By Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 5, 2006; HO11
When Howard County legislators return to Annapolis on Wednesday, they will begin pushing several local bills, including one that got mired last year in the debate over what constitutes marriage.
At the request of County Executive James N. Robey (D), the lawmakers are expected to ask the Maryland General Assembly to approve an increase in the county's marriage license fees. The extra money would be used to help pay for the county's domestic violence prevention programs.
The fee increase needs the legislature's approval. Last year, the measure died because of Republican threats to amend it and other bills mentioning marriage with a statement defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. Rather than risk a debate about the legality of gay partnerships, the Democratic leadership decided to back off on the Howard bill and others that might have been targeted.
Once again, Howard's delegation is expected to ask the General Assembly to allow the county to raise the marriage license fee, from $35 to $60. That is among 18 local measures the delegation is considering.
Robey has also asked the delegation to consider several bond bills, including one for $500,000 to help expand the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center in Columbia, which serves the homeless. Robey has said approval of that measure is among his top priorities in his last year as county executive.
One bill likely to provoke controversy in Annapolis is a proposal by state Sen. Allan H. Kittleman (R) to make it difficult for the county to take private property for economic development through eminent domain. In the wake a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last fall in a Connecticut case, Kittleman said he is concerned that local governments in Maryland have too much latitude to take property and resell it to a private entity -- vs. taking it for only government use -- to promote local economic development.
The practice has been described as the "reverse Robin Hood effect," Kittleman said. He said it has been used often to condemn property in lower income areas and give the land to higher income people. Kittleman said his goal is to ensure that Howard restricts its use of eminent domain to property needed for government use.
During a Nov. 29 hearing on proposed legislation for Howard County, planning director Marsha L. McLaughlin expressed reservations about Kittleman's measure, saying that property owners sometimes demand too much money for land and that the government might need to condemn it for a legitimate public purpose.
Richard W. Story, chief executive of the Howard County Economic Development Authority, said he was also concerned that Kittleman's proposal might limit the government's options.
"Without eminent domain, the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and the revitalization of Silver Spring would not have happened," Story said. He said that government needs to use eminent domain "very cautiously" but that it shouldn't be barred from all economic development projects.
Other measures the delegation is considering include:
A proposal by Del. Gail H. Bates (R) to reduce the local income tax rate from 3.2 percent to 3 percent.
A Bates measure for a $200,000 state bond to help finance a proposed Living Farm Heritage Museum on county-owned land in West Friendship.
A bill sought by the County Council to allow one person or corporation to obtain multiple liquor licenses. The measure could ease the way for more restaurants to open in Howard.
A measure allowing wineries in Howard to sell wine by the glass. Although the county has no wineries, at least one entrepreneur has expressed interest in opening one.
Measures sponsored by Del. Steven J. DeBoy Sr. (D) to give sheriff's deputies the right to organize and bargain collectively and to enhance their workers' compensation benefits.
A bill by Del. Neil F. Quinter (D) to ban leg-hold traps in Howard County. Animal rights groups say the traps are cruel. Kittleman, whose family farms, said the traps are sufficiently regulated and must be checked daily.
Other bond bills sought by Robey include measures to help finance improvements at Blandair Mansion in Columbia and help pay for a community center in North Laurel.
"As the delegation has gotten a little more experienced, we generally have put in more bond bills, on the theory that there is money here and there," said Del. Shane E. Pendergrass (D), chairman of the county's House delegation to Annapolis.
On Jan. 18, the delegation will begin considering whether to support the 18 bills as a group. Customarily, the legislature approves bills that have the support of a local delegation.