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Local Lawmakers Encounter Success, Disappointment In General Assembly

by Brandon Butler,

legislative aide

The confetti flew in both chambers as the 2010 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly came to an end in Annapolis on Monday, and Del. Wendell R. Beitzel (R– Dist. 1A) and Sen. George C. Edwards (R–Dist. 1) had a lot to celebrate.

“Despite some disappointments, the Garrett and Allegany County delegations got a lot accomplished this year both individually and as a group” said Beitzel.

Beitzel and Edwards also served on all four conference committees that dealt with the state budget. Beitzel served as a voting member of the committee, while Edwards was an advisor to the committee. This was the first time that Garrett and Allegany representatives served on all of the conference committees and were represented by both the House and Senate.

As a result, the Maryland Mined Coal Tax Credit was, once again, restored. The measure, which makes Maryland coal competitive with cheaper Pennsylvania and West Virginia coal, has been a measure that has directly contributed to industrial jobs in Garrett and Allegany counties.

“The General Assembly has been concerned about job creation and retention; this tax credit is a proven job creator for Garrett and Allegany counties,” said Edwards.

The Allegany County Delegation also sponsored a measure that would authorize counties to establish a preference for local construction firms competing for school construction projects. Delegate Beitzel worked hard to get Senate Bill 551 through during the closing minutes of the session. The House of Delegates even momentarily adjourned the session and immediately reconvened in order to overcome a procedural hurdle that would have prohibited the passing of the Senate bill.

Read the rest here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Maryland bill provides foreclosure mediation for homeowners

From the Washington Post:

By Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 15, 2010

Beginning this summer, Maryland homeowners at risk of losing their properties will have another option to stave off foreclosure.

The Maryland General Assembly this week approved a mediation program that will give homeowners a chance to meet with lenders and an administrative law judge to discuss ways to stay in their homes.

The bill, proposed by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), takes effect July 1, and should be fully implemented by mid-August.

“This is an opportunity for those who fall through the cracks,” said Del. Doyle L. Niemann (D-Prince George’s), a sponsor of the bill, referring to homeowners who have requested loan modifications but still find themselves facing foreclosure. “Many people say they don’t get a response from their lender. They talk to different people on the phone when they call or their paperwork gets lost.”

Under the legislation, the lender is required to send an application for a loan-modification or loss-mitigation program to the homeowner — which the homeowner can use to seek help — at least 45 days before a foreclosure action is filed in court. The bill requires the lender to pay a $300 fee for a foreclosure filing.

Read the rest of the article here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Local Lawmakers To Review Gov. O'Malley's Budget

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Local Lawmakers To Review Gov. O’Malley’s Budget

Feb. 4, 2010

One of the many signs that the 2010 session of the Maryland General Assembly is in full swing is the release of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s fiscal year 2011 budget last week. The Senate Finance and the House Appropriations committees will now begin reviewing the expenditures and hold hearings on the proposed budget.
The members of Garrett County’s legislative delegation both sit on the budgetary committees. Sen. George C. Edwards (R-Dist. 1) serves on the Senate Finance Committee, and Del. Wendell Beitzel (R-Dist. 1A) serves on the House Appropriations Committee.

Current estimates suggest that Maryland faces a $1.5 billion deficit for FY 2011.

“This year’s budget is going to be difficult,” Beitzel said. “We are looking at another massive structural deficit that the state needs to address to balance the budget.”

Read the rest of the article here

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Garrett County’s bills to go to state Assembly

Garrett’s bills to go to state Assembly

Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — Legislators met Thursday to review requests from Garrett County and determine which bills to take before the Maryland General Assembly in its current session, which began Wednesday.

Several would expand the powers of the county commission, including one bill that would enable county officials to hold a public sale of the homes of residents who are 60 or more days delinquent on payment of their water and sewer bills.

Linda Lindsey, director of the county’s Department of Public Utilities, said as of November the county was owed $282,000 in unpaid water and sewer bills.

“The county needs some mechanism to be able to collect that,” Sen. George Edwards said in a phone interview from Annapolis. “The commissioners requested this legislation, and we’ve agreed to introduce it.”

The legislators said they will also submit a bill to enable the county commission to adopt local ordinances establishing minimum setback requirements for commercial wind turbines. It would allow the commission to require turbines to be placed a minimum distance from a property line.

“The main purpose of that is if a turbine would fall down, or a blade would fly off,” Edwards explained. “You want them back far enough that if they fall down they’re not on someone else’s property.”

Another bill would allow the commission to require companies to make provisions for decommissioning wind turbines and restoring turbine sites to their original condition in the event that the turbines go out of operation.

“There might come a point where they reach the end of their life and they just sit there,” Edwards said. “In mining, you have to have bonds or some other kind of instrument to provide for reclaiming the land if the mining company stops operations. This would be the same scenario.”

The commission also requested legislation that would enable it to increase the existing hotel rental tax if needed. Currently, that tax is set at 5 percent. The draft legislation would enable the commission to increase it as high as 8 percent, though the commission has stated it would not implement a 3 percent increase all at once.

Legislators will also follow up on a bill requested by the commission granting it the ability to establish a county emergency services board.

Delegate Wendell Beitzel said he and Edwards also intend to work on a legislative solution to an ongoing problem with the availability of OB/GYN services in Garrett County.

Currently, a handful of general practitioners delivers babies in the county. If a doctor delivers more than 30 per year, the cost of medical malpractice insurance can increase by about $100,000 because of insurance stipulations. Previously, legislation was in place that subsidized the gap between the general practitioners’ malpractice insurance costs and the increase, but that has expired.

Beitzel said they also plan to reintroduce legislation called the Dormant Mineral Act, which would provide a process for landowners to recover the mineral rights to their property if it was impossible to trace the current owner of the rights.

“We put in the bill last year and it passed the House and went to the Senate, but got stuck in committee,” Beitzel said. “This year, we’ll be dropping the bill earlier to try to get it through.”

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350