Black voters and lawmakers in Maryland said Thursday that a proposed state-level redistricting map provides too few majority-black districts and would lead to continued underrepresentation of minorities in the General Assembly.
Once the cradle of Democratic politics in Maryland, Baltimore is steadily losing residents and its clout to the ever-growing and powerful Washington suburbs, a trend that likely will be reflected when new state legislative maps are released in the coming weeks.
The Maryland Senate voted Wednesday to approve an increase in the state's alcohol sales tax, despite concern by some legislators that it could hurt small businesses and disproportionately fund some counties while neglecting others.
The Maryland Senate is poised to hand residents their first, and maybe be their only, tax increase of 2011 — a 3 percentage-point increase on booze that over the next few years will add about 80 cents to a case of beer or fifth of top-shelf liquor.
