Agenda Is Limited Only by Money

Bills on Electricity, Capital Punishment To Share Stage With Taxes, Spending

Maryland lawmakers will return to Annapolis on Wednesday having tackled two of the state's most nettlesome issues in a special session six weeks ago: They agreed to put a slot machine gambling proposal to voters in a referendum in November and pushed through $1.4 billion in annual tax increases to close a structural budget deficit.

With those issues no longer dominating, the possibilities for legislative action in the 2008 regular session are wide open.

Gov. Martin O'Malley and other Democrats, who control the legislature, are likely to open the 90-day session with calls to revamp what is widely viewed as a failed experiment with competitive electricity markets, to curtail pollution caused by global warming and to impose tighter rules for teen drivers after a spate of deaths in the fall.

The Republican minority, backed by business leaders, plans to attempt a repeal of a new tax on computer services passed in November, in the eleventh hour of the three-week session. The GOP will also push an array of initiatives to stem illegal immigration, in particular a federally mandated regulation that states create driver's licenses that double as national ID cards.

Maryland, a state with millions of immigrants, has resisted such efforts since Congress passed the federal Real ID Act in 2005. With the national mood apparently turning against undocumented workers, it is unclear what path Democrats in Annapolis will take this year.

"Maryland's current majority leadership seems to be out of sync with where the rest of the nation is," said Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert), the minority leader.

Legislative debates of bills will unfold against a backdrop of limited new state spending. The budget O'Malley is required to submit to lawmakers next month is expected to include more than $500 million in spending reductions requested by the General Assembly in November, including slower growth in education spending.

Lawmakers are also likely to take up several controversial social issues on which there is dissension among Democrats. Among the issues are a proposed repeal of the death penalty, a plan to offer children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates at state universities and opposing bills to legalize same-sex marriage and enshrine heterosexual marriage in the state constitution.

The death penalty battle began last year, when advocates of a repeal fell one vote short in a Senate committee. They vow to try again this session.

The repeal advocates count O'Malley among their supporters, but it does not appear that any votes on that key committee have changed in recent months. Maryland has had an effective moratorium on executions for the past year as the result of a court ruling that its procedures for lethal injection were not properly adopted.

Gay rights advocates were stymied in their quest for full marriage rights in September after Maryland's highest court upheld the state's 34-year-old law banning same-sex marriage. Several lawmakers say they will sponsor bills to legalize same-sex unions. But advocates are likely to face resistance from legislative leaders and O'Malley. Same-sex marriage opponents are expected to push a constitutional amendment to ban such unions, although its passage also is unlikely. A civil unions bill has more support, but it is unclear whether advocates will pursue it.

O'Malley has yet to detail his legislative agenda, but aides say his priorities will include energy and environmental initiatives, as well as some crime-fighting legislation. Among the crime-related bills under discussion is an expansion of the state's DNA database.

Electricity legislation is likely to consume a large chunk of lawmakers' time, as the administration pushes tough new energy conservation efforts and various avenues to re-regulate the industry. A $50 million fund to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, created by lawmakers in November, also will be under discussion as the money is divided among rural and urban interests.

In the area of road safety, the administration is likely to propose the use of speed cameras in work zones, sites of a growing number of accidents and fatalities in recent years. The camera proposal might draw opposition from civil liberties advocates. O'Malley also is likely to propose tougher penalties against unscrupulous lenders in the wake of the crash in sub-prime mortgages hitting Maryland and many other states.

Business leaders say a repeal of the tax on computer services will be among their top priorities. Under the new law, which is scheduled to take effect in July, the 6 percent state sales tax will be applied to a number of services, including data processing, custom programming and hardware repair.

Computer services companies say they were blindsided by passage of the tax during the special session and have pledged to hire lobbyists to fight for its repeal before collections start. They will run into powerful opposition from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) who said recently that he is "in no mood" to repeal the tax.

Miller also said he would like to use the regular session to "tweak" the slots bill passed by lawmakers during the regular session. That bill would not take effect unless voters approve slots in the November referendum. Miller said he is interested in some changes in the division of slots proceeds from the 15,000 machines allowed in the bill.

The future of long-serving State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick could also be decided during the session. Over the objections of O'Malley, Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), the State Board of Education awarded Grasmick another four-year contract last month, starting in July. Lawmakers are considering altering the appointment process to effectively undo her renewal. A majority of the board members who awarded her the new term were appointed by former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).