It should come as no surprise that negotiations on the state budget and other major parts of Gov. Larry Hogan's agenda continued until the last hours of this year's General Assembly session. The legislature is feeling its way through divided government, Mr. Hogan and his team are new and so are a large percentage of the delegates and senators. It's going to take time for them to learn to work together — or, perhaps, not — and it will take time to analyze what happened as the clocks in Annapolis ticked toward midnight. But as we wait for the dust to settle on the big questions of the inaugural session of the new term, the General Assembly has already given us a wide variety of small successes and failures to parse through.
Government transparency was poised for a major advance with the first major overhaul of the state's public records laws in a generation. Reporters and ordinary citizens alike are supposed to have access to the vast majority of public records in Maryland. But those who rely on the state's Public Information Act to keep tabs on what the state and local governments are doing often wind up frustrated by delays, denials and demands for exorbitant copying fees, and with no way to challenge the state short of going to court. Legislation that passed both chambers of the legislature would seek to provide the public with some more practical redress. It establishes a PIA compliance board and the position of ombudsman to help resolve disputes about government efforts to withhold requested documents or to charge large fees. The legislation also for the first time introduces the idea that the purported harm of disclosure should be weighed against the public benefit. As of press time, the two chambers were working out minor differences before sending the bill to Mr. Hogan for his signature.
Another important advance in the same vein was legislation requiring disclosure of donors to inaugural galas. This has been an issue for years, as incoming governors raise money — inevitably from those with an interest in government decisions — to finance a variety of events to commemorate their inaugurations, but it's probably not one that would have risen to the top of the agenda of the Democratic-majority General Assembly had a Republican not been elected governor last fall. Divided government has its benefits.
Those with criminal records also got some help this year. Governor Hogan has the opportunity to sign a bill that would expand voting rights to those who are on parole or probation, a small step toward re-integrating them into the community, and one that would expunge from Marylanders' criminal records any crimes that are no longer crimes in this state. Chiefly, that benefits those who have records related to possession of small amounts of marijuana, which the General Assembly last year made a civil offense. That has the potential to make it easier for thousands of people to get jobs.
Lawmakers approved two bills that could provide modest help to low-income Baltimore residents. One would increase the threshold of unpaid taxes that can trigger a tax sale from the current, absurdly low level of $250 up to $750. That's still too low, but it's a step in the right direction. The threshold for unpaid water and sewer bills, now $350, would also rise to $750. The other bill allows Baltimore's mayor and City Council to approve personal property tax breaks for grocery stores that locate in food deserts — that is, parts of the city where residents have little access to fresh food. This legislation won't solve the problem that one in five city residents is believed to live in a food desert, but it could help.
On the negative side of the ledger, it's unfortunate that, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's lobbying trip to Annapolis today notwithstanding, her package of bills to combat police brutality went nowhere. Police unions were strongly against legislation that would have given police chiefs stronger tools to discipline bad cops, and with the Rawlings-Blake administration virtually alone in pushing it, the bills went nowhere. That's likely to remain the case until leaders in other jurisdictions realize this isn't just a Baltimore problem.
Another regrettable act by the legislature was its decision to raise Maryland's maximum speed limit to 70 mph. The benefits would be minuscule. On the longest stretch of highway likely to be considered for a new maximum — I-68 from Friendsville to Cumberland — motorists would save all of three minutes. But the costs for some unlucky motorists would be extreme. Speed is already a factor in about 40 percent of fatal crashes in Maryland, and research is unequivocal that higher speed limits will make matters worse. We hope Mr. Hogan has his veto pen handy for this one.