(l ro r) Republicans Tony O’Donnell, Deb Rey, Matt Morgan and Steve Waugh

Mechanicsville, MD –– Governor Martin O’Malley is the 800-pound gorilla in the room for many candidates in the November 4th election. Most Republicans are running against his (and by default Democratic candidate Anthony Brown’s) record. And, judging from statements at a legislative candidates’ forum sponsored by the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, many Democrats are running away from the O’Malley legacy.

The breakfast forum held at Wicomico Shores Golf Course featured Republican and Democratic candidates for District 29 State Senate and Districts 29A, B & C House races.

Several examples of the Democratic disavowal of the O’Malley Administration:
• State Senator Roy Dyson stated strong opposition to one of O’Malley’s key legislative agenda items: the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. “It was a terrible, wrong-headed idea,’ he said.
• Dyson strongly opposed the governor’s veto of the Eastern Shore Wind Turbine moratorium bill. He said, “It could threaten the long-term viability of the base.”
• Dyson said if Republican Larry Hogan is victorious he would work with him on his agenda to reduce taxes.
• House 29A candidate Dan Slade said of the gas tax increase: “I would not have voted for it.”
• Slade said, “Maryland does have a spending problem. We need a more pro-business environment.”
• House 29B incumbent Del. John Bohanan, in response to a question about a number of regulations aimed at business, said, “We have failed in many respects,” adding that many of the regulations can be replaced or thrown away.
• Bohanan was also critical of the wind turbine bill veto and said an announcement was forthcoming that would resolve the issue
• House 29C candidate Len Zuza said he opposed implementation of the rain tax on St. Mary’s County.
• Zuza said the budget increases of the last eight years need close scrutiny. “We don’t want to become another Detroit,” he said.

Here are some other highlights from the forum:

State Senate: Roy Dyson vs. Steve Waugh

In his opening statement, in addition to the wind turbine issue, Dyson said the most immediate concern for the area is Sequestration, noting that the local economy is tied to the military bases.

Waugh said the state has failed at creating jobs, having the same number now as when the recession started, along to 40 tax increases. He said the state in the last eight years has had “out-of-control, unrestrained spending,” including a health-care web site that doesn’t work.

“I will work with Larry Hogan to fix Maryland and to change Maryland,” Waugh said.
Waugh also said he opposed to decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. He said the problem with it is it sends “the wrong message,” adding that marijuana is a gateway drug for heroin.

In response to a question about the number one way to grow jobs, Waugh said Maryland has a “taxes’ problem.” He said passing the minimum wage bill will cause Maryland to lose jobs. “We have to go after spending,” he insisted, observing the budget increase from $13 to $39 billion under Dyson’s watch.

Waugh said the “easy kills” in the budget would include elimination of pork barrel projects from the legislators.

“Cut spending, cut taxes, grow jobs,” Waugh said is the way to do it.

Dyson in response said he had voted against O’Malley’s tax increases. But he said he would resist state spending cuts that just caused a “push down” to the counties.
In a closing statement Dyson noted his recent recognitions for support of business from the Maryland for Responsible Government and the Maryland Retailers Association. He said only four Republicans and seven Democrats made the retailers’ Star List this year.

“Some of us are listening. We are a small business delegation,” Dyson said.
Waugh said in his closing statement, “If you vote for Hogan you need to send him some help.” He added, “Small business has no one to work with. I want to carry your flag.”

House of Delegates District 29A –Matt Morgan vs. Dan Slade

Morgan in his opening statement called himself a small businessman. “I care about my kid’s future,” he said, noting that Maryland has lost 6,500 businesses during the O’Malley Administration.

“Forty-seven percent of Marylanders want to leave the state,” he observed. The main culprit: taxes,

Slade noted in his openings statement that he was born and raised in the county (his father is an ex-delegate and retired judge). Slade said he came back to the county after law school to establish his own law practice, which he described as a small business. “I know what it is like to have to make payroll,” he said.

Slade said if elected he would work hard to diversify the economy and not raise taxes.

