ANNAPOLIS — In the midst of an economic recession and a state budget with little room for extras, Washington County fared well during the legislative session in Annapolis, according to the county’s delegation.

The Maryland General Assembly’s legislative session ended Monday. State lawmakers approved 800 bills during the three-month session and let about 1,500 die.

Washington County’s delegation sponsored 12 bills, nine of which passed.

A spokesperson for Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr.’s office said all of the bills that should have passed did. Myers, R-Washington/Allegany, is chairman of the local delegation.

The delegation passed bills offering property tax relief for local seniors, increasing the salary of the Washington County sheriff and making it illegal to shoot a dog in pursuit of a deer. Other successful bills created a police force at Hagerstown Community College and increased the salaries of Washington County Board of Education members.

A bill filed by the delegation that would create a winery license died, but Myers’ spokesperson said similar bills filed from other counties also died, and the intent is to draft a statewide bill next year.

A bill that would help Washington County keep more court fees also did not pass, but the spokesperson said that was expected as well.

“The state wasn’t going to give up any more than they had to,” the spokesperson said.

A delegation bill that would have allowed Kaplan College students to keep state aid also failed. Under current rules, Kaplan College students no longer will be eligible for state grant money after July, when the college merges with Kaplan University — a for-profit university based out of the state.

Myers’ spokesperson said there are a lot of questions regarding that bill and a lot more work that has to be done.

“All in all, I think the delegation did a fantastic job ... worked well together,” the spokesperson said.

George C. Edwards
R-Garrett/Allegany/Washington

Edwards described the session as “testy,” and said the state budget took up the bulk of his time as a member of the Senate’s Budget & Taxation Committee.

“Then, they threw all that federal stimulus money into the mix,” he said. “Stimulus money is two-year money, and if you use it, you better use it for one-time things.”

“We’re going to get a fair amount of stimulus money, whether you support the stimulus money or not,” Edwards said.

Overall, Edwards said he had one of his more successful years getting bills passed — the majority of which pertain to issues in Allegany and Garrett counties.

One of his bills that passed was drafted in response to a mining tragedy that killed two workers. One spouse and children were fully dependent on the husband’s income, and the others were partially dependent, he said. The fully dependent family received money for life, while the partially dependent family got a one-time sum of $60,000.

Edwards’ bill will raise the death benefit received by the partially dependent family from $40,000 to $75,000.

Alex X. Mooney
R-Frederick/Washington

Mooney said he was “glad I got a couple of bills passed.”

One bill created a law making crimes against the homeless hate crimes. This was the fourth year Mooney had raised the issue.

The bill originally was amended to include gender, age and disability as well, but a last-minute compromise Monday led the bill to pass with only homelessness and gender as protected classifications.

Another bill Mooney passed will give line-of-duty death benefits to a state trooper who was killed while jogging. The bill defines exercising as part of your duties to be considered line of duty — making that person eligible for some death benefits.

While Mooney was pleased his bills passed, he said “too many bad bills passed.”

“The speed cameras are awful,” he said, referring to a bill allowing speed cameras in school and work zones. “It’s a sneaky tax on the citizens.”

Mooney said he also was disappointed lawmakers did not repeal the state’s requirement that adult motorcycle riders wear helmets.

Sen. Donald F. Munson
R-Washington

“The session in many ways was extraordinarily difficult,” Munson said. “And the economy was the obvious reason. When your only option is to cut and to cut, it makes life difficult to choose these things that need to be cut. We did a lot of cutting this year where it was necessary.”

Munson, who sits on the Senate’s Budget & Taxation Committee, said in some ways, this was a dismal year.

“I would describe the budget this year as lean, but not mean,” he said. “If the economy doesn’t improve in future years, however, we’re going to be seeing budgets that are absolutely mean.”

He said that’s regrettable, but it’s the only way to avoid higher taxes, which Munson said he is not prepared to vote for.

However, there were some bright spots for Washington County in the midst of a dismal budget year, he said.

Munson said he was pleased the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown will keep its full state funding, despite attempts by state lawmakers to cut its funding. The center has an operating budget of $2 million, and it will keep that amount unless overall cuts to the system affect the local campus.

Munson said he also was pleased both the Washington County Free Library and the Maryland State Police barrack in Hagerstown will receive funding in the 2010 capital budget.

Munson and Del. John P. Donoghue, D-Washington, also were successful in securing state money for the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts ($125,000), the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts ($100,000) and the Doleman Black Heritage Museum ($25,000).

“I’ve been involved in 35 sessions now, and each session has its own particular personality, and I have to say this was one of the strangest sessions that I’ve ever sat through,” Munson said. “It was a stressful and demanding and difficult session. Now, it’s time to get back home where the people are ... where the voters are.”

Del. John P. Donoghue
D-Washington

“Senator Munson and I had a very productive session together,” Donoghue said. “We were able to get both the library and the state police barrack by split funding both projects over two years. We worked very well together.”

Donoghue offered an amendment to the state’s fiscal year 2010 capital budget that would take $5 million from $15 million in funding proposed for a new Maryland State Police barrack in Hagerstown and transfer it to the library renovation project. That amendment was included in the budget, and Donoghue has said it is expected the remaining money for both projects will be included in next year’s budget.

