For O'Malley, a Civil Session

Governor Uses Diplomacy to Pass Bills

Gov. Martin O'Malley, right, with Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., left, and House Speaker Michael E. Busch. Miller says O'Malley's "success is in the good feeling he has brought to Annapolis." (By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has invited legislative leaders over for breakfast. He has summoned lawmakers to the governor's mansion for pizza dinners during which his young children and family dogs competed for their attention. And early in the session, he paid a shiva call following the death of a senior senator's father.

Since arriving in Annapolis in January, the new governor has put a premium on building relationships with legislators who felt neglected by his predecessor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).

With the 90-day legislative session set to end tomorrow, most -- though not all -- of the initiatives that O'Malley has pushed this year are on track to become law, including a record $400 million in spending on school construction, a freeze in tuition at public universities next year and tighter emissions standards for automobiles.

And O'Malley is poised to win one more victory tomorrow if lawmakers vote as expected on a bill to make Maryland the first state to mandate that state contractors pay their employees a "living wage."

Yet many lawmakers say this session is likely to be remembered as much for its civil tone as for the list of accomplishments that O'Malley aides plan to tout in appearances across the state in coming months.

"His success is in the good feeling he has brought to Annapolis more so than an extensive legislative agenda," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert). "Could he have accomplished more? Obviously he could have if he had put the bills in."

The scope of O'Malley's first-session legislative agenda was curtailed by an inherited budget deficit that analysts say could reach $1.5 billion next year. Miller and other lawmakers have criticized O'Malley for not doing more this year to address the projected shortfall, and they've used that to deny him some victories this year.

Among them: a proposal to require spending tens of millions of additional dollars a year in counties, such as Montgomery and Prince George's, where the cost of providing education is higher.

Financial concerns have also imperiled a relatively modest O'Malley plan to expand access to health insurance, as well as a bill that would allow labor unions to charge fees to nonmembers whose interests they represent at the bargaining table.

Fixing the budget next year could require spending cuts, tax increases and perhaps the legalization of slot machines. Aides say O'Malley's efforts to build goodwill this session have been driven partly by a recognition of how difficult that task will be.

"The coming year will challenge the best of relationships," said Del. Murray D. Levy (D-Charles), who was among seven lawmakers at a pizza dinner at the mansion in February.

Levy described the evening as a relaxed, get-to-know-you session with the former Baltimore mayor. O'Malley's two boys, ages 9 and 4, darted in and out, while his two teen girls remained out of sight. At one point, Levy said, he intercepted the family's golden retriever from partaking in the pizza.