Tom LoBianco, Maryland politics reporter

(My latest for Center Maryland – TL)

Maryland’s pension funding situation is one of the worst in the nation, a panel of financial experts said Tuesday.

The state has chronically shortchanged its pension system since 2002, and payments to another pension system — so-called Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEBs) – have been almost non-existent.

The panel was convened as lawmakers prepare to pass a $32 billion budget, strapped together with massive spending cuts and one-time fund transfers designed to account for a $2.5 billion shortfall.

Lawmakers are staring down an estimated $8.5 billion spending shortfall over the next four years, or more than $2 billion a year.

The combined cost to fully meet state pension and OPEB benefits amounts to about $26 billion over the next 30 years, or slightly less than $1 billion a year on top of the existing shortfalls, according to a Pew Center for the States study.

While that pension number may seem insurmountable, small changes and investments now can easily put the state on stable footing, said financial experts who convened Tuesday at The Maryland Inn.

(Here’s my latest for WYPR – TL)

BALTIMORE, MD (wypr) – Sitting inside the Bel-Loc Diner, Joe Seehusen fiddles with a creamer as he explains the evolution of the Tea Party Movement. It started with the Ron Paul presidential campaign, which Seehusen worked on, and grew with the healthcare debate.

Like the anti-war protests of the 60s, he says, the disillusion with government grew out of college campuses in 2008. But unlike the 60s it was focused on fiscal solvency and the Constitution.

“What was different though is that these people were interested in topics that that were very different from what their parents, the boomer generation, was interested in. And that would be mainly they were interested in Constitutional issues they were interested in issues like the soundness of money, so they were interested in institutions like the Federal Reserve, which is an institution that most of us not really familiar with at all.”

Seehusen is the co-chair of the Baltimore County chapter of Americans For Prosperity, which for all intents and purposes, is the organization at the center of the Tea Party Movement.

Amid the healthcare debate, where the Tea Party has flexed its muscle most, the focus has often swayed from longterm fiscal stability to accusations of socialism taking over America and comparisons of President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler.

Former House Minority Leader and candidate for state Senate Al Redmer is helping his kid pimp a sweet crib down in Middle River. For less than $250,000, no less.

The details are included in a Friday e-mail Redmer sent out from his campaign e-mail account, along with some nice shots of the property.

When I first saw the e-mail — with the subject line: “Perfect Starter Home” — I thought it was some sort of clever hit piece. I was thinking something along the lines of: “So-and-so moved into governor’s mansion, but it’s really just the ‘Perfect Starter Home’ for a guy who only cares about moving in to the White House.”

(Look, the pitches only get more contrived as the campaigns drag on. That sort of ploy will actually sound fresh in a few months.)

But when it turned out to literally be a pitch for a “Perfect Starter Home” I was a little disappointed.

I talked to Jared DeMarinis over at the State Board of Elections. He said that while it’s a clear violation of campaign finance rules to use campaign apparatus for any sort of personal gain, it’s a little unclear just how much money is wasted sending an e-mail.

“Getting an ad for a starter house is a definitely not a normal campaign expenditure,” DeMarinis said Monday.

I’m still waiting to hear back from Redmer. UPDATE: Redmer just got back to me, a few minutes after the post went up. It was a mistake, he said.

“Actually, it was a mistake. It was supposed to go from my Yahoo account,” Redmer wrote in an e-mail.

So I filmed this gaggle with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley yesterday (Maryland Day) using my droid and Qik I asked him what he thought about Bob Ehrlich possibly announcing his run for governor on April 7 and he said he was too busy with the legislative session to really care. (Here’s the video.)

That was at 2 p.m. in Annapolis. Two hours later I saw him at the gym in Baltimore.

I asked him about playing hookie (which I was too, though I’m a freelancer) and he responded: “It’s called wellness.”

So, as we muck our way through the “future of journalism” some of the old guard sound like they’re ready to break with ethics traditions of yore.

To err, The Washington Post has hired away David Weigel from The Washington Independent (which is funded by the liberal Center for Independent Media.)

