Taxes Hikes, Same Sex Marriage Debate to Dominate Annapolis Debate

As I am sure you may already know, the 2012 Maryland General Assembly convened on Wednesday.  

Once again, I was appointed Senate Chairman of the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics and I will continue to serve as President Pro Tem Emeritus of the Senate. Additionally, I will serve on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.  

As a member of the Policy Committee and the Executive Nominations Committee, I will be actively involved in legislative policy, Judicial, State, and local appointments. As in the past, I intend to utilize my leadership positions on behalf of the residents of our district and Baltimore County.

This year will be one of the most contentious sessions because of the many controversial issues that you have been reading and hearing about over the past few months.

Some of the important issues that will dominate this session are balancing the State’s budget, an increase in the gasoline tax, increase in the sales tax, same sex marriage, increasing the flush tax, the expansion of gambling, off-shore wind energy, legislative redistricting, eliminating the death penalty,  job creation, and  a bill I am sponsoring which will require legislative approval before any tolls may be increased, just to name a few.

I find it very disheartening that some of our leaders seem to think that the only way to balance the state’s budget is on the backs of Maryland citizens, many of whom are already finding it difficult to make ends meet.  A large number of our citizens are still unemployed and are in danger of losing their homes or have already lost their homes.   

Moreover, a great number of Marylanders are  already spending a large proportion of their income on gas, electric, food, and medical expenses – needless to say, there is not much left to give.

As I have previously stated, I will vehemently oppose any increases in taxes or fees that may be proposed during this Legislative Session.  While the budget will clearly dominate this session, there are many other important issues which I will address in the upcoming weeks as the session progresses.

Our primary purpose in Annapolis is to best serve the residents of our district, county, and state.  In doing so, we depend primarily on the opinions of the people we represent.

 If you have a position or question on any issue, please let me know by calling  410-841-3587 or emailing me at:  norman.stone@senate.state.md.us