SENATOR MADALENO IN THE NEWS

The Gazette: Lawmakers Seek Exemption from Education Funding
December 16, 2009

Montgomery County's delegation in Annapolis will introduce a bill to the General Assembly to exempt the county's mandatory education funding for the current fiscal year, Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. said Monday.

The maintenance of effort law needs to be changed, Madaleno said. Under current practice, waivers are granted to a county if it has "extraordinary economic circumstances," such as a major employer leaving the jurisdiction, he said.

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The Gazette: District Lines Likely to Shift with Census
October 23, 2009

The Census Bureau will provide population counts by December 2010. And whoever wins the 2010 gubernatorial election will receive the precinct-by-precinct census data in early 2011, said Sen. Richard S. Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington.

The governor likely will seat a commission to study the data, hold hearings around the state and then come up with his own map of congressional districts.

Maryland law says the General Assembly has 45 days to make changes after the new lines for the eight districts are presented.

"It will be out and discussed for a long period of time," Madaleno said. "And it will be eight people calling us to tell us their feeling — eight very interested parties calling us."

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Washington Post: Most Influential in Montgomery
October 5, 2009

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) tops the list of the most influential Montgomery politicians nominated by readers of the blog Maryland Politics Watch, with Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in second place.

Other Democrats making the top 10: State Sen. Richard S. Madeleno Jr., at No. 3, praised for his knowledge of the complex state budget. Sen. Brian E. Frosh, at No. 4, a "low-key" legislator who has "learned to play the Annapolis game without abandoning his liberal principles."

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Baltimore Sun: Tax Rule Could Add Revenue
October 2, 2009

State fiscal analysts revealed Thursday that a corporate income tax change sought by an influential labor union as an alternative to budget cuts could have raised as much as $170 million if it had been in effect several years ago.

Sen. Richard S. Madaleno, a Montgomery County Democrat on the Budget and Taxation Committee, said the fiscal study would help build support in that chamber for combined reporting. He said the tax change would better reflect today's corporate landscape and noted that several neighboring states such as New York and West Virginia have adopted it.

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Washington Post: A Marriage Like Any Other
An Opinion Piece by Sen. Rich Madaleno
August 27, 2009

In 2002, I became the first openly gay person elected to the Maryland General Assembly. It was important to me to be straightforward about who I was while not being pigeonholed as “the gay guy.” I immersed myself in my role as a public servant, focused on my constituents and worked hard. As time passed, people began to see me as “the budget guy,” or as an advocate for education, addiction treatment or developmental disability programs, or simply as Rich. My colleagues also came to know my husband, Mark.

Seven years have helped me to transcend being defined by my sexual orientation. But seven years, two wonderful children and a church wedding later, my husband and I are still denied the fundamental protections of civil marriage. Anyone who has ever stood up for his or her family will understand why the risk of being viewed as “the gay senator” can no longer keep me from speaking out. Achieving the freedom to marry, and removing a restriction that impedes the development of secure families, is a matter of fundamental social justice that needs vocal champions.

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The Gazette: Madaleno to pitch Internet sales tax at next session
August 21, 2009

A Montgomery County state senator plans to reintroduce a bill in the next legislative session to collect taxes from certain online companies, much to the dismay of some business advocates who say the plan won't solve the state's money woes.

Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington first introduced the legislation in the final days of the 2008 session, but the bill did not make it out of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

Madaleno said last week that he will refile the bill, which would allow Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot to collect sales taxes from state affiliates of Amazon and similar online retailers.

The move could generate $7.5 million annually for the state and help plug a multimillion-dollar budget gap next year, Madaleno said.

"By the time we got to it (last time), we were already late into the session, so I think people were a little uncomfortable with moving forward with a change that could have unintended consequences," he said. "With the opportunity to have more time to research it and work through committee, there's a chance to better understand it."

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Annapolis Capital: Uncertainty remains with next round of state budget cutbacks
August 12, 2009

Sen. Richard Madaleno, D-Montgomery, noted that keeping education sacrosanct leaves few big pots of money to raid, besides aid for local roads and community colleges. He urged the administration to be more specific.