This quote from WaPo Honcho Marcus Brauchli really stopped me cold:

“As a blogger, he has more latitude than reporters to reach conclusions,” Brauchli said. “It’s inevitable we will employ more people who have that ability.”

So, is this a move away from traditional journalism (which is wont to not reach conclusions)? And doesn’t that quote sort of poorly define “blogger”? I’m a blogger. I guess. But I’m also a reporter. (“I’m not only the president of tomlobianco.com, I’m a client!” Or something ridiculous like that …)

Here’s a great little snapshot of Maryland’s left-right politics debate. Conservative activist Mark Newgent going up against Democratic hack Steve Lebowitz, all on Twitter (God bless ‘em.)

Steve Lebowitz argues the Democratic angle from the left

And conservative hack Mark Newgent Tweet-beats Lebowitz from the right

For full disclosure, I write for Center Maryland, so I won’t address the topics being debated here. But expect plenty more of this as we wind through the campaigns. The hardest of the hardcore political nerds are nitpickers more than anybody and Newgent and Lebowitz are emblematically nitpicky.

What’s the difference as opposed to any other election? The Twinteractivity of the argument. (Which is a godawful merging of Twitter and interactivity … the word, that is.) Anyway you can track the play by play better than before and you can actually read through some of the backup information used to argue the point. And smartasses like myself can take screenshots for perseverance (shift+apple+4).

Here’s the news roundup from last week on WYPR, where I sat in with Baltimore Sun Opinion Editor Andy Green and Baltimore Sun Columnist (and former Baltimore Examiner Opinion Editor) Marta Hummel Mossburg.

WYPR News Roundup

Topics we hit: Frederick County secession, gay marriage, Bobby Ehrlich and (inevitable as always) slots and gaming. Enjoy!

(Here‘s my latest for Center Maryland – TL)

A little more than a week ago, developers, environmental advocates and lawmakers hammered out a tepid compromise to ease Maryland into a tough new set of environmental restrictions on development.

Now that measure is locked in a committee run by an ardent liberal lawmaker, and in attempt to break free the compromise, one of the state’s most powerful developers’ lobbying groups unleashed a study blasting stormwater regulations as bad for the economy and workers in the construction industry.

And environmentalists, who feel like they gave up a lot to developers in the negotiating process, are now angry with what they say are excessive political tactics.

The report is a reminder of how devastating unchecked environmental rules would be for the economy, said Thomas M. Farasy, president of the Maryland State Builders Association, which commissioned the study.

Well, I dare say this was what I wrote about Monday for Center Maryland – punting to a study committee. Looks like that wine-shipping bill, dead at the hands of Baltimore Democrat Joan Carter Conway (whose husband serves on the city liquor board) has now been kicked to a study! The Sun’s Annie Linsky has the story here.

Well, among the things the populace pays attention to when it comes to state government, alcohol is right there at the top with taxes, gambling and serious criminal offenses. The big question is whether this study will actually be completed or be forgotten about for a few years, like some other study committees on sex offender laws and juvenile justice reform.

(Here‘s my latest for WYPR, aired this morning. – TL)

ANNAPOLIS, MD (wypr) – “Judiciary is probably seen as more tyrannical leadership for lack of a better word. I say that in all due respect, but it’s more difficult, when the chairman wants something or not, that’s usually the will of the committee.”

That’s Delegate Sue Kullen, president of the Women’s Caucus in Annapolis. She’s been leading a charge to improve domestic violence and child custody laws in Maryland.

She’s talking about Joseph Vallario, the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Kullens says he’s the man who has almost single-handedly blocked her efforts.

Over his 17 years as leader of the committee, Vallario, a defense attorney, has become notorious for canning measures he doesn’t like, with little explanation and frustrating advocates across all spectrums.

But Vallario says he’s hardly tyrannical.

“It’s not a fair perception. We have 31 or 32 bills on sex offenders. All 32 bills will not pass, because they are comprised into one bill. We will probably pass one two or three big bills.”