The Baltimore County Council voted Tuesday, January 19, to cap pensions at 60 percent of the annual salary, currently $54,000. The bill takes effect Monday, February 1, and applies to anyone who joins the seven-member panel after that date, but not to the current members. Members tabled a broader bill that contained age limits. This modest effort at reform could play a pivotal role in fall elections as criticism continues to mount over a system that far outpaces retirement benefits for working families. “This is a clear case of elected officials protecting their own pocketbooks and enabling themselves to retire at a relatively young age,” said Donald Norris, chair and professor of public policy. “The cap won’t quell any outcry among citizens, and it will give people running against these officials an issue.”
The article, “Pension reform could be issue in Balto. Co. politics,” ran January 21, in the Baltimore Sun.
Candidates are gathering cash to position themselves for Baltimore County races. County Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, who hasn’t formally announced he’s running for the open county executive position, has a $1.1 million balance in his campaign account, up about $300,000 since late October. Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder reports $640,000 in the bank, up about $40,000 since the fall. “This is going to be a seriously contested primary with a couple of heavy hitters from the council,” said Norris.
The article, “Candidates amass cash for Balto. County races,” ran January 23, in the Baltimore Sun.
In an Op/Ed column for the Baltimore Sun, Norris outlines why Democrats are more likely to win statewide races in Maryland than Republicans. “The Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts elections are not terribly germane to Maryland in 2010 because, in all three, weak Democratic candidates ran poor campaigns against strong, effective GOP candidates,” Norris said. If a 2010 rematch occurs between Governor Martin O’Malley and former Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr., Norris predicts, “O’Malley will win by at least 6 percentage points, if not more.”
The column, “This isn’t Massachusetts,” ran January 27, in the Baltimore Sun.
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