Senate Provision Aims at Clipping Franchot's Wings

By Annapolis Notebook
Sunday, March 30, 2008

As they broke for the weekend, budget negotiators from the House and the Senate remained at odds over several weighty issues, including stem cell research grants and a new fund to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

And then there's the Peter Franchot provision.

The Senate, which is not exactly a fan club for the state's independent-minded comptroller, has inserted language in the budget restricting Franchot (D) from spending money on anything but his constitutional duties.

It is not clear which activities senators are seeking to curtail, but Franchot, the state's tax collector, has ruffled the feathers of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and others with his outspoken opposition to slot machine gambling and to a computer services tax that originated in the Senate during a special session in the fall.

Miller said last week that Franchot has seemed at times more interested in promoting himself than doing his job.

But House budget writers defended Franchot, a former delegate from Montgomery County, during negotiations Friday.

"You don't do that for anyone else," Del. Charles E. Barkley (D-Montgomery) protested to his Senate counterparts.

As with several issues, both sides postponed a resolution until next week.

-- John Wagner

Va. Senator Woos Md. Firms

A state senator from Virginia has entered the debate over Maryland's "tech tax."

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and members of the General Assembly are scrambling to find a way to repeal the state's new tax on computer services before adjourning April 7.

If they fail, Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R-Fairfax) has put out the welcome mat for affected Maryland companies to relocate.

"I would like to take this opportunity to personally invite you to relocate your business to the Commonwealth of Virginia," Cuccinelli wrote in a recent open letter to Maryland information technology and computer services firms. "We are open for business, and we would warmly welcome you."

Copies of Cuccinelli's letter were being distributed last week by Sen. Alex X. Mooney (R-Frederick), an advocate of repealing the tax, which was approved during a special session in the fall.

The tax sparked an outcry this session from business groups and technology associations.

-- John Wagner

Fighting STDs of Another Kind

Lawmakers spent several hours slogging through floor debates and votes on Monday, which was Crossover Day, a critical deadline for passing legislation.

But the serious nature of the task at hand was interrupted by Del. Michael D. Smigiel Sr. (R-Cecil) when he launched into a lengthy speech about a bill for his Eastern Shore jurisdiction.

"I'm trying to explain why we don't need STDs in Cecil County," Smigiel said.

Delegates immediately erupted in laughter. But Smigiel, perhaps unaware that he was uttering the abbreviation for sexually transmitted disease, continued his tirade against "special taxing districts."

"We don't like STDs," Smigiel said. "We are against them."

The laughter continued.

-- Philip Rucker

Find That on the State Map

First lady Katie O'Malley took a trip to Storyville last week, visiting with children at the Rosedale public library's fancifully named early childhood learning center in the Baltimore area.

The trip highlighted a Tuesday full of public events for O'Malley, who also honored social workers at a luncheon as part of Social Worker Appreciation Month. Later that day, she met with foster parents and their children to raise awareness of her "1,000 by 10" campaign to recruit 1,000 foster parents in Maryland by 2010.

At the library, O'Malley said children who are exposed to books at an early age tend to succeed in school.

"Storyville helps expose young children to those important resources to help develop and enrich their minds before they begin school," O'Malley said. "It is a great place for parents and caretakers to bring their young ones as their minds explore and grow."

-- Philip Rucker