â But then Franchot explained the history of the Board of Public Works (too much) and then presented Brown with a book about the board’s history (over the top and pompous.)Â What would you expect from a tax collector who thinks he has more power than reality.
K. Hovnanian, the New Jersey based home builder is now back in court, again, to appeal a hell to the no it received from the Board of Public Works last month.The Baltimore Sun says that the state was notified by K. Hov’s lawyers yesterday of the one-page petition for judicial review that was filed in Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court. This move starts an appeal process in which the state has up to 60 days to respond and the company has 30 days to file documents outlining its complaint.
This is not the first time K. Hov has been in court over Four Seasons. They have been working for nearly a decade to win regulatory approval. Their most recent court action, which was scrutinized by Comptroller Peter Franchot (D), basically worked as a gag order against the Queen Anne’s County Board of Commissioners. Although in two interviews posted on this blog from my WNAV (1430AM) days last year, Commissioner President Eric Wargotz (R) and Commissioner Courtney Billups (D) were concerned about the size the of the project (these interviews were conducted before they were elected.)
