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Social issue advocates have mixed success

Equality Maryland chief: ‘Anger right now at Democratic party leadership’

By Janel Davis, Gazette Staff Writer
Published on Friday, April 11, 2008
MPPI IN THE NEWS

ANNAPOLIS - Most advocates for social issues were happy to walk away from the 2008 General Assembly with their victories, however few.

One exception was Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland. Although the legislature passed laws giving incremental rights to domestic partners, including allowing hospital visitation and exempting them from property transfer taxes, Furmansky's organization wanted more.

‘‘I think the [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] community took a very small step forward in 2008," said Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland. ‘‘But the general sense is that the legislature really didn't do anything significant at this critical moment in time."

In fact, Furmansky said, the two bills were the same rights passed three years ago that were then vetoed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).

‘‘There is an incredible amount of anger right now with Democratic leadership," Furmansky said about failed attempts to pass a same-sex marriage law.

‘‘People feel very disappointed in the Democratic Party in Maryland. This is about how society is treating us, and people are never going to stop demanding that society grant us the same legal protections that everyone else takes for granted," he said. ‘‘It is clear that the legislature is wanting to do this in a piece-by-piece way and this is going to exhaust legislators."

In the midst of working on priorities, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and lawmakers may be forgetting their future.

‘‘I just think that often other issues like slots, casinos and property taxes get the most attention, and we forget about children and children's issues," said Cameron Miles, director of organizing at Advocates for Children and Youth. ‘‘From my vantage point, I'm not happy with the way juvenile justice issues were handled."

Instead of funding renovations of facilities that lock up children, lawmakers this session should have been finding ways to rehabilitate them, Miles said.

‘‘Right now there is no prevention programming within the juvenile system or job development programs," he said. ‘‘The juvenile justice department asked for $200 million in the budget to continue to build bricks and mortar and keep young people caged like animals."

For adult offenders, there were not enough conversations this session involving drug policy efforts, said Kimberly Haven, executive director of Justice Maryland, a criminal justice advocacy group.

‘‘I'm a little concerned that we will have to come back in 2009 for conversations about re-entry [of former convicts into the population], and about the impact of crime and criminal justice," she said.

On a positive note, Haven was pleased with a measure passed regarding expunging nuisance crimes from state records, and Miles was satisfied with legislation passed offering dental services to 500,000 youth in the state receiving public health insurance.

That legislation was part of what made 2008 a great year for health care, said Vincent DeMarco, president of the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative.

In addition to passing the Kids First Act, making access to public health easier for parents and children, legislators also passed laws reducing prescription drug costs for seniors.

‘‘This will help all of us by bringing federal matching dollars to Maryland and reducing the burden of compensated care," DeMarco said. ‘‘There are still hundreds of thousands of uninsured Marylanders, but the General Assembly and [O'Malley] should be proud of their work in this area."

Lawmakers kept intact measures to expand the state's health care program to 100,000 uninsured Marylanders passed during November's special session. However, they did slash a subsidy aimed at helping small-business owners provide health benefits to their employees.

But lawmakers' work in health care and other areas are sometimes fiscally unwise, said Christopher Summers, president of the Maryland Public Policy Institute, a Rockville think tank.

‘‘They want to adopt health care policy that is really just going to blow a Grand Canyon-size hole in the state budget, but they think health care is a right and that government should provide it without any regard toward the actual costs," Summers said. ‘‘The most important thing to remember is that everything can't be a top priority because you are dealing with limited resources."

On the environment front, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters saw three of its four legislative priorities pass.

‘‘It was certainly a good year for the environment," said Cindy Schwartz, LCV executive director.

The group pushed bills, championed by O'Malley, to reform the Critical Area Act, to increase the state's energy efficiency and to finalize funding for the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund, which were passed, albeit watered down in some ways. The Critical Area protections were scaled back and the $50 million contribution to the trust fund was cut in half as lawmakers looked for savings to balance the budget.

The league's fourth priority: the Global Warming Solutions Act, died in the final hours of the session.

‘‘Last year was touted as ‘the Year of the Environment,' and we said perhaps it's not the year of the environment, but a new dawn for environmentalism," Schwartz said. ‘‘We're seeing tons of environmental bills aside from our four. That is an indicator that we're moving in the right direction. It's an uphill battle, but in the last two years legislators and the governor, as well as the people are on board."