Md. Senate President Thomas V. ‘Mike’ Miller, left, and Gov. Martin O'Malley were at odds this week over what the gover- nor called a failure of leadership by the State Legislature.

Will he or won’t he? That’s the question
state lawmakers and others are asking
 
Will a special session of the Maryland General Assembly be called to revisit the revenue legislation it failed to pass before adjourning its 90-day session as required by law Monday night?

That’s the question lawmakers and others throughout the state are asking as Gov. Martin O’Malley wavers between saying he’s willing to call the legislature back into special session “a half-hour from now” after first refusing to discuss it, and then later expressing uncertainty about when — or even if he would do so at all.

At a middle of the night press conference following the General Assembly’s adjournment at midnight Monday he refused to discuss the issue, charging the state’s lawmakers with a failure of leadership in not dealing with important budget questions.

He then remained mum on the special session subject during a testy bill signing ceremony Tuesday, describing what he called his party’s failure of leadership as “really a damned shame,” and prompting Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller Jr. (D-27th/Calvert) to respond:

“We didn’t fail anybody. This is a bump in the road. I have been here before in 1991 and 1992.”

Miller was referring to a similar budget situation two decades ago (in 1992) when then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer called the legislature back into special session to reconsider budget legislation left unpassed, as now, during the regular session.

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Baltimore County Executive Kevin B. Kamenetz lobbied against a so-called ‘hybrid’ school board for the county.

SPECIAL SESSION IS LIKELY RESULT
 
By Alan Z. Forman
 
When the Maryland General Assembly adjourned its 90-day session Monday night, it left hanging in the balance major revenue legislation dramatically affecting state spending on education and other priorities, which will likely necessitate the governor’s calling a special session to resolve the unresolved issues.

By not voting on a package of tax increases on high-income earners and a bill to build a major casino in Prince George’s County, the legislature “failed to protect the priorities that allow our state to move forward,” Gov. Martin O’Malley charged at a hastily called press conference close to 1 a.m. as the state’s lawmakers left the State House following adjournment.

The General Assembly however approved a balanced budget but ran out of time before passing accompanying legislation to raise income taxes and shift teacher pension costs to the state’s 23 counties and Baltimore City.

Shortly before midnight — at which time law requires the 90-day session must end — the House of Delegates passed a resolution to extend it; however Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller (D-27th), of Prince George’s County, refused to have the State Senate go along, declaring such extension to be of “dubious constitutionality.”

Miller has been Senate President more than a quarter century, since 1987.

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VoB SELECTS: INVESTIGATIVE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB

Mike Wallace, 1957 photo — The often abrasive TV correspondent died Sat. at age 93 at a care facility in Connecticut.

WAS TELEVISION’S ORIGINATOR
OF ‘AMBUSH’ INTERVIEW STYLE
 
Mike Wallace, the hard-hitting “60 Minutes” TV correspondent who pioneered what has become known as the surprise or ambush-style interview, died over the weekend at an assisted living facilty in New Canaan, Conn. where he had been domiciled in recent years.

His often abrasive adversarial interviewing style was as admired as it was feared. On the highly acclaimed “60 Minutes” weekly newsmagazine show — of which he was the original co-anchor along with Harry Reasoner — Wallace’s aggressive demeanor was counterbalanced by the folksiness of his co-host.

In 1968, Wallace was offered the high-ranking position of press secretary to then-presidential candidate Richard Nixon, who went on to win the White House two times.

Wallace turned the post down, preferring to make his name in television instead.

READ MORE ABOUT MIKE WALLACE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES’ OBITUARY (click here)

VoB SELECTS:  INVESTIGATIVE NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB

 
NOW-NO. 3 HAMBURGER CHAIN
ANNOUNCES MAJOR MAKEOVER

Burger King, long the world’s No. 2 hamburger chain, is going public for the second time.

After announcing a major overhaul of its menu and restaurants last week, the now-No. 5 U.S. restaurant chain — behind McDonald’s, Subway, Starbucks and Wendy’s — said Wednesday it will relist its shares on the New York Stock exchange within the next three months.

Burger King traded publicly under the “BKC” ticker between 2006 and 2010 but was taken private when the company was sold to 3G Capital Management two years ago.

On Monday, the chain launched 10 new menu items including smoothies, frappés, specialty salads and snack wraps in a star-studded TV ad campaign, representing the largest and most ambitious menu expansion since first opening its doors in 1954.

There are 10 Burger King locations in the metropolitan Baltimore area with others scattered throughout the state of Maryland.

Until last month it was the No. 2 fast-food hamburger chain — McDonald’s is far and away the leader in sales of all fast-food restaurants — but was surpassed for the second spot for the first time by Wendy’s.

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