LOGIN NOT A MEMBER? REGISTER

FOR PRESS CONTACT US  SUPPORT

The Maryland Public Policy Institute

• RESEARCH
• Criminal Justice
• Economic & Fiscal Policy
• Education
• Environment
• Gas Tax
• Government Transparency
• Health Care
• Transportation
• Welfare
• EXPERTS
• EVENTS
• MPPI PRESS
• ABOUT US
• POLICY BLOG

Fiscal Action or Just Rhetoric?

Originally Appeared on DelMarVaNow.com

Government Transparency

by Marc Kilmer

OP-EDS

In 2010, the Lower Shore legislators who won their seats -- whether they are Republicans or Democrats -- campaigned as fiscal conservatives. Did their actions in the 2011 legislative session match their 2010 campaign rhetoric?

There were many hot-button issues discussed in the General Assembly this year, but the best way to judge the fiscal responsibility of a legislator is to look at his or her votes on tax and spending issues.

Delegate Norman Conway from Wicomico County is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and has perhaps the most power of any delegate to shape the state's budget. What did his committee produce?

In the operating budget, total spending increased by 2.6 percent compared to last year, from $33.3 billion to $34.1 billion. When you take away federal and special funds and just consider state-only funding, spending increased from $13.3 billion to $14.7 billion, a whopping 10.6 percent hike.

The state also has a capital budget which spent $3 billion and authorized an additional $925 million in state debt. Delegate Mike McDermott offered an unsuccessful amendment to trim 5 percent of the capital budget's cost.

All this new spending was funded through a variety of fee hikes. It's going to cost you more to register and title your vehicle and request birth records. Parole and probation fees are going up. And forget about the county repairing its roads any time soon -- the state once again kept a large chunk of the money the county is supposed to receive for road repairs.

There was also a 50 percent increase in the state's sales tax on liquor to help pay for this new spending.

A few local delegates -- McDermott, Addie Eckardt, Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio and Charles Otto -- opposed both big-spending budget bills and the liquor tax hike.

Delegate Rudy Cane was the only one to vote in favor of the budget bills and the liquor tax increase.

Conway and Sens. Rich Colburn and Jim Mathias voted in favor of the budget bills but opposed increasing the liquor tax.

It's up to voters to decide how well our legislators' actions match their words on the campaign trail. It's hard for me to see how casting votes in favor of the alcohol tax increase or the two budget bills in Annapolis is compatible with the fiscally conservative rhetoric we heard before the election.