Lawmakers are packing their bags to go back to their regular lives and day jobs after 90 days in session in Annapolis. Gov. Wes Moore is packing his bags for an economic development trip in Asia.
They leave behind a hard-fought $67 billion budget and thousands of bills. But who gets to count successes and failures from this year’s General Assembly session? Sometimes it depends on your perspective — what looks like a victory to Democrats might be a defeat for Republicans.
Here’s The Baltimore Banner’s attempt to sort out who might be thrilled, and who might be disappointed, as they leave the State House.
Successes
When Gov. Wes Moore’s budget came out with steep cuts to the Developmental Disabilities Administration, people with disabilities and their advocates mobilized quickly and succeeded in reversing most of the cuts. A developmental disabilities coalition put on the most boisterous and well-attended rally of the session, and they were diligent in working the halls of the State House complex. This is a group of advocates who are used to fighting, and they put their experience to use.
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Top Democratic lawmakers got used to having their way under former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, easily passing their bills and overriding the governor’s vetoes at will. For the first two years of Moore’s term, Democratic leaders were somewhat deferential to the governor. This session, they succeeded in crafting the solutions to top issues to their liking — heavily changing Moore’s proposals on the budget and the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education plan, as well as leading the conversation on addressing energy issues.
Proprietors of bars and restaurants will be pleased to have a new marketing tool, now that the orange crush is set to be branded as the official state cocktail. A last-minute maneuver revived the proposal that seemed like it was going to be ... crushed. Delaware had the temerity to claim the Maryland-originated concoction as their state cocktail last year, and Maryland has upped the ante with our own designation.
Disappointments
Many Maryland taxpayers — especially high earners — will likely be disappointed their taxes are going up as part of the budget-balancing equation. Wealthy Marylanders will see their taxes go up on income and capital gains, and they’ll lose out on some of the value of itemized deductions. All Marylanders will feel the pinch in a variety of smaller taxes and fees, including a $5 tire fee, sales tax on vending machine purchases and a new 3% tax on IT and data services.
Survivors of child sexual abuse won a victory a few years ago when the state expanded their ability to sue institutions that employed or enabled their abusers. But legislation passed this year limits how much money survivors (and their lawyers) can be awarded in lawsuits or legal settlements.
Business leaders are less than thrilled about the new 3% tax on information technology and data services that was approved as part of the budget plan. The tax bears watching in the coming months as businesses seek interpretations of whether they must charge or pay the tax.
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The basic math of the State House works against the hopes of Republican lawmakers, who are so far outnumbered that they have no shot of defeating legislation they oppose. In budget debates, they offered amendment after amendment to slash spending and get rid of tax increases, but Democrats easily dispatched with them. Top Republicans are skilled at explaining their point of view, whether in legislative debates or media interviews. But they’re rarely persuasive enough to convince their Democratic colleagues in the majority to change course.
Mixed bag
Gov. Wes Moore almost always presents a positive spin on things, but this session was tougher than his first two and he has fewer victories to tout. Many of his measures were changed significantly and he heads toward reelection having to defend unpopular tax increases. Moore’s popularity does remain above water, though, and he has opportunities to boost his image in the months ahead. First up: Moore heads to Asia to woo companies to invest in Maryland.
For the past few years, a band of like-minded conservative delegates was mockingly called the “chaos caucus” in the halls of the State House. But this year they got organized as the House Freedom Caucus with the help of U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, chair of the U.S. House Freedom Caucus. The caucus drew more media and public attention with their new branding. If getting attention and occasionally irritating their Democratic colleagues was the goal, they succeeded. If influencing or defeating liberal legislation was the goal, they did not manage to achieve that.
(Register now to talk politics with Banner reporters, April 10 at noon)
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