Slade also emphasized the need to preserve the county’s rural character and the Chesapeake Bay.

In response to a question about the top priority to improve the business climate in the county and state, Morgan answered, “Cut taxes,” which he said is driven by deficit spending. He said the budget had increased by 12 percent in just the past two years. “The truth is it is their problem,” he said.

“We need to reign in government spending and give it to the people who earned it and allow the economy to grow,” Morgan said.

Slade in response to the question pointed out the state’s spending problem. “”We need to be more open to business,” he said, and along with that – “cut regulations.”

House District 29B – John Bohanan vs. Deb Rey

In his opening statement, Bohanan pointed out that Pax River injects $7.5 billion into the state’s economy, so the base needs to be protected. He said for the last 70 years the economic trajectory of the base has “been up and up,” but he added, “That has ended.”

Bohanan said he is proud of the “private/public partnerships” such as the Navy Alliance, Patru8xnet partnership and the chamber that have helped preserve the base.

He said the next step, with those partners, was to diversify the economy given the climate in Washington. The first step in that diversification has been taken with the arrival of the University of Maryland. Bohanan said that education is the key to the area’s future. He chairs the Education subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

“I want to make it easier and cheaper to live in St. Mary’s County and do business here,” said Rey, who is in her first campaign for public office. She is an Air Force veteran, who listed jobs there in information management and logistics as qualifications for the position in Annapolis.

In addition to reducing taxes, she said she would work hard to “restore individual freedoms,” including 2nd Amendment rights.
In response to a question about reducing the wage and wealth gap in the county,

Bohanan agreed such a gap indeed exists, with many workers on base making more than $100,000 while some families struggling to make on $40,000 or less.

Bohanan said the answer is bringing manufacturing to the area with their attendant jobs. He said that is beginning to happen with the development at the airport of several UAV businesses. “That’s our skill set. They will provide good paying jobs,” he said.

“Nothing happens unless we lower taxes to bring in businesses,” Rey said.
Rey also told of an electronics recycling firm that wants to locate in the county but is being impeded by regulations.

Regarding additional regulations on businesses, Rey said, “Government shouldn’t be involved between the employer and their employees.”

Bohanan pointed out his membership on the Augustine Commission that is looking the state’s business climate.

District 29C – Tony O’Donnell vs. Len Zuza

Zuza listed his resume that includes 23 years on the Office of Management and Budget staff. “I have saved U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.

Zuza said he also ran a small business (management consulting firm) for seven years which gave him experience with the issues of importance to the Chamber members.

Zuza said one of his key issues is transportation infrastructure and said he would work hard to remove funding obstacles for the Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge, which connects the two counties of his district.

O’Donnell, who has served for 20 years, said, “It is a good time to have a discussion in the community about the direction we are heading.” He observed that there was much more of a spirit of cooperation when he was first elected. He said he would never have expected 20 years later “how out of balance things are in Annapolis.”

O’Donnell called the current legislature, “very leftist, very redistributionist.” He asked the Chamber members to ask themselves, “Who do to want (in office) to change things.”

O’Donnell said he believed that instead of government doing things for people, “We want to unleash the private sector.”

In regards to a question about the shortfall in the state’s pension fund, Zuza said it was a nationwide problem. “We need to take a serious look at it. We need serious number crunching.”

O’Donnell said the problem was the state’s “operating budget deficit.” He said the legislature set aside $200 million for the pensions and then proceeded to raid the fund.

In response to a question about immigration issues, O’Donnell placed the issue clearly at the feet of the federal government for failing to address the issue.

Zuza agreed with O’Donnell (which he said wasn’t often). He said it was an issue that needed bipartisan resolution. He added that the answer needed to include some compassion for the children that the country has invested in over time.

The St. Mary’s Chamber of Commerce has a second Legislative forum set for October 15th, for the county commissioner candidates. That will be a luncheon at Olde Breton Inn. Pre-paid reservations are required.

Pictured below, l to r, Democrats Roy Dyson, Dan Slade, John Bohanan and Len Zuza