Two major lessons emerge from the session of the Maryland General Assembly that mercifully concluded Monday night. First, were it not for the judicious use of veto threats by Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, the General Assembly would have clear sailing to raise taxes and pass all manner of dubious new laws — like new gun-control regulations and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, both of which died in the final days of the session.
Second, Mr. Ehrlich’s willingness to work to prevent bad bills from becoming law has begun to create serious divisions in the Democratic Party among liberal ideologues like House Speaker Michael Busch and more pragmatic politicians like Senate President Mike Miller and state Democratic Party Chairman Isiah Leggett.
Messrs. Miller and Leggett seem to understand that Mr. Ehrlich’s victory in the 2002 gubernatorial election actually meant something, and that Marylanders want limits on how much government can tax them. Both have been critical of Mr. Busch for ramming a tax increase through the House that the governor promised to veto. The two are also understandably worried that Mr. Busch’s high-profile role in killing Mr. Ehrlich’s proposal to allow slot machines in the state could damage Democrats at the polls.
On Tuesday, Mr. Ehrlich promised to veto three more bad bills passed by the General Assembly. One would close corporate tax “loopholes.” (In Maryland, the liberal Democrats who still dominate the legislature effectively define a loophole as anything that reduces taxes on the public.) A second apparently would have made Maryland the first state in the country to guarantee a so-called living wage, $10.50 an hour to begin with, for employees of companies with large state contracts. This is yet another bill that seems designed to persuade Maryland firms to pack up and move to Delaware.
Bill number three is a “temporary” increase in the state corporate income tax to pay for higher education. Sen. Patrick Hogan, Montgomery Democrat, provided an example of the sort of demagoguery that advocates will use against the governor when he casts his veto. “I think it is a clear choice between corporate profits and kids’ tuitions. It doesn’t get any simpler than that,” he said. How the kids will be helped if their parents lose jobs because the higher tax burden persuades their employers to relocate to Wilmington or someplace much farther away, Mr. Hogan didn’t bother to explain.
We urge Mr. Ehrlich to work hard to ensure that all three vetoes are sustained.
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