Annapolis, MD — The 2016 Maryland General Assembly begins Wednesday, Jan. 13 for a St. Mary’s County Delegation that consists of three legislators entering their second session and one entering his 22nd., House Delegation Chairman Tony O’Donnell and the three elected in November 2014, Senator Steve Waugh and Delegates Matt Morgan and Deb Rey, make up the all-Republican District 29 delegation in a legislature that is still majority Democrat.
Being in the minority legislative party, the delegation often emphasizes what they hope to stop from happening in addition to what they hope to advance. But the Maryland GOP is bolstered by having Gov. Larry Hogan as the party’s titular head. The local delegation members, in separate interviews with The BayNet the week before the start of the session, vowed to stand behind Hogan. They also praised each other and the cooperation exhibited during their first session together.
There were some rumblings during the interviews, however, about the level of cooperation with the county commissioners. Waugh said he was “disappointed in the process” that included a joint meeting between the legislators and commissioners. Waugh said the commissioners agreed to establish a working group with the legislators to come up with proposals to encourage economic development and that the commissioners later decided against it.
Several of the legislators complained that they had not received in writing the outcome of the commissioners’ votes on their proposed legislative package even though the votes had been taken several weeks previously.
One of those votes was 3-2 against supporting Morgan’s proposal to phase out the county’s personal property tax for businesses. The commissioners enthusiastically supported the proposal last year. But the reasoning for opposing it this year was stated as wanting to get behind a statewide initiative from the governor.
But Morgan in his interview with The BayNet said the governor was not going to put forth a statewide bill on that subject. “I am going forward with the bill,” Morgan said, expressing regret at the commissioners’ decision. O’Donnell, in lending support for Morgan’s effort, said, “We have to make sure we are growing economically.”
Waugh said the delegation would instead be working with the Chamber of Commerce to come up with legislation on economic development.
The delegation members were asked about the status of the third building at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center. They quickly corrected the question by saying the building is no longer referred to by that name, but instead the University of Maryland Research Center. The original idea of having classrooms in the new building has apparently been supplanted with the idea of doing research there, most specifically on unmanned systems that are being held out as a key component of the county’s economic development strategy.
O’Donnell (shown at left) noted that monies were put in the budget by the governor last year to proceed with design and engineering of the facility. He blamed the turmoil over the issue on a late submission for the budget by the University of Maryland system. He said the situation was exacerbated by a change of leadership at the university system. “It left us with a can of worms,” he said,
O’Donnell said the push during this session would be to advance funding for construction. There is now a one-year gap between the end of design and beginning of construction. Waugh said the funding amount being sought for the research center is $78 million. The delegation believes the university system is on board to advance funding.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center Joe Anderson, said, however, that the plans for the building have always included academic space – about one-half of the total square footage of the 80,000 square-foot building — and still do.
Anderson told The Bay Net, “The new building, ‘USM Southern Maryland Academic & Research Center’ will have include a significant amount of space for new academic programs to support the regional workforce. This space has not been supplanted in the least.”
The legislature last year initiated a plan to restore highway user fee revenue to the counties over the next few years. O’Donnell noted that the governor had placed additional monies in the budget for a Route 5 breakout project in Leonardtown and for the Great Mills intersection.
On O’Donnell’s legislative agenda for this year are redistricting reform, streamlining aquaculture initiatives and newborn infant screening. He also plans to introduce legislation to repeal the automatic escalator for gasoline taxes.
Regarding the growing concern about opiate use in the area and in light of the governor’s commission to address the problem, O’Donnell said, “I am sure we will see some movement in that area.”
The entire delegation supports Second Amendment Rights and bemoaned
President Obama’s gun control initiatives. Rey (shown at right) will introduce several bills to strengthen those rights. Rey said she would prefer to get rid of the requirement that a person applying for a gun permit to state the “good and substantial reason” for making the application. But she said the words leave too much room for interpretation and she will work on getting a narrower definition of reasons for seeking the permit.
Morgan will continue to advocate for concealed carry in Maryland. “Concealed carry is part of the solution to mass shootings,” he said.
Rey is also working on a bill that would exempt honorably discharged veterans from getting a handgun permit and also extending reciprocity for permits to neighboring states and the District of Columbia.
Rey does not support the commissioners’ request for term limits for school board employees. She says that takes away the voters’ right to decide.
“It is going to be a busy session I am sure,” Waugh (shown at left) told the Bay Net. He said the first order of business will be upholding the governor’s veto of several bills. Overturning a veto requires a two-thirds legislative vote of both houses. Waugh said the delegation will stand behind the governor on his vetoes of the hotel tax and restoring voting rights for convicted felons while they are still on probation.
Waugh believes the budget challenge for the legislature is reducing the capital debt and its parallel debt service requirement which he says is approaching $1 billion. He said there probably would be a move by the Democratic-controlled legislature to increase the property tax, which the GOP will resist.
Waugh also is supporting what is known as Geraldine’s Law, named for the mother of a constituent who was murdered after a convicted felon was released from jail.
“I am committed to make Maryland a tax-free state for men and women in uniform,” Waugh said of another of his initiatives which he said would promote economic development. He said if service members moved to the DC area choose Maryland over Virginia or DC they are more likely to retire to the Free State.
Morgan (shown at right) said he feels more comfortable going into his second year 
and continues to work on trying to achieve bipartisanship. He said it will take six Democrats to stop the override of the governor’s vetoes.
Echoing what the other delegation members said, “Morgan emphasized, “The delegation gets along great,” noting that in addition to seeing each other every day while in session they meet at least once a week to discuss issues. The Southern Maryland delegation also meets weekly during session.
“We have a good delegation that is working hard and cooperatively. We are working hard to protect our liberties,” O’Donnell said.
The delegations’ contact information is as follows:
Sen. Waugh – 2W Miller State Office Building, 410-841-3673 or 301-858-3673
Del. O’Donnell – 201 House Office Building, 410-841-3314 or 858-3314
Del. Morgan – 317 House Office Building, 410-841-3170 or 301-8583170
Del. Rey – 319 House Office Building, 410-841-3227 or 301-858-3227.
You can also call the legislature toll free at 1-800-492-7122 and use the individual legislator’s four-digit extension.