Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
SB 15 to be killed – victory for grassroots effort!
On behalf of the Maryland Equestrian Foundation and the Maryland Horse Council, Dorothy Troutman and Sandra Crow (both of Upper Marlboro) met with Senate President Mike Miller regarding Senate Bill 15, (the bill would have created a commission to study the future of the Show Place Arena at Prince Georges Equestrian Center) and they are pleased to report that Senator Miller has agreed to kill the bill! To learn more about this bill, see our post from Wednesday, January 25, 2012.
Thanks to everyone who contacted the legislators!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Bill proposes switching slots revenues from racetracks to schools
The Ways and Means Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates is considering a bill sponsored by Delegates Simmons, Anderson, Arora, Barkley, Burns, Cane, Cluster, Conaway, Cullison, Dwyer, Gilchrist, Glenn, Gutierrez, Hough, Hucker, K. Kelly, Kramer, McConkey, McMillan, Myers, Parrott, B. Robinson, Serafini, Tarrant, Washington, and Wilson, that would change Maryland's current law that allocates revenues from slot machines. The portion of slots revenues (currently 7%) that goes to racetracks and purses, would be increased to 9.5%, but ENTIRELY diverted to school construction. Under this bill, race tracks and racing interests would no longer get any portion of slots revenue.
Here is the full text of the bill: http://mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/bills/hb/hb0376f.pdf
Here is a list of the members of the Ways & Means Committee:
Chair: Sheila E. Hixson Vice Chair: Samuel I. Rosenberg
Kathryn L. Afzali, Kumar P. Barve, Joseph C. Boteler III, Talmadge Branch. Jon S. Cardin,
Mark N. Fisher, C. William Frick, Ron George, Glen Glass, Carolyn J. B. Howard, Jolene Ivey,
Anne R. Kaiser, Eric G. Luedtke, Aruna Miller, LeRoy E. Myers, Jr., Justin D. oss, Andrew A. Serafini, Melvin L. Stukes, Michael Summers, Frank S. Turner, Jay Walker
For contact info for these Committee members, see: http://mlis.state.md.us/mgaweb/mail32.aspx
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Montgomery County Legislators seek to protect farmers in the Ag Reserve from Homeowners Covenants that restrict or prohibit farming
The Transportation and Land Use Committee of the Montgomery County Delegation to the General Assembly is considering a bill that would provide that "ANY PROVISION OF RECORDED COVENANTS AND RESTRICTIONS THAT PROHIBITS OR RESTRICTS AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY OR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURE ON AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY IS UNENFORCEABLE. and
ANY PROVISION OF RECORDED COVENANTS AND RESTRICTIONS THAT PROHIBITS OR RESTRICTS COMMERCIAL OR BUSINESS ACTIVITY IS UNENFORCEABLE TO THE EXTENT THAT IT HAS THE EFFECT OF PROHIBITING OR RESTRICTING THE ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY ON AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY.
This bill was brought about in response to recent cases in which residential homeowners in the Ag Reserve have created covenants that would restrict or outright prohibit farming, even on land currently being used for farming. The Bill number is currently MC 16-12. You can see the entire text at: http://www.montgomerycountydelegation.com/documents/MC16-12.pdf.
The bill is on the agenda for the T&LU Committee meeting tomorrow (2/2/12). Here are names and contact info for committee members:
JEFFREY D. WALDSTREICHER
Democrat, District 18,
Montgomery County
(410) 841-3130, (301) 858-3130
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3130 (toll free)
e-mail:
jeff.waldstreicher@house.state.md.us
CRAIG J. ZUCKER
Democrat, District 14, Montgomery County
(410) 841-3380, (301) 858-3380
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3380 (toll free)
e-mail:
craig.zucker@house.state.md.us
HEATHER R. MIZEUR
Democrat, District 20, Montgomery County
(410) 841-3493, (301) 858-3493
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3493 (toll free)
e-mail:
heather.mizeur@house.state.md.us
SAM ARORA
Democrat, District 19, Montgomery County
(410) 841-3528, (301) 858-3528
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3528 (toll free)
e-mail: sam.arora@house.state.md.us
CHARLES E. BARKLEY
Democrat, District 39, Montgomery County
(410) 841-3001, (301) 858-3001
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3001 (toll free)
e-mail:
charles.barkley@house.state.md.us
KUMAR P. BARVE
Democrat, District 17,
Montgomery County
e-mail:
(410) 841-3464, (301) 858-3464
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3464 (toll free)
e-mail: kumar.barve@house.state.md.us
SUSAN C. LEE
Democrat, District 16, Montgomery County
(410) 841-3649, (301) 858-3649
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3649 (toll free)
e-mail: susan.lee@house.state.md.us
ARUNA MILLER
Democrat, District 15, Montgomery County
(410) 841-3090, (301) 858-3090
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3090 (toll free)
e-mail: aruna.miller@house.state.md.us
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Important Alert! Action needed NOW to safeguard the Prince George's Equestrian Center! OPPOSE SB 15!
The Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee of the Maryland State Senate is currently considering a bill (SB 15) that poses a serious threat to the future of the Prince George's Equestrian Center. This bill calls for a commission to study "how to protect and enhance the competitive position of The Show Place Arena in the public assembly marketplace," as well as a study of its current operations and management. There are numerous problems with this bill, the most significant of which is it separates the Show Place arena out as the subject of the study, and does not consider it as part of the entire Equestrian center. This will inevitably skew the results of the study in a way that does not accurately represent the important role the entire equestrian center, Show Place Arena plus the other arenas, barns, parking, etc., plays in Maryland equestrian life. It is significant that the bill's preamble refers to the Show Place Arena as "a multipurpose arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, which is used for concerts, sporting events, trade shows, and other events," and does not specifically refer to equestrian uses. Another problem is that the bill provides for only one representative of the equine industry on the 14 member commission.
As stated by Dorothy Troutman, President of the Maryland Equestrian Foundation and former Co-chair of the Prince Georges Equine Industry Task Force:
"Our Park and Planning Commission has already requested that the Stadium Authority conduct two studies—one to evaluate the economic fiscal market and impact of the entire facility and the other to review and evaluate the operation and managerial structure. These studies would be for the Show Place Arena and the surrounding Prince George’s Equestrian Center—the existing show rings and barns, parking areas, and the abandoned Marlboro Race Track and infield. The Commission is also in the process of developing a Master Plan to utilize the entire area for equestrian and other purposes and is arranging a drainage system for the infield."
So this bill is unnecessary and potentially very harmful.
Here is the full text of the bill:
Please write TODAY to the committee members, expressing your OPPOSITION to SB 15.
Here is contact info:
Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee (EHE)
2 West, Miller Senate Building, Annapolis, MD 21401 (410-841-3661 Annapolis/Baltimore or 301-858-3661 Washington, D.C.)
Chair: Joan Carter Conway Joan.Carter.Conway@senate.state.md.us
Vice Chair: Roy P. Dyson Roy.Dyson@senate.state.md.us
Joanne Benson SB 15's sponsor joanne.benson@md.state.us
Paul G. Pinsky Paul.Pinsky@senate.state.md.us
Bill Ferguson Bill.Ferguson@senate.state.md.us
Edward R. Reilly Edward.Reilly@senate.state.md.us
J. B. Jennings JB.Jennings@senate.state.md.us
Jim Rosapepe Jim.Rosapepe@senate.state.md.us
Karen S. Montgomery Karen.Montgomery@senate.state.md.us
Bryan W. Simonaire Bryan.Simonaire@senate.state.md.us
Be sure to include any personal information you can about your use/enjoyment of this facility as an equestrian, and if you are in any of these legislator's districts, be sure to let them know that, too! You can find out who your legislators are at: http://mdelect.net/
For more information, contact Jane Seigler at seigler.jane@gmail.com
Ocean City considering allowing winter riding on the beach
From Delmarvanow.com: OCEAN CITY -- An ordinance that would allow equestrians to bring their horses to Ocean City's beach has lost some Town Council support, but it will move to a second reading in February.
"I really didn't want this to be the next 4-3 vote," said Council President Jim Hall, just before a 4-3 vote was handed in by the council. Hall, Joe Hall, Brent Ashley and Margaret Pillas voted in favor of moving toward allowing horseback riding on beaches from Nov. 1-March 30, while Lloyd Martin, Mary Knight and Doug Cymek dissented.
Jim Hall said he was willing to try horseback riding for 90 days, and that if there were issues with it, the council could do away with it, a sentiment Joe Hall shared.
"It's a new idea, kind of a novel idea, and I think it's worth a try," Jim Hall said.
If passed, riders could purchase a $50-per-horse permit to ride as often as they'd like from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. during the resort's offseason. Councilman Brent Ashley first brought the idea to the council months ago as a way to boost tourism during a season when the town is not highly occupied -- especially its beaches.
Council voted 6-1 at a recent work session to move forward with the ordinance; Martin was the only no-vote at that time, he said he felt it'd be difficult to regulate the horses. He reiterated that Monday, saying he doesn't think the town could get every equestrian to be responsible for disposing of their horse's excrement.
If a rider was caught not cleaning up after his or her horse, they would be hit with a $500 fine for a municipal infraction, according to City Solicitor Guy Ayres, who drew up the ordinance.
Ashley read from an Environmental Protection Agency report that says horse manure is a solid waste excluded from regulation because it "neither contains significant amounts of listed hazardous components, nor exhibits hazardous properties."
Knight said she is more worried about the perception people will have that horse manure is on the resort's beaches, whether it can be harmful to health or not. She's had an outpouring of people tell her they did not want manure on the beaches, she said.
"Perception -- and I hate this phrase -- is reality," Knight said.
Cymek told Ashley he understood the good he was trying to do by expanding tourism, but that he thinks the cost of allowing horseback riding would outweigh the benefit.
Ashley said he thinks people are looking for problems to shoot down ideas.
"We don't always have to be a 'city of no,' " he said. He said also that if equestrians stick to the waterline, the horse manure will be washed to sea with the tide.
smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Maryland Legislature is in session!
Click here to see the Washington Post's guide to the Maryland Legislative session: http://www.washingtonpost.com/mdassembly?hpid=z3
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