O'MALLEY ARRIVES AT THE EMERALD CITY FOR A SPECIAL SESSION IN "OZ"! Gov. O'Malley has now completed his quixotic journey in Maryland, promising no pain and more money to fund Maryland's deficit (covered in citybizlist commentary October 5 : "O'Malley on the Yellow Brick Road").

Unlike the real "Wizard of Oz", there has been no delay in discovering who is pulling the cord behind the curtain of Maryland's charming "wizard". It is no other than Maryland's real carnival huckster and behind the scenes "decider" of all things General Assembly, Senate President Mike Miller, aided and abetted by House Speaker Michael Busch! Instead of the Emerald City, we are being greeted by a special session (at taxpayers' expense) of the General Assembly of Maryland!

In the actual land of Oz, the Kansas carnival huckster found that his balloon took the Kansas travellers, compliments of a Midwest hurricane, to a land called Oz. And, there the analogy to Maryland may end. There will be no silver shoes clicked together by a girl named Dorothy, or a fast trip home for her and the other Kansas taxpayers. Instead, in Maryland, under the facade of single Democratic party harmony, comes 2 to 4 weeks of special session wrangling, beginning October 29 --just 2 days before Halloween.

In the Free State, the "land of Oz" is now in the Senate and House chambers where words tend to overshadow the reality of Maryland's budget deficit of nearly 2 billion dollars. What is interesting is the contrast with the last special session in 2005. Miller, a strong advocate of non-stop lawsuits driving doctors out of Maryland, killed a proposal by then Gov. Erhlich to assist patient access to healthcare by reducing unlimited fees to trial lawyers in an attempt to steady malpractice insurance premiums in Maryland. Out of that special session, the General Assembly invoked State subsidy as the answer, avoiding limits on lawyer percentages of amounts awarded plaintiffs .

Now the "land of Oz" has gotten bigger, and there is more of a "puppet" atmosphere surrounding the charming Wizard Governor. But reports of yesterday's special announcement by the Governor shine a dim light on the outcome of the early gathering of the Legislature. For year 5, the magic of slots being offered to generate $550 million to offset a $1.7 billion deficit which O'Malley contends he inherited, had no real action to curtail State spending since a year ago when the platitude of "one Maryland" was sung by candidates for office.

Now, the chickens are coming home to roost. What are those chickens? Per the O'Malley dance down Maryland's Yellow Brick Road, some definitions are: slots, as well as taxes on income that allegedly will only hit the "filthy rich". This is left deliberately fuzzy as to its impact upon small business and wage earners, already being zapped by a syndrome of no comment on the progressive income tax and its impact on those in the middle to lower-middle income brackets .

The politicians seem to be diverting attention from the real problem of government bureaucracy being unable to limit itself. Instead, we now have the diversion of a "people's referendum" on whether or not there will be slots in our tax future. Mike Miller sees this diversion as perhaps limiting the forceful control he has on what legislation goes to committee and whether bills he does not like will ever see the light of day. Miller, per the Washington Post analysis, says that O'Malley is putting deficit reduction "under the bus" by agreeing to referendum before a special session even starts .

It is interesting to watch a single party Democratic state having no convenient target (as was Gov. Erhlich) at whom to fire rockets, while Wizard O'Malley tries to convince the folks in front of the "Emerald City stage" that all is harmony and peace on the first and second floors of the State House.

It is the hidden taxes on which this Governor, as was the case with some Governors before him, will rely upon to confuse and open the door to what his Administration seems to be propounding as a new "field of dreams": tying gas tax increases to the cost of construction materials; limiting growth in the so-called "Thornton" component of education expenditures (leaving more discretion in the hands of too strong a bureaucracy dominating student learning); raising corporate income tax from 7 to 8 %; and utter silence about person al income tax levels.

Another example of a subtle issue relates to the gasoline tax. If increased, there must be a corresponding commitment to secure a better balance that uses The Transportation Trust Fund solely for transportation and, within transportation, to redress the imbalance between mass transit and the increasing repair/ construction needs of highways, roads and bridges.

Maryland may be becoming a miniature U.S. Capitol, in knowing no limits and living by "continuing Resolution " as the answer to fiscal problems. Unlike family and small businesses, where the rubber always meets the road, Governors and, yes, Presidents often live by "Mission accomplished! " when the real work is better service to taxpayers/citizens who have to balance budgets and live within our means.

Labels: Busch, Governor O'Malley, Maryland, slots

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