Septic Systems, The Flush Tax, Same-Sex Marriage, Teacher Pensions, and The Sixth District Congressional Race

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Governor Martin O’Malley continued his tour of legislative committee hearings yesterday, calling on the House of Delegates environment committee to approve his bills to restrict development on septic systems and increase the flush tax. And he got some help from what might be considered unexpected quarters. WYPR’s Joel McCord has the story.

The House of Delegates will begin debate today on Governor O'Malley's bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. Debate was originally set to start yesterday, but was put off to give lawmakers more time to draft amendments to the bill. Advocates on both sides of the issue also used yesterday to try to win more votes to their sides; the House is expected to vote on the measure tomorrow -- and that vote's expected to be close. More here from the Washington Post and here from the Baltimore Sun; the Sun has a look at Governor O'Malley's evolving view on same-sex marriage here.

Local leaders are speaking out against Governor Martin O'Malley's plans to share the costs of teacher pensions between the state and local governments (via the Baltimore Sun).

Major construction is done at the Maryland Live! Casino by Arundel Mills Mall; officials with the casino say the facility is on track to open in June (via patch.com).

It turns out a bill that would permit a casino in Prince George's County might not be unconstituional after all. Last week, the state attorney general's office said the bill was problematic because it gave Prince George's County voters effective veto power over whether a slots parlor could come to their jurisdiction. But as the Gazette reports, a second opinion out yesterday said that a local approval clause is fine -- so long as the bill is framed as a constitutional amendment (via the Gazette). 

Democratic State Senator Rob Garagiola says that he's opposing Governor O'Malley's plan to impose the state's six percent sales tax on gas purchases (via the Frederick News Post).

Garagiola is running for his party's nomination in the sixth Congressional district race, and his campaign appears to neck-and-neck with that of financier John Delaney -- at least, according to an internal poll from the Delaney camp. The poll reportedly shows the two tied with about 21 percent of the vote, with about 6 out of 10 voters undecided At least, that's what an internal poll from the Delaney camp indicates (via the Baltimore Sun).

Delaney's camp began running an ad on cable television yesterday, as a means of introducing himself to sixth district voters and garner more support. And Garagiola's camp went on the attack yesterday -- over revelations that Delaney had contributed 24-hundred dollars to Republican Andy Harris in 2010 (via the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun). 

Federal prosecutors want former Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson to pay fines associated with his corruption conviction, before he heads to prison for more than seven years (via our wire service and the Washington Times). 

Traffic was snarled last night on I-95, near Laurel -- as hundreds of starlings dropped dead in the travel lanes. Officials with the Department of Natural Resources are trying to figure out what caused the bird deaths; some biologists think the birds may have flown into a passing truck, or were stunned to death by running into nearby power lines. An investigation is ongoing (via our wire service; more here from WJLA). 

The University of Maryland Baltimore County is warning the campus about a student who might have tuberculosis. Officials say the individual is being isolated for further testing.