Free Republic

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O'Malley signed the state’s same-sex marriage bill into law Thursday, making Maryland the eighth state along with the District to legalize gay marriage. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, signed the bill during a brief ceremony at the Statehouse which was attended by hundreds of supporters and lawmakers. He was joined by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, who also put their signatures to the bill. “All of us at the end of the day want the same thing for our children,” said Mr. O’Malley, who was the legislation’s lead sponsor....

ANNAPOLIS —Gov. Martin O'Malley’s proposal to increase the state’s gasoline tax is looking more and more far-fetched because of rising gas prices and persistent public outcry, say state lawmakers from both parties. The Democratic governor’s bill to phase in a 6 percent sales tax on gas has been met with skepticism from Republicans and moderate Democrats in the General Assembly. Now with gas prices climbing toward $4 a gallon and lawmakers focused on fine-tuning a state budget that could include several other tax increases, some legislators say they are running low on time and political will to tack on a...

Calling pro-family citizens "rabid," the Maryland Attorney General told a homosexual rally in September that if "the right-wing myopic folks" win a vote to overturn the new "gay marriage" law, then the Governor's newly appointed judges will strike down the current one-man-one-woman marriage law as unconstitutional — "so we will win." That's what Douglas Gansler, Maryland's aggressively pro-homosexual Attorney General, told a rally of homosexual group Equality Maryland back on Sept. 7, 2011. As Gansler has acknowledged, "gay marriage" has been universally rejected across the country, by the will of the people. It's only been instituted by judges or legislatures,...

ANNAPOLIS — The House voted Friday night to approve Gov. Martin O'Malley’s same-sex marriage bill, sending the legislation to the Senate and clearing what was likely its most formidable legislative hurdle. The chamber voted 72-67 in favor of the bill, which would make Maryland the eighth state along with the District to pass legislation allowing gay marriage. The vote drew cheers from many visitors in the House chamber balcony and touched off a celebration among the bill’s supporters, many of whom exchanged hugs and shed tears after leaving the chamber. “It’s an amazing day here in Maryland,” said Delegate Heather...

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley may be more skilled at implementing President Obama’s agenda than the White House itself. The Democratic governor is bringing the same big-spending, high-tax and class-warfare policies to the Free State. It’s going to cost residents a bundle. Tough economic times have forced ordinary Americans to cut back in order to get by. Not so Mr. O’Malley, who spends $35.9 billion in the budget released last month. That’s up from $34.2 billion last year and $32 billion the year before that. As Maryland Business for Responsive Government points out, the general fund budget fattened 11.4 percent last...

WASHINGTON - A day after the governor of Maryland said he would like to institute a percentage tax on gasoline, the chief executive of Virginia said he would not seek any additional taxes during a recession, particularly on gas, despite a significant demand for more transit projects. Both states have looked to sales tax to resolve their transportation funding woes. On Monday, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said he would like to do away with a ban on sales tax for gasoline, to add to its existing 23-cent flat tax. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has a different approach. "I will not...

IN THE MAELSTROM of tax increases proposed by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), it’s easy to lose track of which are most critical. For a start, it’s useful to identify which needs have been most and longest neglected — and near the top of that list is transportation. It’s been 20 years since Maryland raised its gasoline tax, the largest source of transportation funding. As construction costs have risen, the revenue it yields has plummeted in real terms. At this point, Marylanders (like Virginians, who last saw a gas tax increase when Ronald Reagan was president) are not paying for...

WASHINGTON - Many of Maryland's traffic woes would be alleviated by allowing a percentage tax on gasoline, the state's governor said Monday. While speaking on WTOP's "Ask the Governor," Martin O'Malley said he would like to "phase out" the sales tax exemption on gas, which would allow a percentage tax on the fuel in additon to the existing 23-cent flat tax. The current flat tax has not changed since the early 1990s when gasoline was about $1.08, the governor says, adding the regional arteries wouldn't be so clogged if the state had more to invest in transportation infrastructure. "The best...

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland health advocates are lauding Gov. Martin O'Malley’s proposal to increase the state’s cigar tax, but critics say such an increase would create another financial burden for consumers and business owners. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, proposed a state budget Wednesday that would raise the 15-percent excise tax on cigars, smokeless tobacco and other noncigarette tobacco items — a group collectively known as other tobacco products (OTP) — to 70 percent. The OTP tax has gone unchanged since 1999 while the cigarette tax has gone from 36 cents to $2 a pack during that period. Health advocates argue raising...

