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Md. Hospital Deal Advances
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. considers the hospital takeover crucial.
(Rob Carr - AP)
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O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the governor supports both bills and "looks forward" to signing them into law.
Taking up one of O'Malley's top environmental priorities, the Senate followed the House in voting to tighten the buffer zones that protect the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries from shoreline development.
The Senate agreed to double the 100-foot buffer, and the House bill would mandate that it be tripled. The two chambers will have to find agreement by Monday.
Eastern Shore senators said a 300-foot buffer would hurt property values in their counties. But advocates of a stronger law said a larger buffer was environmentally essential.
Last night, the House passed a controversial debt-management bill that effectively would make eligible for a state license AscendOne Corp., a Columbia-based for-profit credit counseling company whose business practices are under review in a number of states.
The bill's sponsor, Del. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery), said most states allow for-profit firms to help consumers deep in debt get assistance in paying it off. He said Maryland has had a shortage of debt counseling companies since the IRS revoked the licenses of almost a dozen nonprofit firms for operating as for-profits.
"If we don't do anything, we're going to end up with zero players in this industry," Feldman said.
But Del. Elizabeth Bobo (D-Howard) said the for-profit industry is "making profits on the backs of people already hurting" from the foreclosure crisis.
"When there's money to be made on people who are in dire straits, someone will figure out a way to make a profit out of it," Bobo said.
The Senate has passed a similar debt-management bill.
