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Page 36
The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
May 10, 2013
Officials Provide Legislative Update To OCLeaders
By SHAWN J. SOPER
NEWS EDITOR
OCEAN CITY – Lower Shore lawmakers this week briefed resort business leaders on a variety of issues that came out of the 2013 General Assembly session, including several that will likely impact the small business climate and the summer season. Senator Jim Mathias and Delegates Norm Conway and Mike McDermott, along with county and municipal elected officials on Wednesday, provided the Ocean City Economic Development Committee (EDC) with a broad overview of the issues of local importance to emerge from the 2013 General Assembly session from the state budget to the gas tax and from offshore wind to the repeal of the
death penalty. A recurring theme throughout the meeting was the state’s economy and the impact of certain decisions and votes on the local business climate. Depending on the source, the news was either positive or tempered with concerns of recurring infringements on private sector business, increased taxes and regulations, and a drain on the local economy. Mathias said when he first took state office in 2006, the picture was much gloomier than it is now. “Little did I know we would be facing one of the toughest economies in history with a $2 billion structural deficit,” he said. “We’ve largely erased that while protecting our AAA bond rating. Maryland is recognized for having the best public school system in America.”
Conway, the House Appropriations chairman, said the state’s economic picture was rosier than recent years, but had not fully turned the corner. “There was a different feeling this year,” he said. “We talked about somewhat of an upturn in the economy, but when we looked at it closer, we knew we still had a long way to go.” Conway said the legislature approved a balanced budget with a $300 million fund balance and another $767 million rainy day balance, if federal sequestration cuts hit Maryland particularly hard. He also said the General Assembly is ahead of schedule on tackling the state’s structural deficit. “The goal became reducing the structural deficit by one-third each year for three years and we’ve
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been able to do that,” he said. “We reduced it by 46 percent in the first year and it’s now down from $2 billion to $121 million. We’re now at the point where we can eliminate the structural deficit.” Not all of the local delegates in Annapolis were ready to accept the rosy picture of the state’s recovering economy. McDermott said the session was rife with increased taxes, including the gas tax, and more regulations on the private sector. “No wonder we’re bleeding jobs and losing business to other states,” he said. “The state needs more revenue and continues to look to the business community to find it.” McDermott praised the initiative and ambition of the resort’s business community in the face of increased taxes and stiffer regulations. “I applaud everyone in this room for being the backbone of what we do and conceiving and achieving,” he said. “The answer is not to put layer after layer of taxes and bureaucracy to prevent you from conceiving and achieving and creating jobs and stimulating the economy.” McDermott said the taxation and overregulation was suppressing an economy ready to spread its wings again. SEE NEXT PAGE
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