‘The worst session’

FEDERALSBURG – For the third consecutive year, Maryland lawmakers representing Caroline County summed up the results of the 447th session of the Maryland General Assembly for county leaders Monday, April 14, in Federalsburg.

Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey (R-36) called it “probably the worst session that many of us have ever been involved in.”

Topping the list of topics the legislators discussed were the budget, new taxes, solar projects and spending transferred to the counties and municipalities to deal with.

The first legislative wrap-up the two senators and five delegates held since the session ended April 7 was hosted by the Caroline County Chamber of Commerce at the Federalsburg Lions Hall in Chambers Park.

Besides Hershey, the other legislators who attended are Sen. Johnny Mautz (R-37), Del. Jeff Ghrist (R-36), Del. Chris Adams (R-37B), Del. Steve Arentz (R-36), Del. Tom Hutchinson (R-37B) and Del. Jay Jacobs (R-36).

Hershey said the 13 Republicans of the 47-member Senate had “an outsized voice in the budget debate itself. We actually offered a budget that would have required no new taxes and no new fees, and had five Democrats vote with the 13 Republicans on that one.”

The Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BRFA) has “now become a mechanism for dictating policy and creating policy in the state,” Hershey said. It includes over $1.5 billion in new taxes, the “most egregious” of which is the technology tax, which levies a 3% tax on all technology services in the state, he said.

Hershey characterized another set of taxes as a “war on motorists.”

“Increases to the excise tax, which is a sales tax on cars, went from 6% to 6.8%,” Hershey said. Outside of federal funding, Hershey said the Transportation Trust Fund relies on funding from motorists in the form of taxes and fees: sales and gas taxes, registration and titling. “And yet over 50% of it goes to mass transit. And that's the battle we're fighting all the time when it comes to mass transit (in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.) – the fact that they will not increase fares for mass transit … (or) generate revenue there.”

Mautz began his remarks by defending Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-37A), a member of the Eastern Shore delegation who was “gaveled down” as she addressed the House about the budget, which she voted against. “So many people saw that, and they were so offended by the way she was treated,” he said.

Generally speaking, Mautz noted “the rural counties are not a priority right now, and it's a real challenge for us.”

“Any remainder of the Hogan administration is now gone, … (and) for the eight years Gov. (Larry) Hogan was in office, rural counties knew they had a partner in Annapolis,” he said. “The tide has turned.”

“The new administration has different priorities,” Mautz said. “You'll see it both in statewide legislation, and you'll also see it in the way the administration the agencies are conducting their programs.”

Driving the state’s debt is the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, Mautz and Hershey said. The Blueprint is an education reform and funding bill that many say is unsustainable in its current form.

Hershey said the state has relied too heavily on the “federal government, especially for employment” but is blaming the Trump administration for job cuts.

“So what did the Democrats do? They had to put in place something that would help with federal government employees that may lose their jobs.” Hershey said. “It's hard to tell somebody that they've lost their job, but it doesn't mean that you can't reposition people.”

“The irony of all of this is that the Democrat leadership in Maryland was so concerned about what the federal government was doing and how unfair it is that they start cutting funding to them or start cutting programs to them, yet they did the same thing to county governments.” Hershey said.

Both Mautz and Jacobs noted the Eastern Shore’s proximity to Delaware and the challenge of competing with a state that has no sales tax.

Jacobs said 39 Republicans in the 141- member House were in an “uphill battle,” but “we punch above our weight every single day. I can guarantee we've made a lot of bad stuff, really bad stuff, a little bit better throughout session.”

Jacobs said his 15th session was “the most difficult session for Marylanders that I've been through. The majority of our work is really done in committees and subcommittee in the House, as far as killing legislation or changing legislation to hopefully a better posture.”

Serving in the House since 2015, Ghrist said, “This is the worst session that I've seen in 10 years,” He’s the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee. “What they're doing right now in Annapolis is hurting us,” he said. “It's damaging Maryland; specifically, it's damaging the Eastern Shore, and we're fighting like hell to stop it. Unfortunately, we're outnumbered.”

“The budget and solar was my big issue this year, and we took it to them,” he said. “I mean, we smoked them in those debates, … The problem is, they still pass these bills.”

Ghrist said Republican legislators found $1.6 billion in cuts, “but (the majority) still chose to raise over 30 taxes,” one of which will hurt nonprofits who will lost their ability to itemize deductions.

Ghrist said investors are reluctant to invest in Maryland because of public policies and that the state is “one of the most hostile … when it comes to small businesses as well.”

Mautz said cuts to the budget were not really cuts. “I’d call it moving money,” and passing it onto counties trying to balance their budgets.

“But where are the cuts in government? Where are the cuts in the departments and the agencies?” he asked rhetorically.

Adams said the state will go bankrupt if legislators “don’t look seriously at education … (and) Medicaid spending…. We cannot raise taxes enough to make up for the deficits that are coming forward.”

On a brighter note, Hutchinson, who serves on the Health and Government Operation Committee, said he was proud of the work it did in addressing access to health care (including telehealth), the workforce shortage and emergency room wait times.

“I sponsored two bills that addressed workforce shortages; both of those passed, so I look at those as wins,” he said. “The other thing I've learned how to do is kill some bad bills.”

One successful outcome was funding for the new regional medical center under construction near the Easton Airport, Mautz said.

Adams reflected on his 11th session with a big picture perspective. Comparing politics to a pendulum, he said, “I became involved in politics in 2013 when the pendulum was swinging much the way it is today, with a government that's overreaching both on regulation and enforcement of regulation, an administration under (Gov. Martin) O’Malley that was spending so wildly that they had to raise taxes and fees in such a way that led to Republicans having a historic number in the House of Delegates, and then we elected a Republican governor.”

“Citizens in Maryland pay attention to what's going on around them,” Adams said. “Most pragmatic Democrats and independents understand fiscal policy, understand the wise use of money and also the poor use of money. And in this year, the majority party set in motion a series of events that will affect us this year and in years forward, that will damage our state's fiscal condition considerably.”

Arentz praised each member of the delegation and said it was a “privilege to work with them.” He also criticized the length of time it took to pass legislation, including the energy bill that “were saved until the last two weeks.”

Arentz criticized the package of three energy bills that favored energy and solar companies and were promoted by those with a vested interest in the companies or the state’s green energy agenda.

He called House Bill 1036, crossfiled with Senate bill 931 “horrific” and “an attack on the Eastern Shore.”

Because the state doesn’t generate energy, it needs to be brought in from on transmission lines, Adams said.

“We have to buy our energy from afar, which is expensive, and we will have another rate increase this summer for many of our citizens, and we know it's coming, and the reason why it's coming is because we ignore what will solve the problem, which is substantial and significant creation of energy generation in our state,” Adams said. “You're not going to do that by windmills off Ocean City and solar, to be candid, because you still need base load generation or else you're going to have rolling blackouts. We are actually pretty close to California in that respect.”

Ghrist warned that current energy legislation, unless it’s vetoed by the governor, could result in 8,800 acres of land in Caroline County – much of it prime agricultural land – covered in solar panels. Solar is an “existential threat” to the county, he said.

“They're going to come here first,” he said. “They're going to fill Caroline County up with 8,800 acres before they built one solar panel in Prince George's County. … They don't care. All they care about is their … scorecards from the League of Conservation Voters that will come out next year. They want 100% on that scorecard so they can get reelected the next time. … That's what we're fighting this year. And it's sad. It's sickening.”

Despite the gloomy assessment, Ghrist, Arentz and Jacobs said Caroline County’s Commissioners and Board of Education were fiscally responsible. Jacobs said he was encouraged by new businesses coming into the county.