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January 12, 2021 | Daily News Brief | State stimulus bill. County cop suspended for riot participation. Don’t play chess with Governor Hogan.


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Today…Governor Hogan announces a major stimulus package for Marylanders. An Anne Arundel County Police officer has been suspended for particiating in the riot at the Capitol. A warning about violence in the next days. County Executive Pittman wants your input on the budget. The schools are looking for opinions on when in-person learning should resume. And The Big Bean is opening a new location on Bestgate Road!

Today I also have some thoughts on the Governor’s stimulus bill and why I never want to play chess with him!

And of course, George  from DCMDVA Weather  is here with your local weather forecast! Please download their APP so you can keep on top of the local weather scene!

NOTE: For hearing impaired subscribers, a full transcript is available below.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Good morning, it is Tuesday, January 12th 2021 and THIS is your Eye On Annapolis Daily News Brief.

Fair warning, be sure you listen to the end of this for a rant?? Not sure that is the right word… editorial???  Not really,  let’s go with some final thoughts… how’s that?  OK so let’s get into the news–there’s a bunch!

As I thought, Governor Hogan stole a bit of Comptroller’s thunder yesterday and announced a billion dollars of aid for Marylanders.  He will be presenting a n emergency bill to the legislature tomorrow when they convene for the session.  Calling it the Relief Act of 2021, the bill will provide direct payments to  Marylanders who filed for the Earned Income Tax Credit–the payments will be $750 for families and $450 for individuals. Additionally he is repealing all state and local income taxes that would normally be assessed on unemployment earnings. There is a business sales tax credit of up to $12,000 for businesses and extended the unemployment tax relief for employers. The Governor said he is prepared to get the money flowing as soon as the General Assembly signs the bill and indicated it could be as soon as this weekend.

In some fallout news from the insurrection at the Capitol last Wednesday, an Anne Arundel County Police officer was found to be involved and has been suspended with pay. The department is investigating  to determine the specific involvement of the officer to see if any laws or policies were violated.

And this is concerning. The FBI has put out a warning for all 50 state capitals and the District warning of armed protests between January 16 and the Inauguration and ALL of our government entities and law enforcement agencies have released statements that they are coordinating to make sure we all remain safe.  My tip–I’d avoid the area near the State House for a few days if you can!

It is budget time in Anne Arundel County and the County Executive and our new official budget officer Chris Trumbauer  want your input. As he has done for the past two years, County Executive Pittman will hold seven town halls. This year they are virtual of course and they are all at 6:00pm  beginning on January 14th.  You can sign up to speak and get the entire schedule at aacounty.org/budgettownhalls  If you just want to listen and snark—you can do that on the County Executive’s Facebook page.

And the saga of “when will kids get back in schools” continues. Despite a decision made back in November, the Anne Arundel County Public Schools are second guessing once again.  They are requesting families of students to complete a survey about when they want kids to return to in-person learning.  You have to put in your student’s ID numbers to take the survey. Access it at aacps.org/spring2021survey .  And to be honest, this is at the behest of the Board who are likely concerned with their next election and are afraid to make a misstep that bounces them from office.

And finally, some good news!  We have been hearing of businesses closing, but this time, the best coffee shop in Severna Park is expanding!  The Big Bean Coffee House is opening a second location near Annapolis (just over the City line in the County) at 888 Bestgate Road. They plan to be open sometime in April and the shop will include a 35 seat outdoor patio.  So this is great news–no need to ride my bike to Severna Park for a coffee fix!

OK that wraps up the news for us today.  As always, thank you  for listening and if you are somewhere where you can leave a rating or a review, please do. And make sure you let your friends, family and colleagues know about us.

A quick thank you to the sponsors for this Daily News Brief– Solar Energy Services up in Millersville and to the Kristi Neidhardt Team of Northrop Realty, a Long and Foster Company.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I have some final thoughts, so you want to hang out until the end for that; and of course, George Young from DCMDVA Weather is here with your locally forecast weather report. All that gets underway in just one minute after we hear from Rick Peters from Solar Energy Services!


NEVER PLAY CHESS WITH MARYLAND GOVERNOR LARRY HOGAN

If I am ever challenged by Governor Hogan to a chess match, please remind me about his announcement yesterday.  The moral of that story is NEVER play chess with the Governor.

Hogan likes to say he is a businessman with no political experience, but he played the General Assembly like a master yesterday.  Follow along.

Last year, the General Assembly passed the “Blueprint for Mayland’s Future” or the Kirwin Commission bill to invest heavily in education.  This was a $32 billion dollar bill that undeniably would have resulted in significant tax increases to fund.  Predictably, Hogan vetoed it.

Unpredictably, COVID happened. The General Assembly closed early and vowed to overrride the veto post haste when they returned in 2021…which is tomorrow.

No one expected COVID to morph into a year or longer event. And people are hurting.

Enter Governor Hogan with his major relief initiative which conveniently needs approval from the legislature.

So, what is a Delegate or Senator to do as they enter into a new re-election cycle in 2022?

They certainly do not want to alienate their supporters by denying them much needed assistance as they deal with a pandemic. And they certainly are not interested in increasing taxes to wrestle a $32 billion dollar blueprint.

And funding both is fiscally irresponsible and we all know that!

Go against the governor and lose a seat? Go with the governor and stand a chance?  Not so tough of a choice.

Governor Hogan , to use a phrase my father was fond of , totally snookered them .

Well played Governor Hogan….well played indeed! You’ve learned this political game very well! And never call me for chess.

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