The General Assembly delegation from District 6 and 7 welcomed constituents to Annapolis on Monday night, March 23, for the District Night in Annapolis.
This free event was designed to give residents of the district the opportunity to meet their elected officials where they do their work and to observe a General Assembly session. From 6 - 8 p.m., a reception was set up in the Thomas V. Mike Miller Senate Office Building’s President’s Conference Center for visitors to eat food and meet fellow District residents. The elected officials milled about the room speaking to the voters, who came out in large numbers; the room was standing-room only for portions of the night with over 175 constituents in attendance. There were also slideshows featuring facts about the delegates and senators, the General Assembly in general and the legislation introduced this session.
The evening was hosted by the entire District 6 and 7 Delegation, but Sen. Johnny Ray Salling (R-6) spearheaded the effort. “On behalf of myself and Delegates Metzgar, Long and Grammer, we want to thank each and every one of our constituents who joined us for District 6 Night in Annapolis,” Salling stated. “It was a great success and we hope to continue hosting events like this for the hard-working residents of the sixth district for years to come.”
The delegation also welcomed Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford as its special guest for the evening.
“It’s good to be here- well, it’s good to be anywhere, but I was pleased to accept this invitation from these fine representatives,” Rutherford said.
Other notable attendees were 7th District County Councilman Todd Crandell and Al Mendelsohn, chair of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee.
Senators Salling and J.B. Jennings (R-7) attended for most of the night; however, the House of Delegates was called into session earlier than originally planned, so Dels. Ric Metzgar (R-6), Bob Long (R-6), Robin Grammer (R-6), Kathy Szeliga (R-7), Pat McDonough (R-7) and Rick Impallaria (R-7) had to leave early to attend.
“The House is going in a little early, and that always makes me a little nervous thinking of what they will get up to,” joked Rutherford.
That evening’s session addressed several topics, including a discussion of fracking in Maryland as well as a second reading vote on HB 644, the Welcome Home, Stay Home Act, which was introduced by Del. Metzgar. The bill authorizes county, municipal and city governments to grant a tax credit for senior citizens age 65 years and older who have lived in their homes for 40 years and for all retired members of the armed forces aged 65 or older. The credit would last for up to five years and equal as much as 20 percent of the total property tax assessed. Monday’s vote cleared the way for a third and final reading, which took place on Tuesday morning and resulted in the measure’s passage by a vote of 138 - 0.
“It passed unanimously; not a single red dot was on that board,” Metzgar said. “The word that comes to mind is ‘awesome.’ It was something that I ran on; I’m a strong advocate for veterans and an even stronger advocate for seniors.”
The bill’s initial title is the Welcome Home, Stay Home Act because when first introduced in February, it also included people who had previously resided in Maryland, left the state and then returned in its list of individuals who would be eligible for the tax credit. That version made it out of the Ways and Means Committee with only three “nay” votes, but the general House membership expressed concerns and the language about returning residents was removed from the bill after its first reading.
“They struck a couple of things, but it’s still a workable bill. The important thing to know is you got a bill through by a freshman delegate,” Metzgar said. He also noted that the individual counties and municipalities can decide how - or perhaps whether- to grant the credit.
The bill will now be introduced in the Senate and follow the same process.
“They seem to be moving pretty fast,” Metzgar said of his colleagues in the other chamber. “Now I’d want to urge people to call their senators and ask them to support House Bill 644.”
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