Legislator, lobbyist: a delicate dance

Originally published in the Baltimore Sun

By Laura Smitherman, Sun Reporter
Published on Sunday, May 11, 2008
Maryland lawmaker Heather R. Mizeur shepherded a bill through the General Assembly this year to establish a new fund supporting the emerging field of nanobiotechnology. In the process, she also succeeded in securing a potential funding source for companies she had registered to represent on Capitol Hill.The Montgomery County Democratic delegate acknowledges working extensively for a nanobiotechnology company as a congressional lobbyist with the Washington law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, but she says she got clearance from the state legislature's ethics counsel to sponsor and vote on the legislation.That company ended its contract with the law firm around the time she introduced the bill. On matters related to other companies, she says she gave "generic advice" to colleagues and was listed as a lobbyist out of an abundance of caution. Read More »

U.S. and Canadian Think Tanks Release Joint Evaluation on Universal Health Care in Maryland

Published on Wednesday, April 16, 2008
ROCKVILLE, April 16, 2008-The Maryland Public Policy Institute of Rockville, Maryland and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) of Halifax, Nova Scotia have released a joint evaluation of the proposal for a universal health care system in Maryland, providing both an American and Canadian prospective."Single-Payer Health Care for Maryland: Two Analyses" responds to a bill proposed by Del. Karen S. Montgomery (D-Montgomery) in the recently ended session of the Maryland General Assembly. It evaluates Montgomery's proposal and addresses the flaws in a statewide universal health care system including the high cost to the state budget that would inevitably lead to rationing of services by government officials. The 15-page report also issues strong warnings to Maryland from Canadians living under a single-payer system. Read More »

Social issue advocates have mixed success

Equality Maryland chief: ‘Anger right now at Democratic party leadership’

By Janel Davis, Gazette Staff Writer
Published on Friday, April 11, 2008
ANNAPOLIS - Most advocates for social issues were happy to walk away from the 2008 General Assembly with their victories, however few.One exception was Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland. Although the legislature passed laws giving incremental rights to domestic partners, including allowing hospital visitation and exempting them from property transfer taxes, Furmansky's organization wanted more. Read More »

The cost of being rich

New tax bracket for Md. millionaires becomes law

By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun
Published on Wednesday, April 09, 2008
It's quite an exclusive club, Maryland's new millionaires' tax bracket. A little more than 6,000 households statewide qualify for the distinction - more than 40 percent of whom reside in Montgomery County.It's a group that includes a Fortune 500 executive in Potomac, an energy company CEO in Roland Park and wealthy retirees with bayside estates in St. Michaels. Throw in some developers in Howard County, a growing corps of black entrepreneurs in Prince George's County and certain small businesses statewide. The Ravens' star middle linebacker would appear to be among the 16 percent of the club that lives in Baltimore County, No. 2 in the state for resident millionaires. Read More »

Let consumers make health care choices

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

By Marc Kilmer
Published on Thursday, April 03, 2008
BALTIMORE - The other day my 6-year-old niece told her mother that she thought the family should buy a boat. Her mother tried to explain to her how much boats cost, that the family needed to spend money on other things, and an elemental conception of having finite resources. To a 6-year-old, however, none of that mattered. She wanted a boat, and she saw her parents as having limitless resources to provide any desire she wanted. If they didn't buy a boat, it was because they selfishly wanted to keep her from enjoying it. Read More »