Amid slots debate, a local discourtesy

March 29, 2005

IN THE Maryland General Assembly, the concept of local courtesy - deferring to lawmakers from one county when an issue affects that area alone - is one of the most respected doctrines. Gambling and slot machines are among the most divisive issues.

Recent columns

• Concocting a formula for slots passage

  March 22, 2005

  SLOTS MAY BE on life support for the third straight legislative session since the election of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., but that isn't preventing some lobbyists and lawmakers from trying to concoct a formula for passage.

• New riddle in O'Malley rumor saga

  February 15, 2005

  NOW WE know "NCPAC".

• Temptation surrounded veto voting

  January 18, 2005

  LAWMAKERS say the governor offered all kinds of goodies in a last-minute (and nearly successful) lobbying effort to persuade members of the House of Delegates to sustain his veto of a medical malpractice bill last week.

• No evidence of progress on key issues

  December 7, 2004

  PRAGMATISM dictates that Maryland legalizes slot machine next year, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said yesterday in a pre-General Assembly briefing that foreshadowed another year of gridlock on top policy issues facing the state.

• Party's stakes exclude slots

  May 11, 2004

  MARYLAND lawmakers get a chance to participate this week in the hoopla surrounding the 129th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown scheduled for Saturday.

• No shell game, Pipkin says

  March 23, 2004

  State Sen. E.J. Pipkin made millions of dollars as a junk-bond trader in New York before cashing in and returning to Maryland and a spacious home in Queen Anne's County.

• Democrats cry foul over GOP tactic

  March 16, 2004

  REPUBLICAN efforts to force lawmakers to vote on the day's hot-button social issues are running afoul of what Democratic leaders describe as the unwritten rules of the General Assembly.

• Bail-out talks educate mayor

  March 2, 2004

  THE EPICENTER for political excitement last week was the governor's conference room on the second floor of the State House, where city and state officials met repeatedly to discuss a Baltimore schools bail-out plan.

• Whose crisis is it anyway?

  February 17, 2004

  ONE IMPEDIMENT to a solution to the Baltimore City schools funding crisis is the testy relationship between Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. The two upwardly mobile politicians from opposing parties don't much like each other, and rarely pass on an opportunity to needle one another as they await a potential head-to-head matchup in the 2006 election.

• GOP caucus a hot session topic

  January 20, 2004

  THE STRENGTH and effectiveness of the Republican caucus in the House of Delegates -- which enters the session under new leadership -- was a hot debate topic last week.

• Bob Ehrlich plays anti-Kennedy card

  June 18, 2002

  REP. ROBERT L. Ehrlich Jr. has a new opponent in his race for governor: President Kennedy.