Delegation

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Washington County residents are invited to a public meeting today to talk about the upcoming Maryland General Assembly session, which begins Wednesday. The public meeting will be at South Hagerstown High School at 10 a.m. Each year, Washington County's delegation to the General Assembly gives the public a chance to talk to lawmakers before the session begins. "Any issue that they feel compelled to come talk to us about," said Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington.

By GUY FLETCHER Staff Writer ANNAPOLIS - Time ran out Thursday for the Washington County Commissioners, as the county's delegation to the General Assembly agreed to support legislation to restore relations between the commissioners and the union that represented many of their employees. The 6-0 vote, with two abstentions, came after the delegation had given the commissioners one day to reverse their March 18 decision to abolish collective bargaining rights for county employees.

laurae@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - Washington County lawmakers agreed Wednesday to seek five local bills on issues ranging from massage parlors to liquor license fees. Lawmakers did not discuss what promises to be their most controversial request from the Washington County Commissioners, a transfer tax, because it did not reach them in time for their meeting. At its first meeting of the 90-day session, the Washington County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly voted unanimously Wednesday to seek bills that will: Permit local regulation of massage parlors to prevent them from being used as fronts for prostitution.

ANNAPOLIS - Washington County legislators agreed Wednesday to advance three of the least controversial pieces of legislation in a long list of requests. cont. from front page The county delegation to the Maryland General Assembly voted to file local bills concerning expense accounts for the County Commissioners, operating hours for the Orphans Court and the naming of the new District Court building. Two of the bills were requested by the Washington County Commissioners, who planned to attend Wednesday's meeting but postponed the trip to Annapolis because of snow.

Now that Washington County's General Assembly delegation has endorsed the local hospital's move to the Robinwood area, we have one thought. It's about time. The issue of the move and the City of Hagerstown's objections to it were first raised in 2002, yet the delegation has been silent - or nearly so - on the issue until now. This issue concerns the future of health care in Washington County - how much it will cost individuals and local government and how the traffic a new hospital would generate will be handled.

In December, two members of the Washington County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly disappointed supporters of home rule charter by saying that they would oppose it. State Sen. Donald Munson, R-Washington, said charter was "an idea whose time has not yet come. " Del. Christopher Shank, R-Washington, said that charter would upset a good set of checks and balances. Recently I wrote that the current system allows citizens to get a "do-over" if they don't like what the commissioners have done.

tammyb@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - While requests to change school board elections from an at-large system to a district system in Washington County caught the ears of local legislators, they likely will do little more than form a task force to study the issue this year. No bill has been drafted to change the system, said Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, chairman of the county delegation. Some of his Boonsboro constituents have made the request, and he believes it has merit.

tammyb@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - A proposal for revising the excise tax charged to new development in Washington County got additional fine-tuning Wednesday as the county's delegation to the Maryland General Assembly agreed to several requests from the county commissioners for changes. The delegation has drafted a bill to let the county government change its method of calculating the tax. The bill is scheduled for a hearing next week in a House committee. The bill allows the county to switch from a calculation based on square footage to a flat fee of up to $13,000 per unit for new residential development.

ANNAPOLIS A health-care coalition said Tuesday that it has sponsors for a bill to double Maryland's per-pack cigarette tax from $1 to $2, creating a fund to help the underinsured. Several lawmakers representing Washington County oppose the increase, which would be the state's third tobacco tax hike since 1999. Health Care for All! - hundreds of medical, religious, labor, business and civic groups - is pushing the plan, saying it would help adults quit smoking and keep young people from starting.