"You have two weeks," he said. "We have to start talking about it."

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Washington Examiner: Montgomery officials push to change school-funding law
July 22, 2009

State Sen. Rich Madaleno said the state Board of Education "destroyed maintenance of effort" with its "irrational" decision not to grant Montgomery's waiver. "They've forced [legislators] to take action," he said.

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Baltimore Sun: State Studies Gay Nuptuals
May 30, 2009

"You can't understate the significance of being married," said Sen. Richard S. Madaleno, a Montgomery County Democrat who is openly gay and requested the attorney general's opinion. "People in our state get married every day, and to be denied the ability to do that is very dispiriting."

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Washington Post: State Reports Drop in Millionaires; GOP Blames Tax
May 14, 2009

Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery), chairman of the county's Senate delegation, said he thinks it is too soon for people to be moving from Maryland to Virginia, where individual income taxes are lower.

"Trying to sell a high-end house right now is not the easiest thing to do," Madaleno said.

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Washington Post: For County, Big Cuts And Several Changes
April 16, 2009

Montgomery officials are examining how the statewide authorization will affect their camera program, launched as the state's pilot program in 2006. The county will get to keep cameras it has erected on residential roads; elsewhere, counties can use cameras only near schools. But to comply with the new program, Montgomery will be allowed to use cameras near schools only from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"Obviously, people were trying to satisfy multiple political needs. It didn't come out in necessarily a coherent fashion," said Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery). He cited the example of a camera near Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda that catches speeders 24 hours a day but will soon have to be turned off at night and on weekends.

"I don't know why we're going to say it's okay to speed now but not at other times of the day," he said.

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The Gazette: Legislature Adjourns After Navigating Pitfall
April 15, 2009

Montgomery County delegation leaders said the county fared well in the big picture of the budget. That included $625 million in aid for schools, the third-highest take of any jurisdiction, behind Prince George's County and Baltimore city.
"In a year that started with many powerful voices down here saying they wanted to return teacher pension [costs] to the counties, we stopped that from occurring and walked away with a record amount of aid," said county Senate Delegation Chairman Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington.

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The Capital: Funds would help save cultural arts groups
April 13, 2009

The {Anne Arundel} county's instant bingo machines would be allowed to operate until 2012 under a plan heading through the General Assembly, but their tax rate would go up to help save struggling cultural arts organizationsThe new fund may only be used to prevent the closure or termination of cultural arts organizations, such as museums.

Sen. Richard Madaleno, D-Montgomery, a member of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, said the fund is designed "to try and get them through the next two years" as the economy continues to sputter.

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The Gazette: County unemployment rate highest in almost 20 years
April 8, 2009

The final version of the state budget is likelier to take more of the money from the counties' highway user revenues than include the income tax reductions, Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., chairman of the county's Senate delegation, said Monday.
A benefit of dipping into the highway user funds is that bonds can be used for projects for which the highway user revenue typically pays.
"There are projects you can rearrange with highway user [funds] that you can't by just skimming money off the top," Madaleno (D-Dist. 18), of Kensington, said.

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WBAL: Proposed Internet Sales Tax Draws Mixed Reviews
April 7, 2009

Storm clouds are forming over legislation in Annapolis that would tack the state sales tax onto some goods purchased over the Internet, which could apply to TV, radio and print advertising. Supporters of the bill estimate the so-called Internet sales tax would generate more than $7 million a year. The bill, introduced by Montgomery County Sen. Richard Madaleno, is similar to a law in New York state.

"For example, if you buy a book from Amazon.com, you don't pay a sales tax because Amazon doesn't have any physical presence in Maryland," Madaleno said. "If you buy from BarnesandNoble.com, you pay a sales tax because Barnes and Noble has book stores in Maryland, and therefore we can charge the tax to them. So, we are just trying to say as the Internet commerce has grown, we have now developed a system that is unfair."

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Baltimore Sun: Showing is called a matter of free speech, academic freedom
April 7, 2009

University administrators, who canceled a planned showing of Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge last week after lawmakers threatened to withhold funding, reversed their position Monday and allowed the screening as long as it included an educational component.

