Immigration
O'Malley: "We will not support groups that conspire to break the law."
Ehrlich: "You have done that. … You have in fact celebrated Casa de Maryland. … You know that Casa de Maryland has used tax money to produce booklets to assist illegal immigrants from the reach of the law. You know that and you were there celebrating the opening of that building."
The facts: Both Ehrlich and O'Malley approved funds for Casa de Maryland to help them construct buildings. Some public money, under both administrations, also went for HIV prevention programs. No state taxpayer money was used to produce the controversial 2007 pamphlet that informs illegal immigrants of their rights when confronted by federal immigration agents.
State spending
O'Malley: Says Ehrlich lacks credibility on a "no new taxes" pledge because he made the same pledge when he ran in 2002 and then broke it.
Ehrlich: The 2007 package of tax increases passed under O'Malley amount to the "highest tax increase in Maryland history."
The facts: Several Baltimore Sun articles from the 2002 campaign noted Ehrlich's promise not to raise income or sales tax but hinted he'd be open to reviewing the gasoline tax. Those articles are silent on other taxes, including the property tax, which Ehrlich did raise.
Ehrlich's statement about O'Malley's tax increase is true on its face: Never before had a governor raised taxes by $1 billion. But when Gov. Spiro Agnew instituted a graduated income tax in 1967, the resulting increase was greater both on a per-capita basis and when measured as a percentage of all state revenue — two measuring sticks state economists commonly use when comparing tax hikes.
Energy deregulation
O'Malley: Accused Ehrlich of causing the 72 percent hike in BGE electricity costs. "You were the who one saddled us with that," O'Malley said. "You were the one who bragged about giving the [Maryland Public Service Commission] a lobotomy."
Ehrlich: "I was in Congress," Ehrlich said. "That was [Maryland Senate President Thomas V.] Mike Miller and your leadership."
The facts: Neither Ehrlich nor O'Malley were in the General Assembly in 1999, when the electricity deregulation legislation passed. The legislation is now widely viewed as flawed in part because of companion legislation that capped prices for seven years with the idea that competition would develop in that time.
When the seven years came due — during the 2006 election cycle — the Public Service Commission, charged with overseeing the electricity markets, announced that rates would go up by 72 percent, mostly because of increases in global energy prices.
Ehrlich had appointed the head of the PSC, Kenneth D. Schisler, who was widely criticized for firing a group of knowledgeable staffers just as the price caps were going to expire. Schisler, in an e-mail obtained by The Sun, spoke of the "lobotomy" that others accused him of performing on the agency. There is no record of his "bragging" about the lobotomy, and there is no record that Ehrlich ever used that word to describe the staff cuts.
The "lobotomy" e-mail, however, was obtained with a group of other electronic messages that showed PSC members uncomfortably close with the industry they were supposed to regulate.
O'Malley, as mayor of Baltimore, sued the PSC, alleging that members did not do their homework before the rate hikes kicked in. A Baltimore judge agreed, ordering new hearings to take place. But after O'Malley became governor, his newly reconstituted PSC allowed an identical rate hike to go forward. O'Malley did win hundreds of millions of dollars in rate rebates for consumers.
Baltimore Sun reporter Julie Bykowicz contributed to this article.