Pubdate: Wed, 21 May 2003
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2003 News World Communications, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Vaishali Honawar
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

EHRLICH TO VETO CORPORATE TAXES

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is expected to veto a corporate-tax package 
today, a move expected to create a $135 million shortfall in the state 
budget. "The corporate-tax package is certain to be vetoed," said Ehrlich 
spokesman Greg Massoni, who added that the state needed to reduce 
government spending instead of making Marylanders pay more taxes. The 
governor plans to issue a list of other bills he will veto. The signing 
deadline is tomorrow. The administration and General Assembly lawmakers 
have declined to speculate on the list. Also undecided is the fate of a 
bill allowing communities to use radar cameras to catch speeders, as well 
as legislation allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at 
public colleges and universities and to obtain driver's licenses. Mr. 
Ehrlich's choices will help define his political agenda and show voters 
whether he is indeed the centrist Republican portrayed in his election 
campaign. He has opposed photo radar, but has not commented on legislation 
allowing cameras in residential and school zones to catch speeders.

The bill has strong support from Montgomery County lawmakers. Montgomery 
County lawmakers also support a bill that would give in-state tuition to 
illegal aliens, but the state chapter of the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People has asked Mr. Ehrlich not to sign it until 
the impact on minorities can be studied. Other high-profile bills would 
reduce penalties for possession of medicinal marijuana and would replace 
half the board of directors of the nonprofit health care group Blue 
Cross/Blue Shield. House Speaker Michael E. Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat, 
has lobbied the governor to sign the health care bill. Mr. Ehrlich supports 
the concept of medicinal marijuana, though he has not decided on the bill, 
which reduces the possession charge to a $100 fine. John P. Walters, 
President Bush's drug czar, has advised Mr. Ehrlich against signing the 
bill. Mr. Ehrlich likely will sign a bill that could open more charter 
school in the state, despite some misgivings. His proposal gave 
universities, local school boards and the Maryland Board of Education the 
authority to open the schools, but the General Assembly watered down the 
bill to give such powers only to local school boards. The tax package Mr. 
Ehrlich will veto would have raised business taxes temporarily and would 
have imposed a 2 percent tax on health maintenance organizations, or HMOs. 
Mr. Ehrlich has said the HMOs simply would have passed the cost on to 
customers. Mr. Massoni said the administration instead was looking at 
further spending cuts to replace the estimated $135 million revenue loss 
created by the veto. He said no final decisions have been made. "In the 
last eight years, we have gone from a $12 billion budget to a $22 billion 
budget," Mr. Massoni said. "So there are definitely areas where we can make 
cuts." Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. of Prince George's County 
and other Democratic legislative leaders wrote a letter this week 
condemning Mr. Ehrlich's decision to veto the tax package, which they said 
brought fairness to the corporate-tax structure. "In Maryland, corporations 
bear less than 5 percent of Maryland's tax burden," the letter stated. The 
letter also warned against further budget cuts that would inflict 
"unnecessary pain on Maryland's families, while protecting corporations 
that don't pay their fair share." Mr. Ehrlich, who supported a nearly 
5-cent rate increase in property taxes, has opposed the corporate-tax 
increase. Mr. Massoni declined yesterday to discuss Mr. Ehrlich's 
decisions, but said last week "we will clearly see the governor has been a 
man of his word."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom