SPRING CLEANING Maryland's spendthrift Comptroller Peter Franchot complains that the number of taxpaying millionaires are "disappearing", meaning fewer collections of the new 6.5 % tax bracket than anticipated. The Mike Miller/Martin O'Malley team pushed the tax increase through the Legislature, after repeal of the computer service tax 1 year ago. Brad Wills and I had the professional and personal pleasure of helping the computer services executive Tom Loveland and his Maryland Computer Services Association, a statewide coalition of small businesses that took on the task of repealing that discriminatory tax.

What's next? Fiscal discipline!

Maryland's Comptroller cannot continue to mourn the exit of taxpayers from Maryland. The real need is to act, per sound advice recently given by the Baltimore Business Journal and the Daily Record. From the Daily Record: "Instead of addressing Maryland's long term, structural fiscal issues, the General Assembly applied a giant Band-Aid in the form of $4 billion in federal stimulus money, crossed their collective fingers and gambled that state revenues will rebound before the day of reckoning."

The commentary concludes by contrasting the Governor's finger-crossing with Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith's putting a rein on his local government's 2008 budget by a hard choice: limits on cost of living and benefits increases of County employees. One year later, much needed teacher salary increases of 3.5 % in Baltimore County were made possible by budget restraint where needed. Franchot should take a lesson from Smith.


Good News

As we look ahead to summer heat, there are some "good news" items to appreciate.

1. The Chesapeake Bay: Long overdue, Maryland and Virginia are taking a stronger regional approach to block continued passivity to serious cleaning up of the pollution of America's greatest watershed. In no small measure, much is owed to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's pushing, prodding and use of a lawsuit for more direct EPA work on environmental problems having a ripple effect on people in the mid-Atlantic region.

2. The Arts: A coalition to increase support for the arts got moving this year. As one with strong interest in arts education, I have been moved by the work of an after-school program in east Baltimore. The Club at Collington Square brings painting lessons related to history to needy children through the leadership of an honors graduate of MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). This program director Julia DiBussolo gives meaning to the words "community art".

3. Public Broadcasting: We all can be proud of Maryland Public Television and its mission of programming that informs - from "The American Experience" series to last week's two hour documentary of "Humor History", funny stuff from W.C. Fields of long ago, followed by Bob Hope and, of recent vintage, Tina Fay as Sarah Palin !

Despite the need for "housecleaning", these three "good news" reports do prove that spring has really sprung!  11:18 AM •