Money for the library originally was absent from the fiscal year 2010 budget.

Donoghue said he also was pleased his bill passed that adds Washington County to the hospitals that have access to money in the state’s trauma fund to help pay for trauma doctors to be on call.

“It will enable more physicians in the trauma center in Washington County Hospital to be reimbursed for their services,” he said.

Donoghue said he also is pleased with the decision to fully fund USM-H. Munson and Donoghue, who sit on the center’s advisory board, will serve on a task force studying the center’s operations, Donoghue said.

“We’ll build our case for why we should never be cut again,” he said. “I think this will put an end to it. I’m comfortable that Senator Munson and I will not have to have the fight we have had the past two years next year.”

Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr.
R-Allegany/Washington

Although none of the six bills Myers sponsored passed, a spokesperson for his office said Myers will offer some of them again next year.

Two bills that would have created guidelines and a code of conduct for companies transporting dead bodies likely will be handled with regulations instead of an additional law, the spokesperson said.

A bill limiting the number of license and license numbers electricians, gas fitters, plumbers and others have to display on their trucks also will be sponsored again next year, the spokesman said.

Del. Andrew A. Serafini
R-Washington

Serafini said he plans to offer the bills he introduced this year again next year with “greater clarification on the purpose and with the support of attorney general opinions.”

One bill would have made it illegal to purchase or offer to purchase a child in response to an incident at City Park in Hagerstown. The other would have clarified students’ existing rights to express their religion in school.

Serafini also said he was concerned about state spending.

“The main theme for this year’s session revolved around the economic downturn and the need for fiscal constraints,” he said.

Before the session began, Republicans met with Gov. Martin O’Malley, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Comptroller Peter Franchot and various fiscal analysts, who said there would be a need for bipartisan efforts, possible significant cuts in the structure of benefits, the work force and, most importantly, fiscal restraint, Serafini said.

“The story line soon changed, however, as details of the federal stimulus began to take shape,” he said. “What started as an infrastructure program to pump money into the economy very quickly became more programmatic. Of the $3.7 billion that the state of Maryland is to receive, only approximately $700 million will be used for infrastructure. The rest of the stimulus will be used for various programs, including education and Medicaid. A final analysis indicated that spending actually increased in the state.”

Del. Christopher B. Shank
R-Washington

While none of the 12 bills introduced by Shank passed, he said he was pleased a bill cross-filed in the Senate that retroactively adds sex offenders to the Maryland Sex Offender Registry, correcting what he calls “a loophole,” did pass.

The current law prevents people who committed a crime before 1995 who were not charged until after October 2001 from registering. Shank’s bill would apply to people convicted in 1995 or later whose crimes occurred before 1995.

Shank introduced a similar bill last year in response to the case of Robert Merle Haines Jr., who was charged in 2005 with sexually abusing a Boonsboro student 22 years before the victim reported the crime.

Shank said he was pleased the Senate version passed, and hopes it will be signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley.

“I’ve never been a big one to care about having my name on the bill,” Shank said. “I’ve been working on that issue for two years.”

Another bill filed by Shank that would allow those who violate protective orders to be outfitted with GPS tracking also failed, but the issue will be studied over the interim and is likely to be debated again next year, Shank said. Shank also is working with Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore on a possible pilot program in Washington County that would not require legislation.

A bill introduced by Shank that would require reporting and documentation of strip searches of correctional employees was going to pass, Shank said, but got caught up in the final minutes of the legislative session.

“It was one of the many bills that was on the desk of (Senate President) Mike Miller, and they just didn’t have time to get it done,” Shank said.

Shank said he likely will introduce that bill again next year, along with one that would make life in prison the maximum penalty for first-degree child abuse that results in death. The current maximum sentence is 30 years in prison.

This is the second year Shank has sponsored the bill, known as “Justice’s Law,” for the family of slain Washington County infant Justice Christopher Calvin Myers-Cannon.

“I made a commitment to the family to continue to press that issue until it passed,” Shank said. “So I’ll definitely be back next year on ‘Justice’s Law.’”

Del. Richard B. Weldon Jr.
Unaffiliated-Frederick/Washington

Weldon said the state budget dominated this year’s legislative session as lawmakers were faced with tough decisions.

“You take 141 people who are trained to never say ‘No’ to special interests and constituents and put them in a situation where the only thing they can say is ‘No,’” Weldon said. “And unfortunately, I don’t think we said ‘No’ enough.”

He said that in two years, when the federal stimulus money ends, the state will be forced to either cut programs or raise taxes to make up for the $700 million added to the fiscal 2010 budget paid for in stimulus money.

“That creates an expectation that those services will continue,” he said. “I think that’s a real problem.”

If history is any indication, state officials will raise taxes rather than cut programs, Weldon said.

He said state lawmakers also continued to make strides in health-care improvements. This year’s focus was offering more substance abuse services without growing government or adding to the budget.

This was accomplished, Weldon said, by making better use of primary adult-care programs already in place.

Weldon said he also was pleased the Maryland Commission on Autism was going to study the disorder, explore treatments and promote awareness.

“We have a lot of families who are dealing with this, and we really don’t know much about it,” Weldon said. “I’m proud that Maryland will take some aggressive steps to get out in front of this.”