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Annapolis Capital Imagine a $9 billion state tax refund - roughly $1,700 for every man, woman and child. That's what the nonpartisan Maryland Taxpayers' Association wants the state to do: give the money back. At a news conference in Annapolis yesterday, the group's leaders backed a bill sponsored by Del. Herb McMillan that would allow the state to increase the budget only by the rate of population growth and inflation. If Maryland had done that over the last three years, the budget would be $21 billion. Instead, it's $30 billion. "Maryland, with its spending and taxing, has been in danger of catching a European disease," said Dee Hodges, president of the association, comparing the state to socialist countries. "It's called Euro Sclerosis." The "Taxpayers' Bill of Rights" bill sponsored by Mr. McMillan, R-Annapolis, also calls for returning any budget surplus to taxpayers and allowing tax increases only with voter approval. "It's time for government to go on a diet and live within its means, just the way our families do," said Mr. McMillan, a former Annapolis alderman and failed mayoral candidate. The bill has failed year after year, and has no chance of passing this year. But Mr. McMillan vowed to try to block any attempts by the General Assembly or the governor to increase spending above limits set by the legislature, which he thinks should be lower in the first place. Two years ago, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. proposed more than $2 billion in taxes and fees, including the landmark Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, known as the "flush tax" and a vehicle registration fee hike, the taxpayers' association said. Meanwhile, the Democrat-dominated legislature proposed $4.3 billion in taxes and fees three years ago, $3.1 billion two years ago and $21 million last year, Republicans said. It all adds up to a 4.7 percent average annual increase in spending over the last decade, while spending increased at an average clip of 8.2 percent, Mr. McMillan said. He pointed to another "unfunded mandate" by the legislature this year in the form of a House bill that calls for $25 million a year in state spending on stem cell research. The Senate has made its version of the bill depend on how much the governor wants to spend. The governor has proposed $20 million for stem cell research this year, which Mr. McMillan said he will try to cut out of the budget ___ one of the legislature's few budget powers that trump the governor's authority. House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Annapolis, said the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights should start at the federal government because of various mandates. The state is required to spend roughly $7 billion on education every year, he said. In other words, the legislature and the governor can't control spending on many items in the budget, Mr. Busch said. Moreover, the state is one of only six states that has a AAA bond rating from financial analysts, he said. "In the final analysis," he said, "we do a pretty good job managing our money from Wall Street's view." Published March 10, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. |
