What issues will the General Assembly address in 2009?

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By the time Maryland's General Assembly adjourns in April 2009, senators and delegates will have considered more than 2,000 new bills.

Primary attention this January will focus on Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget for FY2010 (see Neil Bergsman's budget forecast in this edition of Maryland Commons), but during the 90-day session, at least a dozen other issues will generate controversy, lengthy hearings and perhaps partisan opposition.

What other bills may dominate the 2009 assembly? Perhaps only House and Senate leaders have an accurate forecast, but a review of the 2008 legislative session offers some predictions.

Other than the FY2009 budget, the Department of Legislative Services has identified 28 major issues in its 90 Day Report: A Review of the 2008 Legislative Session (see this report in the Public Documents Directoryfor details). These range from immigration and the death penalty (undersections C and E, for state government and criminal justice) to aid to local school systems and a tuition freeze for in-state students in the public universities (under section L, for education). A review of these 28 major issues suggests that the following areas will receive major attention in 2009:

Electricity Generation, Transmission and Conservation:

The end of the cap on electricity rates and the rapid increase in home owners' electric bills statewide brought significant executive and legislative attention to electricity generation, transmission and conservation. Further action should be expected in 2009. The Public Service Commission has forecast that, due to inadequate interstate transmission capacity, Maryland faces potential brownouts during periods of peak electricity demand by as early as 2011. The pending sale of Constellation Energy already has sparked legislative interest in transforming Baltimore Gas & Electric into a publicly owned utility.

Global Warming and an Office of Climate Change:

Bills in the House and Senate last year proposed establishing an Office of Climate Change in the Maryland Department of Energy. The office was to adopt regulations requiring reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by at least 025% from their 2006 levels by 2020 and achieving a 90% reduction by 2050. Both bills (Senate Bill 309 and House Bill 712) failed to be enacted in the face of strong opposition from labor and business groups. Early introduction of similar bills is likely in 2009.

Death Penalty:

The General Assembly established a22-member Commission on Capital Punishment during the 2008 session. The commission is charged with delivering its findings and recommendations to the legislature by Dec. 15, 2008. Given that the Maryland Court of Appeals effectively halted all executions in Evans v. State in 2006, pending legislative or executive action on the use of lethal injections, there will be considerable impetus from the commission's report for the legislature to address the status of capital punishment in 2009.

Domestic Partners:

Seven bills were introduced during the 2008 session to establish the right for same-sex partners to marry or guarantee similar legal status through civil unions or domestic partnership laws. All failed, as did a bill to constitutionally limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman. Bills governing visitation rights in hospitals and nursing homes and the transfer of residential property between same-sex partners did win legislative approval. New legislation concerning marriage,civil unions and domestic partners should be anticipated in the next session.

Pre-Kindergarten Education:

Legislation to expand Pre-Keducation in Maryland failed in 2008, but widespread support continues for Pre-K education as a cost-effective investment for raising educational achievement. Recent initiatives in the District of Columbia and Virginia to expand Pre-K education will prompt renewed consideration for Pre-K expansion in Maryland in 2009.

Health Care:

The General Assembly expanded access to health care in 2008 through the Working Families and Small Business Health Care Coverage Act. With an estimated 17% of Maryland residents lacking health care insurance, and with rising costs of health care coverage for everyone with coverage, the General Assembly is likely to seek additional ways to respond to these issues in the next session.

These six areas hardly exhaust the list of the most important issues likely to come forward in 2009. Maryland Commons invites its readers to contribute their own assessments of areas of likely legislative action.

Take the Maryland Commons 2009 Legislative Survey.

 

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