A small assembly of St. Mary’s College students on April 17 prompted a lively and contentious discussion between two members of the area’s legislative delegation about the just completed 2013 Maryland General Assembly. Delegates John Bohanan (D: 29-B) and Anthony O’Donnell (R: 29C) often gave divergent opinions about the success of the session and about the bills passed by it.

O’Donnell lost a congressional race in November against Bohanan’s boss, Rep. Steny Hoyer.

O’Donnell’s district includes lower Calvert and parts of central St. Mary’s. Bohanan’s district includes the southern part of St. Mary’s.

The disagreements were underscored during closing statements in which O’Donnell held up a graph showing the rise in state spending and Bohanan called the graph misleading.

The session at the Daugherty Palmer Commons was sponsored by the Public Policy Studies Program and the Center for the Study of Democracy. Coordinator of Public Policy Studies Todd Eberly moderated the session. He said with just one year left in the legislators’ current terms, the expectation was that the session would be quiet. “This year’s session was anything but quiet,” he said.

O’Donnell, the legislature’s minority leader, called the session “part trying and challenging.” He concluded, “The Maryland General Assembly has taken a hard turn to the left, perhaps the most left in the nation.” He blamed Governor Martin O’Malley, who O’Donnell said is eyeing a bid for the presidency and is staking out the left side of the political spectrum for his own territory.

O’Donnell noted that many of the bills that passed, such as handgun legislation, same-sex marriage, the death penalty repeal and the gas tax increase had bipartisan opposition. “It is difficult for moderates and conservatives in the General Assembly,” he said.

Bohanan said some people in the state would say the session was “very productive,” but he conceded some people in the area of St. Mary’s County that he represents would disagree.

Bohanan detailed the budget problems that started plaguing the state in 2007 and only now are beginning to turn around. He said normal annual growth used to be five percent. “We won’t see that again for time soon,” he concluded.

Bohanan told the college students that the state’s number one priority continues to be education funding and remained so during the fiscal downturn of the past few years. The college re