This week I shared with you a portion of the cost of cuts to local aid that are in some of the bills that are circulating the General Assembly. I want you to know that I have sent letters to our Cecil County Commissioners and Harford County Executive asking them what, if any, programs, jobs and projects would have to be reduced to accommodate this loss of funds. I want their input so I can make the best decisions for the people back home. I need to know that while we balance the budget and find places to cut we are also guarding the things about which people need and care.
Now that I have conducted three surveys and gotten a substantial number of responses, I want to share the results of the votes for those that responded through my email updates. The first ...Continue Reading
The National Foundation for Women Legislators and the National Rifle Association are co-sponsoring their Thirteenth Annual Bill of Rights Essay Contest for college-bound female high school juniors and seniors, which this year will be entitled “Freedom and Civic Virtues.”
The contest’s seven winners will each receive a $3,000 college scholarship and an all-expenses-paid trip to NFWL’s Annual Conference November 18-22, 2010 where they will network with, be mentored by and speak to hundreds of women lawmakers from across the United States.
“This is an excellent opportunity for Harford County members of the Class of 2010 and 2011,” said NFWL member, Delegate Donna Stifler. “This contest will help seven young women enhance their understanding of the role of women in politics through a hands-on learning experience. It provides an excellent opportunity to develop leadership skills while assisting with college tuition expenses. The Millennial Generation is ...Continue Reading
The following letter was sent by John P. Mallamo of Bel Air:
HB 653 Real Property Tax Relief
On 25 February the Maryland General Assembly House Ways and Means Committee conducted the first reading and public hearing on HB653, Constitutional Amendment.
This Bill introduced by Del Richard Impallaria, (R-7) provides Real Property Tax Relief to all property owners and residents of Maryland. Important features of the Bill include:
1. A fixed cap on property assessments. Real Property Tax Assessments are limited to the lower of the Consumer Price Index or 2% per assessment period, unless and until a property is purchased or transferred.
2. Protection to property owners affected by government action. Property owners will not receive full cash value appraisals and increased assessments from the base value of their properties purchased as replacements for properties affected by actions resulting from ...Continue Reading
Annapolis, MD – Northern Harford County State Senator Barry Glassman spent a good deal of time over the summer meeting with representatives of local farmer’s markets, market producers, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), and the Maryland Department of Agriculture to streamline some of the regulations related to Producer Mobile Farmer’s Licenses.
Last week the Maryland Senate voted unanimously for SB 198 – Farmer’s Markets – Raw Agricultural Product Sale – Producer Mobile Farmer’s Market Licenses and SB 199 – Seasonal Farmer’s Market Producer Sampling Licenses.
The Producer Mobile Farmer’s Market License will permit producers who currently obtain an on-farm home processing license to also obtain a mobile license at the same time. The bill also spells out that a license or permit is not required to deliver pre-packaged foods to fill an order of a customer. ...Continue Reading
From Roy Whiteley, president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation:
On February 24, we addressed the Budget & Taxation Committee on SB 458 & SB 724. We were disappointed that more of you could not attend in support of these measures. However, even though our support at the Senate was not as good as it was for the House version, it was adequate and well presented; significant enough to be noticed.
Senator Barry Glassman made eloquent remarks in introducing both bills and their need for passage before introducing Tony and the writer. Our verbal supporting testimony was we feel unjustly foreshortened by Chairman Currie but Tony Passaro, Bel Air TEA Party founder and spokesman did his usual scholarly, humorous delivery that filled in the blanks. Ellie Dieglemann, Ocean City resident and Worcester County Commissioner candidate, together with first time Eastern Shore testier, Cathy Geisler made strong support comments. Currie allowed Cathy ...Continue Reading
I don’t care if an idea is a Republican idea or a Democrat idea, as long as it is a good idea for the people of Cecil and Harford Counties.
Although members of both parties serve on all our legislative committees and subcommittees I was pleased that both the House Appropriations Committee (on which I serve as the Chair of the Health and Human Resources subcommittee) and the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee invited the Republican leadership to formally present their suggestions and opinions to help Maryland continue balancing its budget while preserving the services that taxpayers count on.. The hearing was open to the public and much anticipated by all of who believe in true bipartisanship and the notion that as Henry Ford said “coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is
progress. Working together is success.”
It is truly remarkable what a difference four (4) years can make. If we could journey back to ‘2006’, Marylanders demanded a change in Annapolis. Despite a 60% approval rating of former Governor Ehrlich’s performance during his term, Marylanders elected a new Administration with a message that promised to create new jobs and cut taxes for middle-income Marylanders.
Now, four (4) years later and under the Leadership of Governor O’Malley, Maryland received a “change”. Unfortunately, Governor O’Malley has delivered a “change” – unexpected and undesirable to Marylander’s expectations. In only his first term, Governor O’Malley, in an unprecedented decision, raised the corporate income tax, personal income tax, and the sales tax.
According to Governor O’Malley, the purpose for these tax increases, were to resolve a decade long structural state deficit. It was the message ...Continue Reading
Each year I like to do a survey of Maryland residents to determine how they feel on certain issues. After I receive your responses (which are kept confidential), I tally the results,which I share with the Caucus, the Governor’s Office, and, of course, with you, the respondents. I hope you will enjoy participating in this survey and seeing the end results.
The asterisked * questions were suggestions from you who responded to my request in Update #1.
*1. Do you believe there should be term limits for elected officials?
Yes No
2. If the gubernatorial election were today, would you support Governor O’Malley?
Yes No
If not, write in who you would support.
3. On a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the highest, rank the performance of the General Assembly over the past three years (since the last election).
I have introduced five pieces of legislation this year, and I’d like to give you a synopsis of them.
House Bill 653 – Taxes – Limitations is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 1 pm before the House Ways and Means Committee. It is modeled after California’s Proposition 13, which brought property tax reform to that state. This bill would set property values at their 2010 value and only allow property tax increases or decreases of 2% every two years based on the Consumer Price Index. It also prevents property values from being increased when the title is being changed due to death, divorce, or other circumstances where the property is staying in the hands of a family member. It also provides that, if a person’s property is purchased through condemnation, the assessed value of the new property ...Continue Reading
Annapolis, Md. – Harford County Senator Barry Glassman R-35 will be introducing a pair of Bills to update Maryland’s Property Taxpayers Bill of Rights
Currently, the State Department of Assessment and Taxation (“SDAT”) is receiving approximately 59,000 property tax appeals. To states falling housing market and local citizen’s awareness of the downturn in the market and the value of their homes has raised awareness on the SDAT’s current assessment procedure. Although Maryland currently has a taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, Senator Glassman wants to update some of the provisions which would allow a property tax appealer to record their local hearing, have a right to change jurisdiction when agreed upon, and agree upon a reasonable amount of time to present their case. The Senator’s legislation would also allow a property owner to receive the actual comparables and evaluation from SDAT upon the ...Continue Reading
