Maryland Business for Responsive Government released this month the 2009 edition of its Roll Call, which measures the voting records of state lawmakers on a number bills that affect business. The nonpartisan group does political research and aims to improve Maryland's business climate.
The General Assembly has a reputation for being decidedly un-friendly to the corporate world, and this year lawmaker scores were the "lowest on record," according to the group. In the study, MBRG authors describe "an attitude by lawmakers that suggests the irrelevance of business."
Particularly troublesome, the group contends, was passage of legislation giving the state eminent domain rights over the Preakness Stakes. State officials worried the bankruptcy of owner Magna Entertainment Corp. would imperil the horse race's future in Maryland, and quickly stepped in. MBRG authors said they hadn't seen anything like it. The bill sets an "extraordinary precedent" by asserting a right to take the private property of a specific corporation and interferes in a bankruptcy, they said.
Republicans generally scored well in the MBRG scorecard. But only two Democrats voted 70 percent or better on the business-related legislation that's highlighted — Sen. Rona E. Kramer of Montgomery County and Sen. James E. DeGrange of Anne Arundel County. Fifteen years ago, 84 Democrats voted at least 70 percent favorably on business-related issues.
The full report can be found here.
Despite this year's Roll Call, Robert O.C. "Rocky" Worcester, MBRG's president, is hopeful that his group can address what he calls a "paucity of leadership" in the business community and in Annapolis. That's because he has enlisted as the group's co-chairs former Gov. Marvin Mandel, a Democrat, and Ellen R. Sauerbrey, a two-time Republican gubernatorial candidate who was appointed ambassador by President George W. Bush. Mandel pledged in a statement to expand and grow MBRG's influence.