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed a state budget Wednesday that would increase tax payments for the top 20 percent of Maryland wage earners, prompting criticism that the move will further burden families in difficult economic times. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, laid out a $35.9-billion spending plan that would pay for increased spending on infrastructure by raising several taxes and shifting some state costs to counties. The budget calls for an increase in the state’s so-called “flush tax,” higher taxes on cigars and smokeless tobacco, and restrictions on income-tax deductions and exemptions that will cause the top 20 percent of earners...

ANNAPOLIS —Gov. Martin O'Malley surprised Maryland lawmakers Wednesday by suggesting an increase in the state sales tax, jump-starting the 2012 General Assembly on what was expected to be a largely ceremonial first day. Mr. O'Malley suggested increasing the tax from 6 percent to 7 percent as an alternative to a 15-cent increase in the gas tax that has been widely discussed by legislators but poorly received by many residents. Democratic leaders have said they are likely to raise taxes this session to help pay for roads, schools and other infrastructure projects. Lawmakers last raised the sales tax during the 2007...

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed Tuesday that the state spend $372 million on new school construction next fiscal year, unveiling a key initiative in his push to increase capital spending during the 2012 General Assembly. The proposed funds would be the second-most allotted by the state and would be well above the state-recommended minimum of $250 million for annual school construction. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, will recommend the spending as part of his proposed budget, which he will introduce this month. The assembly is expected to amend and pass a budget during its 90-day regular session, which begins Wednesday. “These...

ANNAPOLIS — Black voters and lawmakers said Thursday that a proposed state-level redistricting map provides too few majority-black districts and would lead to continued underrepresentation of minorities in the General Assembly. The testimony was given during a public hearing held by Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, and his appointed redistricting panel, which remapped Maryland’s 47 state Senate districts to account for population changes in the past decade. The panel submitted the map last week and touted the strides it would make toward improving minority representation by increasing the number of majority-black districts from 10 to 12 and increasing the number...

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley’s new jobs-creation package ranges from ordering top-ranking agency officials to review regulations to asking Marylanders for their input on making the state more business-friendly - and he’s already gotten an earful. At least 183 people have posted suggestions to a state website since Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, made the request last week. Many of the comments detail how posters became tangled in red tape while trying to start a business or apply for a job. Others offered more wide-ranging complaints about what they considered general inefficiencies in state government - such as underperforming employees, overspending and...

ANNAPOLIS — A Maryland commission recommended Tuesday that the state raise its gas tax by more than 60 percent over the next three years, but members acknowledged that taxpayers facing a dire economy could find the increase hard to swallow. The proposed hike, approved by the state-appointed Blue Ribbon Commission on Maryland Transportation Funding, would raise the gas tax on wholesalers by 5 cents a year for three years, from the current rate of 23.5 cents per gallon. The move could generate nearly $500 million in annual revenue and is part of $870 million in annual tax-and-fee increases recommended by...

ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland House of Delegates on Wednesday approved a new congressional map expected to give Democrats a better shot at winning one of state Republicans’ two congressional seats, clearing a final hurdle for Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley’s stamp of approval. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the map on Tuesday, just two days into the General Assembly’s special session, held to consider the map submitted by Mr. O'Malley. Critics said it would split districts and slight minority voters to take the Western Maryland district held since 1993 by GOPRep. Roscoe G. Bartlett. Senate lawmakers must return to Annapolis on Thursday...

I know many people who would be prompted to flee at the prospect of an Obama speech. But were words from the World's Greatest Orator really responsible for Maryland residents threatened by Hurricane Irene to follow evacuation orders? Yes, according to Dem Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Clearly in full federal suck-up mode, O'Malley also spoke of the "new professionalism" at FEMA and even claimed that the economy was improving. View the video here.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has rejected an appeal from Baltimore’s Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, who urged him not to promote same-sex marriage out of “mere political expediency.” Responding to a personal letter from the archbishop, O’Malley—who is Catholic—said that he felt a moral obligation to change a law that produces an “unjust result.” Archbishop O’Brien wrote to O’Malley in July, warning him not to endorse a measure “that so deeply conflicts with your faith, not to mention the best interests of our society.” In his reply, the governor said that he has “a public obligation to try to change that injustice.”...

Fourth in the nation for receipt of per-capita federal spending, Maryland has long enjoyed the benefits of its deep dependency on a constant inflow of federal tax dollars collected from residents of other states. But now that same dependency on the federal Treasury threatens the state's economic future. As Examiner staff writer Hayley Peterson reported Sunday, Moody's Investor Service reaffirmed Maryland's AAA bond rating earlier this month, but the credit rating agency also pointedly warned that Maryland's economy "continues to be proportionately more affected by the activities of the federal government than any other state." A June 30 report by...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The head of the Democratic Governors Association is accusing GOP debt negotiators in Washington of trying to damage the economy so President Barack Obama will lose next year's election.