In miniature, July 2

• As more states repeal estate taxes, being among the holdouts becomes less tenable. Hello Annapolis? [Laura Saunders, WSJ]
• “Let’s face it: Washington, DC’s Metro is the worst in the world” [Jason Russell, Washington Examiner]
• Search engine takedown scams: “Maryland Circuit Courts Have Been a Venue of Choice for Fake Consent Orders” [Paul Alan Levy]
• “Hogan’s Commonsense Improvements to I-270 Will Help Some, But More Work Is Needed” [Peter Samuel, MPPI]
• Shots fired! David Lublin, Seventh State vs. David Alpert, Greater Greater Washington on anti-Bethesda snark;
• Encouraging to see this on the Evergreen State College craziness from an active Maryland College Democrat [Matt Teitelbaum, Huffington Post]

In miniature, May 7

• Governor should keep the redistricting issue in play: “Hogan has backing — from the general public, from all those sick of gerrymandering and interested in responsible government and from a long-term national trend.” [Capital Gazette] “U.S. judge: Miller, Busch must testify, turn over documents in redistricting case” [Washington Post]
• Also on the redistricting topic, I was a guest on the Kojo Nnamdi show on the topic during session, with former Del. Aisha Braveboy and Maryland Republican chair Dirk Haire [listen]
• No thanks, let’s keep the farebox recovery rule, in which Maryland shows itself more fiscally prudent than many states with mass transit systems [Brian O’Malley, Greater Greater Washington]
• Two liability-expanding decisions from the Maryland Court of Appeals, May v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (duty to warn of asbestos in other companies’ products) and Spangler v. McQuitty (wrongful death action can be filed notwithstanding earlier assertion of personal injury action) made it into American Tort Reform Association’s Judicial Hellholes report last year;
• The Slants, band whose name is the subject of a trademark case before the U.S. Supreme Court, play Frederick [Ronald K. L. Collins, Concurring Opinions]
• “Maryland Decriminalizes Unlicensed Barbering; Jacks Up Fines for Unlicensed Barbering” [Eric Boehm/Reason]

In miniature, March 7

• I’ll be discussing redistricting reform in Maryland this evening 5-6 pm on Kai Hagen’s show on WTHU 1450 (Thurmont) (update: audio);
• After football player collapses on field with heat stroke, resulting in nine-day coma that brings him near death, team doctor refuses to clear him to play again due to re-injury risk; federal court rules for his claim of disability discrimination but Fourth Circuit reverses [Gavin Class v. Towson University, opinion]
• “Maryland Might Stop Recording Conversations On Public Buses” [Andrew Fleischman, “Fault Lines”]
• Litigation over historically black colleges and universities in Maryland has dragged on for years [Maryland Reporter]
• “Maryland Democrats’ plan for matching college savings grants is welfare for the wealthy” [Washington Post editorial]
• Bill by Sen. Michael Hough would abolish ticket cameras [Danielle Gaines, Frederick News-Post]

In miniature, January 10

• A supposed civil right to wasteful spending: per ACLU of Maryland complaint, it’s race bias for Hogan administration to pull plug on grossly uneconomic Baltimore Red Line [Baltimore Sun] More: “worst and most counter-productive legal complaint that’s been filed in a long, long time” [Barry Rascovar, Maryland Reporter]
• Trial lawyers want retroactive legislation to grab billions from manufacturers in lead paint suits. Maryland needs to say no [Baltimore Sun]
• “I agree with decriminalization” — GOP Senate candidate Chris Kefalas on the Drug War [Fox Baltimore at 2:00; related City Paper (“Like a lot of Libertarian-leaning Republicans, Kefalas is opposed to the war on drugs, he says.”); note upcoming fundraising lunch]
• Gov. Hogan’s commission on regulatory reform issues report; topics include one-stop permitting, occupational licensure;
• If you’re feeling a bit hopeful about Baltimore, here’s Fred Siegel to knock you back down again [City Journal]
• Few opinion pieces manage to call forth so many scathing reactions on so many different grounds [Tricia Bishop, Baltimore Sun via S.E.Cupp; national registry of gun owners, “like those for sex offenders,” would make it easier to decide on playdates, and privacy be damned]

