Maryland Public Policy Institute RSS

Study: About 6% of state employees make six figures

Meg Tully | MarylandReporter.com — Wed, 15 May 2013

Maryland Reporter’s third annual report on state salaries found that 5,663 state employees pulled in $100,000 or greater in 2012 — about 6 percent of total state employees.

How to cut federal spending

Thomas A. Firey — Wed, 8 May 2013

Sequestration is beginning to inflict real pain on America; so say government spokesmen and special interest groups inside the Beltway.

’Cards’, a good deal, Md. says

David Zurawik | Baltimore Sun — Tue, 30 Apr 2013

Filming of the second season of the Netflix production "House of Cards" began in the Baltimore area Monday, and with it came an announcement from Gov. Martin O’Malley that the first season of the political thriller starring Kevin Spacey had brought $140 million in economic impact and 2,200 jobs to the state.

Selling the Alcohol Tax

Marc Kilmer — Mon, 29 Apr 2013

You remember the 2011 campaign to enact a higher alcohol tax in Maryland, don’t you?

Under Caprio, RI Pension Fund Paid Among Lowest Fees in US

Kate Nagle |GoLocalProv — Fri, 19 Apr 2013

Rhode Island paid among the lowest pension fund investment management fees in the country in 2010 under General Treasurer Frank Caprio, according to a report issued by the Maryland Public Policy Institute

A conservative case for skepticism on chained CPI

Sean Kennedy — Thu, 18 Apr 2013

President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal does something that has seemed impossible in recent years: it cuts spending and forges political compromise (on one issue at least). For a fleeting moment, the magical feeling of bipartisanship has descended over Pennsylvania Avenue and lawmakers are crowing to the media that common sense and pragmatism have won the day.

A better way to help the working poor

Thomas A. Firey — Wed, 10 Apr 2013

President Obama and some lawmakers in Washington and Annapolis have called for increasing the minimum wage, saying it would help the working poor.

Maryland Public Policy Institute Mourns Lady Margaret Thatcher’s Passing

Christopher B. Summers — Mon, 8 Apr 2013

The Maryland Public Policy Institute today issued the following statement on the passing of Lady Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Maryland’s Spending and Affordability Committee Lacks Fiscal Discipline

Eileen Norcross and Benjamin J. Vanmetre — Thu, 4 Apr 2013

The Maryland Department of Legislative Services (DLS) has posted a response to our 2012 paper, “The Appearance of Fiscal Prudence: Maryland’s Spending and Affordability Committee,” The Maryland Journal.[1]

[1] Eileen Norcross and Benjamin J. Vanmetre, “The Appearance of Fiscal Prudence: Maryland’s Spending and Affordability Committee,” The Maryland Journal, Vol. 2, 2012, http://marylandjournal.org/publications/detail/the-appearance-of-fiscal-prudence.

As State Spending Soars, Report Urges Fiscal Planning Reforms

Christopher B. Summers — Thu, 4 Apr 2013

With state government spending soaring 32 percent in seven years, the Maryland Public Policy Institute today renewed its call to replace a politicized state spending committee that is charged with limiting spending growth. The Institute’s latest report comes as the Maryland General Assembly finalizes next year’s budget, which will spend an unprecedented $37 billion.

Spending bills aid building industry

Michael Dresser | Baltimore Sun — Tue, 2 Apr 2013

For Maryland’s building industry, the good times may be coming back.

Lamakers have moral obligation to mend broken contract with taxpayers

Christopher B. Summers — Fri, 29 Mar 2013

I did a double take reading your March 25 editorial that excused Maryland lawmakers for raiding $1 billion from the state’s transportation trust fund to spend on other programs.

ObamaCare Proceeds Apace in Maryland

Marc Kilmer — Thu, 28 Mar 2013

Other states are doing all they can to block implementation of the Affordable Care Act (aka, “ObamaCare”), but Maryland is continuing its strong embrace of this controversial law.

Myth versus Fact on the Gas Tax Increase

Marc Kilmer — Fri, 22 Mar 2013

MYTH: The money raised through the higher gas tax would only be used for transportation projects.

FACT: In recent years, governors and legislators have diverted $1 billion from the Transportation Trust Fund to pay for other projects. Absent a constitutional ban on doing so, ongoing deficits make it likely legislators will be tempted to take more money from the Transportation Trust Fund in the future.

Maryland House Takes Wrong Turn on Transportation Plan

Christopher B. Summers — Fri, 22 Mar 2013

The Maryland Public Policy Institute today released the following statement after the Maryland House of Delegates enacted unprecedented new transportation taxes without substantive reforms to the State’s transportation planning process.

Think tank: Gas tax not necessary

Alexander Pyles | Daily Record Business Writer — Mon, 18 Mar 2013

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland could alleviate its infamous traffic problems without enacting a package of tax increases backed by Gov. Martin O’Malley and leaders of the General Assembly, according to a new report by a public policy think tank.

A New Transportation Plan For Maryland

Ronald D. Utt,Wendell Cox — Mon, 18 Mar 2013

Maryland Governor O’Malley has recently proposed an increase in the state’s taxation of motor fuels, similar in magnitude to his proposal of the previous year. Whereas his former plan relied upon a substantial increase in the state fuel tax, this plan is imitative in concept of the recently enacted Virginia plan that reduces the fuel tax and substitutes a wholesale tax.

Furloughing federal workers is bad idea; Reform pensions instead

Sean Kennedy — Fri, 15 Mar 2013

Washington’s plan to furlough federal employees to balance its books is short-sighted and probably will actually cost taxpayers more than it saves.

Four Decades of Slowly Making People Rich

Thomas A. Firey — Wed, 13 Mar 2013

Forty years ago this month, Americans received a powerful tool for increasing their wealth when Princeton economist Burton Malkiel’s book “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” first appeared in stores.

Maryland should say yes to single-sex schools

Christopher B. Summers — Tue, 12 Mar 2013

Anyone hearing the ACLU’s position on single-sex education would think something troubling is afoot in almost every town in America.