The State Senate voted on hotly contested issues well before Sine Die, the last day of the legislative session. Debates on measures such as gun control, the death penalty repeal and offshore wind energy farms were long gone, leaving breathing room for issues such as medical marijuana and the Open Meetings Act. 

Unlike in 2012, there were no last-minute, frantic votes to ensure crucial bills and a state budget plan passed before the end of the legislative session. Yesterday’s Sine Die came after several of the year’s most contentious issues had already passed the General Assembly.

The state’s budget, along with the repeal of the death penalty, comprehensive gun control laws and Gov. Martin O’Malley’s signature environmental bill establishing offshore wind energy farms passed before the 90th day of the legislative session. That gave lawmakers ample time to take up other measures, such as medical marijuana, before they recess for the remainder of the calendar year.

After the state budget was sent to O’Malley for his signature Friday, lawmakers voted to approve bills legalizing marijuana for medical purposes and strengthening the state’s Open Meetings Act, months after the Board of Regents met in secret to approve the university’s move to the Big Ten — a move that sparked outcry and calls for more transparency.

Budget

The state was spared the theatrics of 2012’s state budget battle, in which a budget that made deep across-the-board cuts and delivered a $50 million blow to the University System of Maryland went into effect after lawmakers couldn’t agree on a way to raise $500 million in new revenue.

This session, the legislature passed a budget one business day before Sine Die with little noise — a stark contrast to the last session’s debate, which pitted Democrats and Republicans against each other.

And higher education will see a spending increase following years of cuts; the university system will receive a 7.5 percent increase in funding from 2012 that will help create new initiatives and expand science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs. Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery) called it “a remarkable and probably unparalleled investment in higher education compared to the other states.”

“I think if you were to compare us to any of the other states, you would find our commitment to higher education is second to none,” Madaleno said.

When O’Malley took office in 2007, the state budgeted more than $29 billion in spending, and that number climbed to about $37 billion in the budget passed this during this session. Sen. Ed Reilly (R-Anne Arundel) said he has voted against the budget every year because it has consistently raised taxes and fees on residents to finance expanding costs.

“In spite of the economic downturn, he’s found ways to raise money through fees and increased taxes so state government is growing,” Reilly said. “There’s always been fee increases, tax increases, policy decisions I didn’t agree with. This year is no different.”

Reilly added that education composes about 50 percent of state expenses, and while he is not opposed to ample investments in higher education, he is against consistently increasing spending without holding the university system accountable for how it uses the money.

“There are an awful lot of departments in the state government that get audited every year and get examined very closely; there is no auditing of the University of Maryland system,” Reilly said. “As a state government, I don’t think we do a good enough job of looking where the money is spent and verifying that it’s being spent appropriately.”

Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana has long been a contentious state issue — in 2012, O’Malley vowed to veto any marijuana legislation if it passed the legislature. But this year seems to be different.

On the last day of the session, the Senate easily passed the bill by a 42-4 vote, which would legalize marijuana for medical purposes, such as helping patients undergoing chemotherapy and suffering from multiple sclerosis. Unlike other states, however, Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County) said this bill would stress data collection and a research process assessing uses and effectiveness of the drug.

“This is a good day for Maryland patients, for sick people who aren’t otherwise helped by standard medications,” Morhaim said. With this bill, “sick people who are not criminals can get marijuana in an appropriate, safe and responsible way.”

In 2012, Del. Cheryl Glenn (D-Baltimore City) proposed a medical marijuana bill, but after going through the committee process, it was watered down to provide only a defense in court for caregivers who prescribe the drug to patients. Even that bill failed to pass, a contrast to this session, in which that same bill and a bill strictly dealing with medical marijuana made their way through the General Assembly with broad support.

Open Meetings Act

When the Board of Regents overwhelmingly voted to support university President Wallace Loh’s decision to move to the Big Ten, the 17-member governing body that oversees the university system did so behind closed doors without informing the public. After two people filed complaints, the state’s compliance board found the regents to be in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act, which, among other stipulations, requires public bodies to keep their meetings open to the public.

While lawmakers said it was unrelated to the board move, legislators ratcheted up the state’s open meetings laws. With broad support, a bipartisan bill passed that increases the penalty from $100 to $250 for the first violation of state law and a fine of up to $1,000 for each following violation within three years of the first violation.

“It’s really designed mostly just to make sure there’s a little more teeth in the open meetings law,” said Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-Carroll and Howard). However, he added the board’s incident is “an example of why we need to have a stronger open meetings law.”

“There are a lot of us who were concerned that the Board of Regents made that decision without public input or without people knowing what was going on,” Kittleman said.

Reilly said he supported the bill because government should be as transparent as possible.

“Transparency in government is very important; backroom deals create a lack of trust on the part of the constituents,” Reilly said, adding it’s also “frustrating for legislators.”