Expect the Unexpected
Prior to his recent retirement, Thomas V. “Mike” Miller (Democrat) was the longest-serving Senate president in America. He had been a state senator representing the 27th District since 1975 and served as President since January 1987 (about 33 years). That also means he served as the longest Senate President in Maryland history.
In the Maryland’s other legislative body, Michael Busch, an Anne Arundel County Democrat, ultimately became the longest-serving House Speaker in state history. He was sworn in as Speaker in January 2003.
For the better part of two decades, the two “Mikes” led Maryland’s legislature, wrestling with numerous issues ranging from equitable funding for schools to infrastructure and the fiscal challenges created by the Great Recession. But change is in the air. In late-October 2019, Democrats in Maryland’s upper chamber unanimously elected Bill Ferguson as the next President of Maryland’s Senate. While Mike Miller is in his 70s, Bill Ferguson is in his 30s.
Still earlier in the year, Democrats in the state’s lower chamber elected Adrienne Jones as Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates after the passing of Busch. Combined, the former Senate President and Speaker of the House of Delegates had held their respective positions for more than 50 years. The proverbial torch has been passed and politics in Annapolis are set to go from business as usual to expect the unexpected.
As is often the case in politics, geography plays a role. While the prior generation of leaders hailed from Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, respectively, Senator Ferguson and Speaker Jones both hail from the Baltimore metropolitan area, Baltimore City and Baltimore County, respectively, to be precise. While there is no guarantee that new leadership will be any less committed to other parts of Maryland, it seems likely that the new leaders will focus at least in part on issues of first-order importance in Central Maryland, including the need for expanded transit, improved approaches to fostering public safety, affordable housing, and, of course, public schools.
“The state’s role would be to provide resources to deter an individual from getting to a place where violent crime would even be a way of life. The state’s role is to work in concert with the City in addressing this violent epidemic.”
—Adrienne Jones, Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates
While Maryland’s legislative leadership is new to their leadership posts, they are not new to the legislature. Indeed, both the new Speaker and the new President have been prominent for years and are not especially enigmatic. Responding to a Baltimore Sun survey, each has provided detailed stances regarding a number of the critical public policy issues of the day, including their attitudes toward the Kirwan Commission, transportation funding, and Baltimore’s vast public safety challenges.
Views on the Kirwan Commission
In September 2016, the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education held its first meeting. Commission members quickly discovered that Maryland’s educational outcomes fall far short of expectations. Maryland should be home to one of the nation’s best performing school systems. After all, the state is affluent and highly educated. However, recent performances on the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate that Maryland’s student performance is mediocre in a nation that is mediocre by global standards. Accordingly, the Kirwan Commission has promulgated dozens of recommendations to improve student achievement in the Free State, and new leadership appears to be on board.
According to the next Senate President, “Implementing the Kirwan Commission’s visionary framework for public schools in Maryland will be the single most important issue we address during the next term of the [2019] General Assembly.” Ferguson goes on to state that Maryland’s test results not only lag compared to other states, but also fall significantly behind when expanded to include other countries. He adds, “A grand compromise is required. Additional state funding will be required, and we will have to engage in broad tax reform – particularly as it relates to the sales tax—to create the sustainable revenue streams necessary to uphold the opportunity.”
For her part, Speaker Jones, a Commission Member, has also supplied support for broad education reform in Maryland. As one of the eight members of the legislature to serve on the Commission, she indicated to the Sun that she was “committed to funding the associated reforms through our work...”
Perspectives on Transportation
Both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., consistently rank high on the list of the cities with the dubious distinction of suffering the worst congestion. While many people view significant traffic delays as an unalloyed detriment to quality of life, one can perhaps take some solace in the notion that it is also evidence of a robust economy, with workers scrambling to work each morning and them wearily return home during the evening rush. Still, the typical Marylander would feel at least some sense of gratification if they could spend a bit less time in the vehicle and more time at home.
According to one recent report, Baltimore congestion adds an additional 59 hours of delays for an average commuter over the course of a year and the Washington area is worse, with the D.C./Maryland/Virginia (DMV) region ranking third in terms of the nation’s worst traffic. One of the pivotal choices is how much money should be devoted to transportation infrastructure and the split between roads/streets/highways and mass transit.
New legislative leadership will naturally have to work with or against Governor Larry Hogan, who was reelected in 2018 and accordingly has much of his second term ahead of him. The Governor has been especially active in the area of transportation, recently indicating that, “we are moving forward on nearly all of the highest-priority transportation projects in every single jurisdiction all across the state. Over 800 projects totaling $9 billion for roads, bridges, and tunnels are currently under construction. We have invested a record $14 billion in transit, including the Purple Line, which is the largest P3 transit project in North America.”
Predictably, there are differences in perspective. Senator Bill Ferguson has indicated that, “We are currently investing too heavily in an automobile-based transportation system, and we are falling behind our peer regions.” He goes on to cite a month-long closure of Baltimore’s subway system as an example of the impact of the lack of funding.
For her part, next-Speaker Jones, whose District 10 encompasses areas northwest of Baltimore, concurs. She has also indicated that funding has not been appropriately divided between roads and public transit options.
Ideas on Crime
Speaker Jones’ comments to the Baltimore Sun offer some hope and guidance for those in Baltimore. Specifically, she has stated that, “The state’s role would be to provide resources to deter an individual from getting to a place where violent crime would even be a way of life.” Moreover, she adds that, “The state’s role is to work in concert with the City in addressing this violent epidemic.”
Bill Ferguson has indicated that, “Ensuring the safety of all Marylanders is a foundational purpose of government. State government has an obligation and duty to work with local officials to reduce violence and create genuine safety in all of Maryland’s communities.” Ferguson’s District 46 is located entirely within Baltimore City. In 2018, he worked to create the Commission to Restore Trust in Policing following the scandal involving the Baltimore Police Department’s notorious Gun Task Force.
Looking Ahead
There are some overarching themes at work. New leadership seeks to invest more in education, mass transit, and deterring crime through multi-pronged approaches. All of this will require additional revenue.
Accordingly, stakeholders should expect significant impetus to raise State of Maryland revenues in various ways, including by altering the State’s retail sales tax rate or by rendering the sales tax more broadly applicable to a variety of presently untaxed activities. Other revenue enhancements are also possible. This will likely set the stage for a direct conflict with Governor Hogan, who appears equally committed to holding the line on taxes.