In miniature, December 21

• “We’re going to overturn every rock in their lives to find out about their lifestyles” — Montgomery County liquor monopoly union chief Gino Renne, on his adversaries in the legislature [Bethesda Magazine “Bethesda Beat”]
• Relatedly, no wonder Chinese is MoCo’s strong suit dining-wise: county booze system strangles higher-end eateries [Dave McIntyre, Washington Post]
• Virginia plans to cut corporate tax rate, putting yet more pressure on Maryland to reduce its business tax burden [Baltimore Sun]
• BaltimoreLink bus plan from Hogan administration “far sounder” than costly Red Line rail-based model [Nick Zaiac, Maryland Public Policy Institute, summary and paper]
• Kelly Schulz, Chris Shank, Boyd Rutherford among those who participated in conference on Maryland prisoner re-entry put on by my old colleagues at the Manhattan Institute;
• Guns and homeland defense: revisiting the story of the Maryland Minute Men of 1942 [Dave Kopel]

In miniature, February 13

• Former Chevy Chase mayor David Lublin, a Democrat and no conservative, challenges some of the views associated with the Greater Greater Washington blog including its perpetual infatuation with streetcar and light rail, the trouble it has drawing lessons from Metro’s woes, and the jaundiced view it takes of single-family homes and in some cases their owners. Greater Greater’s David Alpert replies (don’t miss his correction after making a claim that WaPo supported Larry Hogan), drawing this riposte.
• Paid sick leave: can we stop pretending that the Bloomberg public health operation at Johns Hopkins somehow differs from the run of other plushly funded liberal advocacy groups? [WaPo, Maryland Reporter]
• At Center Maryland, Josh Kurtz takes note of my Washington Examiner piece on Larry Hogan and other GOP northeastern governors, though he seems sure the Kochs are involved somehow;
• Enriching lawyers, hiking the costs to state agencies: Attorney General Brian Frosh to push Maryland False Claims Act, discussed extensively in this space last year [Rebecca Lessner, Maryland Reporter]
• Not actually a progressive idea: bill proposes keeping unsubstantiated child abuse allegations on file longer, with consequences that include giving some adult actors more legal leverage [Capital Gazette]
• “Four Ways the Hogan Administration Could Save Maryland Billions” [John J. Walters, Maryland Public Policy Institute, PDF]

In miniature, December 21

• Purple Line backers picked a color name similar to Metro lines, clever move but oh so misleading [David Lublin, The Seventh State, earlier]
• Frederick County mom Cindy Rose goes to court seeking right to opt kids out of state-mandated assessment tests [Frederick News Post]
• Court of Appeals will decide whether to construe insurance policies against drafter [Ron Miller]
• Video caught confrontation between Prince George’s cop and student, but did it matter in the end? [Scott Greenfield]
• Sen. Jamie Raskin working on how to remove language from Maryland constitution purportedly barring religious unbelievers from public office [John Hockenberry “The Takeaway,” earlier]
• State’s “road system again ranked low, but highway officials strongly counter ratings” [Meg Tully, Maryland Reporter]

Annual costs of owning a car

Maryland is twelfth highest in the BankRate survey (via Business Insider), substantially higher than neighboring Pennsylvania and Virginia (Delaware and West Virginia had costs comparable to ours). While Maryland has a relatively high gas tax, our spending on gasoline itself is only in the middle of the pack (perhaps because Marylanders are more likely to buy gas-thrifty vehicles and drive shorter distances than residents of many other states). Unfortunately, our repair and insurance costs are among the nation’s highest; both are influenced by regulation as well as other factors.

We reported in May on a National Motorists Association survey that found Maryland one of the worst states in the country in looking after motorists’ interests, in part because of the high reliance by law enforcement on methods geared to raise revenue through traffic-law enforcement.

Density at the Takoma metro

When transit-oriented development begins to get real for Montgomery County neighbors — in particular, when a substantial apartment building is proposed atop the Takoma metro at the D.C. border — you might expect progressives to be all in favor of it, given its recommended benefits in averting sprawl. Yet leading progressive Democrats like Chris Van Hollen, Heather Mizeur, and Jamie Raskin instead play along with locally powerful NIMBY forces demanding lower density. David Alpert at Greater Greater Washington wonders why.