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Maryland
Taxpayers Association, Inc. February 23, 2003 Dear Friend of the Maryland Taxpayer: Some advocates, apparently speaking for the Ehrlich-Steele Administration, are trying to make the case that Maryland legislators must quickly choose between badly crafted "slots" proposals or an inevitable increase in state taxes. The Maryland Taxpayers Association strongly objects to this hustle of the General Assembly by presenting the question as one of "slots" vs. "taxes." Such a tactic belongs more to the Old One-Party Maryland than the New Maryland whose birth we believe we saw last November. The "slots" proposals, in our judgment, should not be the centerpiece of the Administration's budget. These schemes have already consumed far more scarce political capital than any likely benefit by trying to get too hasty a result. MTA has not taken a position for or against slots. But if the citizens of Maryland want to go forward with slots, they should be able to balance the benefits and costs in a deliberate and informed way, and to have vastly greater participation in the process than a single always-rushed General Assembly session affords. We believe the Administration and the General Assembly should go back to the drawing boards to look for spending curtailments, and hammer out a balanced budget with no tax increases if it takes until July. MTA and affiliated citizen groups and experts have proposed short-term and longer-term changes in the way Maryland does business. A variety of experts from the Manhattan Institute to stands ready to help. The Maryland Taxpayers Association, Inc. asks the Ehrlich-Steele team to take counsel of their better selves. This talented pair has put forward a first-rate public charter school proposal and put students first by taking on the education cartel. Let's not let them lose the promise of government reform in Maryland. Instead, we should help them focus on a slimmed down and efficient Annapolis. MTA, as always, puts no-new-taxes, job growth, and government reform first. --Dee Hodges, president, 703.244.3431 mobile |