Tom LoBianco, Maryland politics reporter

(My latest for Center Maryland. … full story here. – TL)

Task forces and study committees often serve in Annapolis as a way of putting off making decisions on tough issues. Kick it to a study, and report back later, goes the thinking in the General Assembly.

And sometimes state lawmakers kick so hard they forget about those committees until the issue they were supposed to be studying pops up again in the news. That’s already happened at least twice during this year’s legislative session, with task forces which were supposed to study sex offenders and juvenile prisoners.

The legislative task force is also occasionally used in Annapolis to defuse hot-button issues in election years.

One such high-profile example was The Commission to Study the Impact of Immigrants in Maryland, which was formed at the height of the hotly contested First Congressional District race in 2008. Two years later that group has still not met, though a spokesman for Gov. Martin O’Malley says the group will start its work this coming summer.

“Very often, they are a way of punting. If you can’t solve an issue, create a task force. If you want to delay action on an issue, create a commission,” says House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell, a Southern Maryland Republican.

In 2007, O’Donnell sought a study that would detail the number of study committees created over the years and the total cost to the state (and taxpayers.) But he did not remember that request when asked about it last week.