THE 2009 LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS
The Year's Political Power Plays Might Involve This Capital Cast
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Monday, January 12, 2009
As the Virginia and Maryland general assemblies prepare to begin their 2009 legislative sessions Wednesday, here are some key lawmakers and other players to watch in Richmond and Annapolis.
MARYLAND
T. Eloise Foster
State budget secretary
Gov. Martin O'Malley's no-nonsense budget secretary took office in 2007 as the state faced a massive fiscal shortfall.
Two years and a series of tax increases later, she is preparing to navigate a worse fiscal predicament, a budget hole that could reach $1.9 billion in the next fiscal year on top of $400 million in the current one.
So how does the state budget veteran, who held the same job for the final 2 1/2 years of Gov. Parris Glendening's term, prepare for the challenge of getting the legislature to approve a no-frills spending plan that keeps state services intact?
"Decision-making will be very difficult," said the 62-year-old Silver Spring resident.
Foster said one of her biggest concerns is that the budget debate will unfold during a national economic decline. "Home values are falling. We've got foreclosures. Consumer confidence is down," Foster said. But she said she remains "an eternal optimist" that the state will get through the crisis.
Kimberly Propeack,
Immigrant advocate
As the lobbyist for CASA of Maryland, the nonprofit, Montgomery County-based advocacy group for immigrants, Propeack has found herself on many verbal firing lines in recent years. She has battled over day-laborer centers, college tuition help for children of illegal immigrants and a growing movement against illegal immigration.
