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Kasemeyer weighs political cost of his tax votes

Howard County Times

November 8, 2007

By Nate Sandstrom

State Sen. Edward Kasemeyer is about to make a choice he acknowledges could cost him at the polls when he is up for re-election in 2010.

As a representative of a district that includes moderate-to-conservative areas, including Elkridge and southwest Baltimore County, the Democratic Senate majority leader knows he could be politically harmed by a vote for tax increases in coming weeks.

Yet Kasemeyer plans to support at least some tax hikes during the current special session of the General Assembly called by Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley to consider how to address a projected $1.7 billion budget deficit in the fiscal year that begins in July.

Republicans hope to block, through filibuster, a series of O'Malley proposals to raise taxes, including the sales tax and the income tax rate paid by the state's highest earners.

To do so, Republicans must convince five Democrats to help them block votes on the bills. By virtue of his district's demographics, Kasemeyer is one of about a dozen senate Democrats that GOP leaders said they hope will join their filibuster.

Kasemeyer said this week that although he has been besieged by phone calls from constituents and others in recent weeks, "90 percent of whom are upset" about the possibility of tax increases, he will not join a Republican filibuster.

Trying to plug the projected deficit without raising taxes would cause harm to programs aimed at helping Maryland's poorest residents, Kasemeyer said.

"It's sort of a no-win situation politically, but you have to do the responsible thing and try to solve this (budget) problem," he added.

That said, he isn't in total agreement with the tax hikes proposed by O'Malley. Kasemeyer voted this week to reduce O'Malley's proposed income tax increases on the state's highest earners, and also wants to look for spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.

Kasemeyer already knows political defeat.

In 1990, in his bid for a second senate term representing Howard and Montgomery counties, he was upset by Republican Christopher McCabe, who won the contest by 636 votes, or 2 percent. Kasemeyer had defeated McCabe by nearly 3,000 votes four years earlier.

As they are now, tax increases were on the mind of voters in 1990, as rising home values led to increased property tax bills that angered many.

Kasemeyer, however, said he doubts tax issues led to his ouster that year. Dissatisfaction with the federal government helped create a strong anti-incumbent fervor at all levels of government and several state candidates who backed abortion rights, as he did, were defeated at the polls, he said.

"When you lose by that few votes, it could be almost anything," added Kasemeyer, who returned to the Senate in 1994 representing a new district that includes parts of Columbia, along with Elkridge and portions of western Baltimore County.

Del. Patrick McDonough, a Republican who represents Baltimore and Harford counties, said he believes that Democrats in some districts will face the wrath of voters in 2010 if they vote for O'Malley's proposed tax hikes.

McDonough, who hosts a talk radio show on WCBM, has developed a list of 39 Democratic lawmakers from moderate and conservative areas, including Kasemeyer, that he is encouraging tax opponents to lobby.

"They have come to a point in their careers where they have to say, 'Do I put my re-election chances at risk or do I want to vote with how my constituents feel?'" he said.

Maryland families already face rising gasoline, energy and other costs, and increasing taxes on them and their employees will further burden them, McDonough said.

Three- pronged approach

Kasemeyer said he is conscious of the economic challenges facing Maryland families, but adds that he also is concerned that trying to address the shortfall strictly through spending would harm needy residents who rely on the state for help.

"To cut $1.7 billion, you start to really affect seniors, the poor, as well as higher education," Kasemeyer said.

The Senate likely will take a three-pronged approach in an attempt to fill the budget gap, he said in an interview on Nov. 5.

The plan would cut roughly $500 million in state spending, craft a bill to allow voters to decide in a referendum next November whether to allow up to 15,000 slot machines in Maryland, and pass new taxes to make up the remainder of the gap, Kasemeyer said.

On Nov. 6, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, on which Kasemeyer serves as vice-chairman, voted to limit O'Malley's proposed income tax hike on the state's highest earners and eliminate the governor's proposed reduction on earnings below $15,000.

The committee also voted to approve O'Malley's proposal to raise the state income tax from 5 cents to 6 cents and, rather than applying the tax to fitness club memberships, property management and other services for the first time, as O'Malley proposed, apply it to computer and landscaping services.

The committee also sent to the Senate floor a bill that would allow voters to decide whether state-owned slot machines should be allowed at five state locations, including Laurel Park racetrack.

Kasemeyer and Sen. James Robey, of Elkridge, voted to send the package to the Senate floor.

Doing what's best

Kasemeyer expected additional details on the budget plan to be discussed and debated this week. "It's a balancing process," he said. "You try to do the best you can so no group gets hurt too badly."

The Senate was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Nov. 7, to begin debate on individual bills. When Kasemeyer casts his first vote, he'll be aware of the political implications -- even the possibility of losing a re-election bid.

"Does that thought exist in your mind? Sure," he said. "But at the same time, you have a responsibility to deal with the problem, and you can't run away from these issues."