Maryland business leaders look forward to a less partisan legislature
BYLINE: Dori Berman
With a new Democratic governor and a stronger Democratic legislature taking over in January, Maryland business leaders look forward to a less partisan atmosphere in Annapolis and the chance to take a seat at the table.
And at least one key politician is promising no new taxes.
The General Assembly will convene in January for the 2007 legislative session with more than 40 new lawmakers, and representatives of business groups hope the new members will be receptive to their concerns about business issues and the business climate in the state.
There is some disagreement about how business will fare under Gov.-elect Martin O'Malley and a General Assembly with even more Democrats than before, but business leaders plan to work closely with the officials on priorities such as health care and transportation. They also hope to avoid contentious battles like those seen over the Wal-Mart bill in 2005 and the electricity rate hikes in 2006.
"It's the business community's job and the state chamber's job to work with whoever is in power," Maryland Chamber of Commerce spokesman William Burns said. "We seek to engage some of the new faces in Annapolis, not only the legislators, but some of the new cabinet secretaries as well. "
While the chamber's political action committee endorsed Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in his bid for re-election, Burns said the chamber plans to reach out to O'Malley as early as possible. It wants to put forward its own priorities and learn about O'Malley's plans for economic growth, particularly in the job market.
Business leaders and elected officials seem to agree that one issue - health care affordability - must be addressed immediately. Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller Jr. said yesterday he believes health care, along with environmental issues, will top the list of issues coming before the General Assembly in 2007.
But he said he expected lawmakers to approach those policies in a business-friendly manner, "in the sense that there's not going to be any tax increases. "
So how will they pay for health care and other reforms?
"Hopefully we can pass a video lottery terminal bill next year," he said, sounding confident the new governor and lawmakers would reach an agreement on slots.
Ellen Valentino, the head of the Maryland chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, said her organization will work hard to educate new members, and re-educate returning lawmakers, about the concerns of small business.
"Every legislator has small businesses within their community, and they need to be educated and sought after as if theirs was the most critical race," Valentino said.
On those and other issues, Burns said the business community hopes to see a shift away from the partisan squabbling that has dominated Annapolis in recent years.
"Our big hope is that, while the Democrats have obviously strengthened their position in Annapolis, we could see a refocus on policy rather than politics," Burns said. "When the debate is more focused on the merits rather than the partisan bickering, I think that gives us an added opportunity to inject the business community's feedback into the discussion. "
O'Malley yesterday said he looks forward to "restoring an atmosphere of mutual respect" in Annapolis. As for business, "they should expect professionalism and progress" from his administration.
Republicans had hoped to win enough seats in the General Assembly to lessen the Democrats' power, but instead the GOP lost seats in both chambers. St. Mary's College political science professor Zach Messitte said that means much of the political haggling that will take place will likely happen behind closed doors.
"Part of the reason the Democratic legislature pushed things like the Wal-Mart bill was in order to show the differences between them and [Ehrlich]. Now they don't want to show fissures between the new governor and legislature," he said.
Messitte said the election results could mean the return of contentious issues such as the Wal-Mart bill, but he predicted that O'Malley will work with the business community.
"He's not going to want to appear to be someone who is not a pro-business Democrat. The big lesson here from the national election is that the center in American politics has returned," Messitte said.
But not everyone is optimistic.
University of Maryland government and politics professor James Gimpel said the outcomes of the state elections create a "pretty ugly" outlook for business in Maryland.
"This is a return to the kind of regulatory, high-tax climate that we had back in the 1990s that Ehrlich was turning back. I think it's grim," Gimpel said.
With both the governor's mansion and the legislature back in Democrats' hands, Gimpel said, measures unfriendly to business will be able to move forward with no veto threat.
"I think if I were a business pondering locating in Maryland or putting one of my satellite locations in Maryland, I'd be high-tailing it for the door," he said.
One business leader who has had the opportunity to work with O'Malley, however, said the governor-elect has been receptive to the Baltimore business community during his time as the city's mayor.
"We went to the mayor and expressed a concern about the management, or lack of management of the Inner Harbor operations, and to the mayor's credit, upon reading our report he took steps to bring about change on how the Inner Harbor is managed and overseen," said Donald C. Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore Committee. O'Malley appointed Baltimore Development Corp. Executive Vice President Andrew Frank as the point person for Inner Harbor operations, he said.
Fry said he hopes O'Malley will consider taking a similar approach to address growth in Central Maryland associated with the military base realignment.
Meanwhile, the mayor tapped the Greater Baltimore Committee after taking office to help him evaluate the efficiency of some city agencies. O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said this week that the governor-elect plans to turn to the business community at the state level with a similar request.
The Greater Washington Board of Trade's political action committee endorsed Ehrlich, but director of government relations Andrew Scott said he is confident O'Malley understands the issues important to businesses in the Washington region, particularly Metro funding.
As for the legislature, Scott said the board is optimistic about the election's outcomes and the makeup of the new legislature, noting that the political action committee supported several Democrats in key leadership positions, including Senate President Miller.
"We didn't buy into the get-dangerous philosophy," Scott said, referring to Erhlich's repeated calls to the business community to stop supporting lawmakers considered anti-business. "The PAC and a lot of our board members felt it was more important to build relationships with people we felt we could work with on our priorities. "
Miller said the most important thing for business people in Maryland to do is contact their local lawmakers and voice their concerns.
"Believe it or not, the senators and delegates love that. It's not about campaign contributions or anything. It's about constituents," Miller said. "You hear from the labor community, the environmental advocates, the health care industry - you certainly should hear from the people who provide the economic engine for the state. "