By Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
Post
Wednesday, April 27, 2005; A23

Much has been written about the just-concluded legislative session in Maryland. Press accounts have applied the usual standards: How many bills were passed, who took home what bacon, and who is going to pay. But Annapolis has changed, both for the good and the bad, and old standards for measuring success fall short in Maryland's new era of bipartisan government.

I am pleased to report that the bulk of my legislative and budget priorities passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. For the second straight year, my budget includes a record increase in funding for public schools. Maryland schools are some of the best-funded in the nation, at $4,846 per student in state funds alone. School construction funding will increase to $261 million next year, enough to fund at least seven new schools in the Washington suburbs alone. I have included $1.1 billion for Maryland's colleges and universities in next year's budget, including a $15 million increase for need-based scholarships, and $232 million for new construction on our campuses, especially Maryland's neglected historically black colleges and universities.

Beyond the budget, we scored significant legislative victories. The legislature passed my teen-driver initiatives, which will save lives by fostering more responsible driving. The nation's premier technology corridor, situated along Interstate 270 in Montgomery County, will benefit from the biotechnology and research and development tax credits I promoted. Disadvantaged Marylanders will have greater access to seven community-based health care clinics as well as prescription drugs. Lawmakers adopted my plan to crack down on witness intimidation, a growing epidemic in the region, by giving prosecutors stronger tools to target violent criminals. We strengthened funding for Project RESTART, my plan to provide drug treatment and education to nonviolent offenders to help them become productive members of our communities.

After 40 years of political and literal gridlock, the intercounty connector's groundbreaking is in sight. Last year, I won federal approval to fast-track the project, which will ease traffic in an area recognized as one of the most congested in the nation. This year I assembled a financing package for its construction, which will begin next year.

But the legislative session was not without flaws. Annapolis has been a playground for a few fortunate elites for many years, a place where leaders and chosen interest groups got their way with little public debate. When I took office two years ago, I brought fiscal discipline, an emphasis on efficient government and a respect for taxpayers that had been absent for too long. Naturally, the ensconced interests and partisan leaders are fighting back.

Our representatives in the legislature killed a common-sense plan to honor 46,000 retired Maryland veterans with state income tax relief. They weakened Maryland's business climate by imposing an arbitrary tax on Wal-Mart, our largest employer. Wal-Mart has decided to build a 1,000-job distribution center on Maryland's Eastern Shore, creating $12-per-hour jobs in an area where the average wage is $9.50 per hour. Now it is reconsidering this decision because the legislature passed a tax that applies to no one but Wal-Mart.

Legislative leaders voiced their intent last December to solve Maryland's medical malpractice crisis. Instead of fixing it, they imposed a $400 million tax on health insurance premiums for the working poor and killed a legitimate plan to provide long-term relief to doctors who are grappling with skyrocketing insurance rates. Instead of investing in new technology for law enforcement, our representatives in the legislature spent the money on furniture for themselves. They also "reserved" for themselves 250 spots in a new, badly needed, taxpayer-funded parking garage.

When I ran for governor, I made promises I intended to keep, no matter what it took. In addition to fully funding education, I promised to fix Maryland's collapsed fiscal house -- and I have done exactly that. We have resolved a $4 billion budget deficit and will end this year with a $777 million surplus. I fought the General Assembly's penchant for overspending and beat back or vetoed billions in new taxes.

I intend to keep my commitment to strengthen education with revenue from slot machines. Every year Marylanders spend $300 million playing slot machines in Delaware and West Virginia. This money pays for new schools, teachers and textbooks in those states instead of ours. The question is not whether Marylanders will play slots. The question is where they will play and who will benefit.

Finally, I will continue to reform the juvenile services system with an emphasis on education, mental health and drug treatment. We must have faith in our troubled youths, and instill them with competency and character so they become responsible members of our community.

I'm proud of our achievements in the 2005 legislative session and look forward to greater achievements in the years to come.

The writer, a Republican, is governor of Maryland.