Lawmakers said they would ask the state university system to develop a policy on addressing sexually explicit material on campus, stepping back from a proposal last week to cut off funding. Monday, some legislators seemed chagrined by that initial response.

"We're starting to sound more like China or Cuba as opposed to the Free State," said Sen. Richard S. Madaleno, a Montgomery County Democrat.

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Washington Post: Bill Would Restrict Federal Deployment of Md. National Guard
February 23, 2009

Madaleno's bill would allow the governor to prohibit the federal deployment of the Maryland Guard unless Congress authorizes the use of military force or passes a declaration of war. It declares that the authorization of force that Congress passed in 2002 for the Iraq invasion is no longer valid because "Iraq does not pose a continuing threat to the national security of the United States."

Madaleno (D-Montgomery) said the Maryland Guard's repeated deployments in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have exhausted its resources and worn out equipment that is needed on the home front in case of an emergency, such as a hurricane or tornado.

The overseas tours have also "raised a bigger question about the use of our National Guard in foreign deployments," he said. "The ongoing use of the National Guard puts a huge strain on emergency services in every state," he said. "And if we're going to have these long deployments in open-ended conflicts, we have to figure out what their role is."

Madaleno said he does not think the bill has much of a shot at passing and could run into legal trouble if approved because of the federal government's ability to call on the Guard in times of national emergency. But he said he hoped that it would at least cause legislators, and the public, to rethink the role that citizen-soldiers play.
"As legislators, the best thing we can to do to start the discussion is put something on the table and move forward with that," he said.

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Baltimore Sun: Madaleno gives O'Malley a pass on GCEI
January 24, 2009

Sen. Rich Madaleno, a Montgomery County Democrat and astute budget observer, just sent out a statement on O'Malley's new spending plan. Most of it is the kind of bland, boilerplate congratuations you typically get in these sorts of situations, except for this bit at the end:

Unfortunately, but understandably in this current economic climate, the budget will not wholly fund the GCEI. While we would like to see this program fully funded in the near future, these trying times call for shared sacrifice and I believe the Governor has his eyes firmly fixed on what is in the best, long-term interest of all Maryland's children.”

What Rich is talking about is the "geographic cost of education indexing," an obscure bit of the Thornton education funding formula that has never been fully funded. (Ehrlich ignored it, which O'Malley blasted him for during the campaign. O'Malley skipped it in his first budget, promising to phase it in. He did in his second budget, but then backed away from it in this new proposal.) Most of the extra cash under the plan goes toward Montgomery and Prince George's counties, and the inclusion of the formula was a big factor in winning MoCo votes for Thornton back in 2002. Rich is the head of the county's Senate delegation and tends to be in tune with its members on fiscal issues (notably breaking with O'Malley on the increase to income tax rates for top earners in the 2007 special session), so his willingness to give the governor a pass on this one may be politically significant.

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Baltimore Sun: Gansler Backing Same-Sex Nuptuals
February 15, 2008

Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., who is openly gay, said that he had a church wedding with his partner, Mark, seven years ago but that under Maryland law they are "legal strangers." Madaleno, a Montgomery County Democrat, helped to craft the same-sex marriage proposal, deliberately including language that no religious institutions or clergy would be compelled to perform or recognize those marriages.

"Without marriage, we live in a state of legal limbo," Madaleno said. "Without marriage, instead of security we have fear."

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WBAL: Gay Marriage Bills Proposed in Maryland
January 25, 2008

"What I would say about my husband, Mark, is there are thousands of same gender married couples in the state of Maryland. And now what we are asking for is for the state to simply recognize the fact we are married," said Sen. Richard Madaleno, D-Montgomery County.

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The Gazette: Annapolis Bracing for Special Session
Oct. 12, 2007

The Montgomery school system, the state’s largest with 137,000 students, stands to lose about $49 million, including $30 million without GCEI. The county would lose $39 million if GCEI were phased in at 30 percent in fiscal 2009, as O’Malley proposes.
That does not sit well with the legislature’s education advocates.

‘‘Why would it be wise now to roll back our funding commitment to our most important expenditure — K-12 education?” said Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, who lobbied for Montgomery County during Thornton’s crafting in 2002.

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