TAXPAYER BREAKING NEWS, July, 2005 continued from Home Page

July 30, 2005.Taxpayer money for embryonic stem-cell research? Pro-life Maryland advocate Nancy Fortier deconstructs the most recent legislation in the General Assembly while another Maryland pro-life voice, Representative Roscoe Bartlett, develops a new approach to the issue, embodied in H.R. 3144, which Bartlett last Friday declared is -- "a very positive bill that the president can sign that says, 'Yes, we will support embryonic stem cell research when it doesn't kill embroys and it doesn't harm embryos.'"

July 29, 2005 Frederick delegate threatened by early GOP challenger's filing, reports Sherry Greenfield in the Gazette. "When I first got to Annapolis, I was told by one of the governor's aides that I was a target because they wanted me to vote for certain gas tax, and I didn't," he said. "I didn't get elected to be re-elected. ... This is just a new wrinkle for me. [The Republicans] still call me a friend and then try to defeat me."

July 24, 2005. New Delegate aims for efficiency in government, reports Josh Mitchell in the Baltimore Sun. "Davis-Kohl said she believes in smaller government, business-driven growth and lower taxes. The new delegate also would like to work with state transportation officials to extend the hours of bus service in Harford and Cecil counties. She plans to talk with transportation officials about a route that would cross the Thomas J. Hatem Bridge, which carries U.S. 40 over the Susquehanna River.She said she supports Ehrlich's push for slot-machine gambling, which could come to Harford if legalized."

July 20, 2005. Ehrlich says Maryland has surplus of $1 billion; Governor credits 'real talent' on part of officials, efforts toward job creation; critics say the economy is responsible; 'Structural deficit' still looms in coming years; writes Andrew A. Green in the Baltimore Sun. "About $400 million of the projected surplus comes from increased tax collections that Comptroller William Donald Schaefer announced last week."

July 18, 2005. GOP: No austerity on Social Secruity reform, reports Robert Novak in townhall.com. "The Hunter plan would transfer the current surplus of Social Security funds derived from the payroll tax into personal accounts for persons under 55 who do not opt out. At first, the personal accounts would be limited to negotiable Treasury bills, but they would be the permanent property of the beneficiary. Since the Social Security surplus now pays for other federal programs, Hunter would increase the federal deficit -- by $87 billion in the first year. That is no real problem for conservatives, who correctly view a big deficit as a deterrent on runaway spending. The question has been whether Chairman Thomas and the White House would insist on inflicting pain as part of the package. Now, they all have backed away from provisions that surely would kill the bill in the House (though Thomas still would complicate the issue by adding pension law reform to the package)."

July 17, 2005. Schools Set for Building Boom; State Funding A Key Source, reports Nick Anderson in the Washington Post. "Maryland public schools are entering a mini-building boom, fueled by nearly $250 million in state construction funds announced this month."

July 17, 2005. Study says small businesses need Montgomery's help to compete with newcomers, writes Nancy Trejos in the Washington Post. "Camacho, who owns the building on Spring Street that houses her business, said she is opposed to rent subsidies, even temporary ones. 'I have a problem when we start to subsidize businesses," she said. "I don't think the taxpayer is going to look too kindly on subsidies.'"

July 15, 2005. Revenues soar again; now up $391M, writes Steven T. Dennis in the Gazette. "The turnaround in the state budget picture from billion-dollar deficits to surpluses under Ehrlich has already emerged as a key campaign issue, with the governor pointing to tight spending controls and a pro-business economic development policy, while his Democratic rivals focus on the hundreds of millions in new fees, tuition hikes and property taxes approved on his watch."

July 12, 2005. Annapolis charter school pupils attend summer session, reports Liz F. Kay in the Baltimore Sun. "'We're not moving at a rapid pace. We're just trudging along steadily,' said Joni Berman, president of the Maryland Charter Schools Network, a group that advises charter organizers."

July 8, 2005. We’re all in Kansas now, Toto; Everyone into the cellar: Judicial activism’s twister touches down in Topeka, writes Denis Boyles in the National Review. "But, in the end, Kansans were as unsuccessful restraining the judiciary as everyone else, and as a result, the state’s taxpayers will be made to do what citizens in 45 of the 50 states in the nation have already been asked to do: pay a tax imposed on them by a judge seeking to fund state education in a way he or she finds agreeable, usually as a consequence of a ruling in an “equity” lawsuit. There are dozens of these lawsuits going on at any given time, often involving hundreds of millions of dollars. For lawyers, education is the new tobacco, and business is smoking."

July 6, 2005. Virginia school staffing and spending increases far outpace enrollment growth, reports the Fairfax County Taxpayer's Alliance. From 1979 to 2004, student enrollment rose 11%, but the number of school staff rose 7 times as much and school spending rose more than 10 times that much over that period. "In the most recent NAEP tests (2003), 65 percent of Virginia public-school 4th and 8th graders scored below proficient in reading and arithmetic tests. This means that 65 percent of Virginia students have not mastered subject material for their grade level."

July 6, 2005. Big corporations finance the war on Bush's judges, writes Byron York in the National Review. "A copy of PFAW's 2003 annual report examined by National Review Online lists dozens of corporations as contributors. The companies include Sony Corporation of America, the New York Times, 20th Century Fox Television (a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.), Best Buy Corporation, A&E Television Network, Eastman Kodak, NBC, Home Box Office, Inc., the Hearst Corporation, Comcast Corporation, Blockbuster, Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Sotheby's, and Conde Nast."

July 2, 2005. School board, teachers union agree to raises; City educators would get first increases in 3 years under two-year contract, writes Laura Loh in the Baltimore Sun. "The across-the-board and step increases for all employees are expected to cost the school system $60 million over two years, said Patricia Welch, chairwoman of the school board. The board also agreed not to demand that teachers pay more for health insurance, although health care costs have increased."

July 1, 2005. House votes to undercut High Court on property; federal funds tied to eminent domain, write Mike Allen and Charles Babington in the Washington Post."The House measure, which passed 231 to 189, would deny federal funds to any city or state project that used eminent domain to force people to sell their property to make way for a profit-making project such as a hotel or mall. Historically, eminent domain has been used mainly for public purposes such as highways or airports."