Restraint In Bleak Times For Md.
DNA Bill Passes as Legislature Adjourns

By John Wagner, Lisa Rein and Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

In its final hours before adjournment, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill yesterday expanding the collection of DNA from crime suspects but balked at authorizing speed cameras in school zones and neighborhoods, capping a session in which the state's continuing fiscal challenges greatly shaped what was attempted and what occurred.

Bills with sizable price tags were largely shelved during the 90-day session in favor of those that tightened regulations at little cost to the state, including sweeping reforms of mortgage-lending practices and further restrictions on shoreline development, both priorities of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

"This has been a session of very real and steady progress, even in these difficult times," O'Malley told reporters, acknowledging that the sour economy "undermines our ability to do as many things as quickly as we'd like to do them."

Not everything O'Malley sought passed by the scheduled midnight adjournment. A House panel voted down an ambitious bill intended to curb greenhouse gases, and a compromise speed-camera bill died in the Senate amid a filibuster threat.

But lawmakers did overcome a disagreement to approve a bill implementing a settlement to provide $2 billion in rate relief to customers of the state's largest electricity provider. And they approved a bill to phase out video bingo machines that have sprung up in Southern Maryland.

Both chambers also approved a capital budget for the coming fiscal year that includes $333 million for public school construction, the second-highest allocation in state history but less than the $400 million approved last year.

The annual session, which ended with traditional bursts of confetti, began in the wake of a special session in the fall in which lawmakers raised $1.4 billion a year in taxes in a bid to fix the state's long-term finances. Those efforts have since been undercut by a sluggish economy that has slowed tax collections and prompted budget reductions.

Virginia lawmakers exercised similar spending restraint during their legislative session this year, advancing few new initiatives outside the area of mental health. Those proposals emerged in the aftermath of the mass shootings at Virginia Tech.

Maryland Republican leaders argued that the Democratic-led legislature should have done more to curtail spending, given the uncertain economic outlook.

"The government continues to grow at a time when we can least afford it," said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert).

Among the most notable action during Maryland's regular session was the repeal of the most unpopular tax enacted during the special session: a levy on computer services. A bill sent to the governor Saturday would replace part of the $200 million in lost revenue with a surcharge on the income of millionaires.

The casualties of budget cuts made during the regular session included a new Chesapeake Bay cleanup fund. Lawmakers had planned an initial allocation of $50 million to the fund but scaled back the amount to $25 million. Other new spending initiatives were relatively modest. Even O'Malley's leading public safety proposal -- an expansion of the state's DNA database to include samples taken during arrests for violent crimes and burglaries -- has a relatively small fiscal effect: about $1 million a year in state funds. Lawmakers reached a compromise on that bill yesterday afternoon and sent it to O'Malley.

The DNA legislation cleared both chambers by large margins but continued to draw objections from some lawmakers, who questioned why the state would move away from its policy of taking samples at the time of conviction.

"We're taking DNA from people who are innocent under law," said Sen. Alex X. Mooney (R-Frederick).

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said the state's continuing fiscal challenges were in some respects "not really a bad thing."

"Sometimes you need a check on spending," Miller said. "We've kept important policy priorities in place."

Among the priorities he cited were a likely freeze in public university tuition made possible by the operating budget that lawmakers adopted Saturday.

With the budget situation curtailing costly initiatives, other issues sparked the most spirited debate this session, including bills aimed at improving road safety.

Lawmakers passed some tighter restrictions on teen drivers, although some of the more sweeping measures stalled, including one that would have established a 10 p.m. curfew for 16-year-old drivers.

The failure of the speed-camera bill brought a round of post-midnight recriminations, with House leaders pointing the finger at Miller.

"I'm pretty disappointed," said Del. Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore), chairman of the Environmental Matters Committee. "In fact, I'm pretty darn angry."

The bill would have authorized counties to use speed cameras in school zones, residential neighborhoods and work areas. Cameras are now allowed only in Montgomery County.

O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said that "the clock ran out on us" but that the administration might reintroduce the legislation next year.

In another surprise, legislation died that would have awarded liquor licenses to restaurants in the new National Harbor development in Prince George's County.

O'Malley and Miller tried to mediate an agreement between Prince George's senators, county officials and developer Milton Peterson, but the sides remained deadlocked over the number of licenses to be awarded. Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D), who leads the county's Senate delegation, has raised concerns about the level of minority contracting at the development.

Last week, lawmakers completed work on some of the nation's most comprehensive legislation to provide relief to beleaguered homeowners facing foreclosure while toughening oversight of the mortgage-lending industry.

The bills make the most egregious mortgage schemes subject to criminal prosecution; extend the foreclosure timetable from 15 to 150 days; and ban prepayment penalties and transactions in which homeowners are tricked into signing over their houses to third parties.

A lack of consensus kept proposals on some of the state's most divisive social issues from moving forward this session. In several cases, lawmakers passed less-controversial alternatives.

Legislation to grant same-sex couples marriage rights or civil unions failed. But lawmakers expanded the partners' rights to make medical decisions for each other and gave them the same tax exemption on property transfers that married couples receive.

Lawmakers balked again this year at repealing Maryland's death penalty. But they sent a bill to O'Malley calling for a study of capital punishment that will continue a moratorium that effectively has been in place since a court ruling in December 2006.

Legislation needed to enact a settlement between the state and Constellation Energy Group over electricity costs passed last night after senators backed off a provision to restore the state regulatory control over new power plants. That provision threatened to scuttle the deal, which will provide a $170 credit and other rate relief for 1.1 million customers of Baltimore Gas and Electric.

The legislature also passed most bills in a package of energy conservation measures put forward by O'Malley. Supporters vowed to bring back the O'Malley-backed bill aimed at reducing greenhouse gases thought to cause global warming.

A measure to ban the video bingo machines that have proliferated in St. Mary's County passed shortly before midnight. The bill has been a top priority for Miller, who has criticized video bingo machines and similar devices for generating money for private entrepreneurs with no state benefit.

With four minutes remaining on the clock and O'Malley watching from the hallway, the House passed legislation allowing the governor to call a special general election in the summer to fill the seat to be vacated by U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D).