Local legislators have wish list for assembly session

Laurel Leader ^ | January 10, 2008 | Pete Pichaski

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Fixing the Prince George's County hospitals, a ban on panhandling in Prince George's and money for improvements to the Laurel Armory, the Laurel mill dam ruins and the Laurel Boys and Girls Club are among the top priorities of local lawmakers for the 2008 session of the Maryland General Assembly, which opened Wednesday, Jan. 9.

In addition, local lawmakers are pushing legislation that would ban the use of special taxing districts in residential developments, an attempt to avoid the type of controversy that has roiled the upscale Victoria Falls community in Laurel.

Developers used such a taxing district to help build Victoria Falls, but when the costs were passed on to the homeowners, those homeowners expressed outrage and vowed to fight the issue in court.

"The special taxing districts are OK for community projects, but we don't want to get into the ... anger they had at Victoria Falls," said state Sen. James Rosapepe, a College Park Democrat whose District 21 includes Laurel and who is pushing the bill. "It's too easy for people to get confused about this."

The future of the financially troubled Prince George's hospitals, including Laurel Regional, has bedeviled state and county officials for years.

Del. Barbara Frush, a District 21 Democrat, predicted the problem would be solved before the session ends in April.

Two bills have been proposed to put the hospitals on solid financial footing. Both would establish a five-member hospital authority to oversee the system and both would use a combination of state and county funds (the proportions vary in the bills) to make the needed improvements.

While County Executive Jack Johnson and the County Council have been working on a solution on their own, Frush said state lawmakers are ready to step in if they fail to reach an agreement.

"Something will happen," she said.

"People are committed to doing this, but there are a lot of players involved," Rosapepe added.

PG panhandling ban eyed

Bans on roadside solicitations are nothing new in Maryland, but local lawmakers now want to add Prince George's to the list of jurisdictions with bans.

Last year, partially at the request of west Anne Arundel County residents fed up with being approached by panhandlers, the General Assembly banned roadside soliciting in Anne Arundel. This year, they have set their sights on Prince George's County.

"There's some suspicion that the Anne Arundel panhandlers are now in Prince George's," Rosapepe said. "What we need most is some sort of comprehensive ban."

While bans on roadside soliciting have been opposed by free-speech advocates and charitable organizations, which use the practice to raise money, they have become increasingly popular. Besides Anne Arundel, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford and Washington counties ban roadside soliciting.

Also this session, three bond bills are being pushed for Laurel projects: $300,000 to restore the old mill dam ruins in the Patuxent River, $100,00 to continue renovations at the armory on Montgomery Street and an as-yet-unspecified amount for building improvements at the Laurel Boys and Girls Club, also on Montgomery Street.

None of the requests are new. Last year, lawmakers approved $100,000 for the armory and another $100,000 for the ruins. However, a request for $250,000 for the boys and girls club was denied.

This year, the club again expects to ask for $250,000, according to Executive Director Patrick Reed.

In addition to the bond bills, city officials are supporting Maryland Municipal League efforts to allow the use of cameras that photograph and ticket speeding drivers throughout the state, according to Lou Ann Crook, executive assistant to Mayor Craig Moe.

City officials also are supporting a bill that would allow special liquor licenses for upscale food stores, she said.

Howard County lawmakers, meanwhile, also are seeking bond money for the Laurel area -- specifically, $500,000 for the long- planned North Laurel Community Center.

Howard legislators also are weighing a bill that would the county to install speed cameras (in case the statewide bill fails) and another that would require mobile home park owners who want to sell their parks to give residents first crack at buying the parks.

Several mobile home parks in Howard have closed in the last few years, including Ev-Mar on Gorman Road in North Laurel, and in some cases over the objections of residents, who say the parks are among their only options for affordable housing.

Gift cards targeted

Besides the local bills, many local lawmakers are pushing their own pet projects this year.

Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk, for example, is proposing a bill that would earmark the money from unused gift cards for school improvements, rather than returning it to the retailer.

Her bill -- already drawing fire from the retail industry --would require stores to presume that gift cards are abandoned after four years from when they are issued or one year from when they were last used, whichever comes later. At that point, the money left on the card would be given to the state for school improvements.

Del. Benjamin Barnes, also a District 21 Democrat, has drafted legislation aimed at helping consumers caught up in the foreclosure crisis. Specifically, he wants greater controls on companies that buy homes for cash, including requiring that the buyers are certified Realtors and that the deal include a five-day "cooling-off period" before the sale is final.

Frush has proposed a bill that would halt funding for the Intercounty Connector, thus effectively blocking construction on the controversial 18-mile highway linking Laurel and Gaithersburg.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Yer increased taxes at work.

Maryland “Freak State” PING!

[VeniVidiVici]

PG should just shut down all their hospitals. Then all the illegals and welfare recipients can just take the Metro over to Montgomery County. They could save a heck of a lot of money.

[ConorMacNessa]

I live in Laurel - the only thing I read in the Leader is the obituaries.