Tom Hucker

Reform politics front and center in Annapolis

“For the past several years, under the Republican governor, we’ve been running the state on a credit card, resorting to gimmicks like transferring money from the Transportation Trust Fund and Program Open Space.”

The four-member District 20 delegation from Silver Spring and Takoma Park that arrived in the Hobbesian world of Annapolis last January was so fresh-faced – only the senior member, Sheila Hixson, had ever cast a vote in the General Assembly – that almost nothing meaningful was expected.

Tom Hucker, in his first term as a House delegate after several years with Progressive Maryland, had a history in Annapolis as the hard pusher of liberal reforms, but it wasn't clear if this would count for or against him.

As it turned out, the scorecard for District 20 exceeded expectations. In Tom's case, leaders in the Democratic hierarchy heaped praise on him for taking the lead in the historic passage of the Living Wage bill, and he had a creditable role in several successful environmental bills.

On a recent morning, over a glass of orange juice, Tom reflected on his new life as a legislator. Uppermost in his mind, though, was a summons from Governor Martin O'Malley that brought all members of the Assembly back to Annapolis on October 29 for a special session to address a $170 billion structural deficit. Given the scope of the deficit and the controversial nature of the governor's proposed changes to the tax system, this rare second session of the year promises to be more eventful than the first one.

We elect a Democratic governor, and a year later he has to order an emergency session to deal with a huge deficit. How could that happen?

According to the U. S. Census, Maryland is the wealthiest state, number one, but we are dead last, number 50, in local and state government spending as a percentage of income. That surprises people because they think we are over-taxed. But historically we've operated as an old Dixiecrat small-government, low-tax state. In District 20, we're the exception. People here have been clamoring to spend more on education and health care and transportation. But the state has not made enough of these investments, which is the background for the structural deficit we are dealing with now.

The more immediate reasons for the deficit are two decisions made in recent years: One was the Glendening administration's repeal of the higher income surcharge, which wasn't prudent. Number two, the legislature passed the Thornton bill for public education in 2002, which was the right thing to do, but they didn't set up a funding stream. So for the past several years, under the Republican governor, we've been running the state on a credit card, resorting to gimmicks like transferring money from the Transportation Trust Fund and Program Open Space.

The surcharge that Glendening repealed – is that what O'Malley is essentially trying to put back with his progressive income tax?

More than that. To his credit Governor O'Malley is taking the first step toward reforming our income tax system. Maryland only has three brackets, and they haven't been touched since 1967. Everyone who earns $3,000 or more is taxed at the same flat rate of 4.5 percent. Yes, the threshold is just $3,000. He wants to add two new brackets—a 6 percent rate for $200,000 and over and a 6.5 percent rate for $500,000 and over, which is a relatively small number of taxpayers. I think he could have actually gone farther and made it more progressive.

George Bush gave the top one percent of Marylanders an average annual tax cut of $45,000 at the same time he asked the state to pay for No Child Left Behind and other federal mandates. It's only fair that the wealthy in Maryland now contribute their share at the state level.

Yet many Democrats in Montgomery County seem almost panicked by this idea. Some of my colleagues are concerned about the impact on Montgomery County. If you define the County's interests as parallel to the interests of the wealthiest five percent in Montgomery who might be affected by these higher brackets, yes, they have a point. But I want to protect the 95% of us who will get better state services without raising our income taxes. I have to represent all my constituents, not just the millionaires. And we in Montgomery also benefit from a lot of state assets. We have more students at the University of Maryland, more state highways, more people enjoying parks and the rest of the environment.

Meanwhile, the governor is expanding the earned income credit to give a tax break to the working poor in Montgomery.

Won't Montgomery also benefit once the state gets flush again? For instance, the Purple Line is one of O'Malley's top three transportation priorities.

That's certainly something we'll be asking for. Our argument is weakened a little bit by Montgomery's advocacy for the ICC. Other lawmakers around the state see us getting the ICC, and they are wondering why we then get the Purple Line as well. They both cost a lot of money.

You were part of the kickoff for a new Purple Line campaign a few days ago. If you had to put a realistic timetable on when construction will begin, what would it be?

It's impossible to say. Until we raise the money for it, it's just talk. If the O'Malley plan is approved, there will be new taxes dedicated to transportation -- rental car taxes, part of the corporation income tax -- but that still isn't enough to make the investments in transportation we need. The ICC is eating up a lot, and even if we raise the money at the state level the federal government must replenish their transportation dollars.
But the Purple Line will happen and in a way that minimizes the impact on neighborhoods. George Leventhal and Valerie Ervin from the County Council, along with several others have been involved with the advocacy group Purple Line Now. We are listening to the neighbors. The state has ruled out the Sligo Avenue route and is only looking at tunneling under another of the routes.

The extra tax on gasoline - -are you in favor?

I am. It's regressive, but the gasoline tax hasn't gone up in years. Governor O'Malley has proposed indexing it to inflation, and I think that makes a lot of sense. We've been heavily subsiding roads over transit for years. Those of us who drive need to understand the real cost of our choice.

The rest of O'Malley's plan - what do you like, what don't you like?

I like that he's taken on issues the Democratic leadership in past years hasn't addressed. I like that he's being forward-looking, proposing more revenue than just to balance the budget this year. Aside from the personal income tax, he wants to increase the corporation income tax, which is lower than surrounding states. Also, he wants combined reporting requirements for corporate income, which would make multinational companies pay taxes in Maryland when more than half of them currently pay nothing. We closed the Delaware Holding Company loophole, but the same corporations that were hiding profits in Delaware now are hiding profits in Bermuda. Combined reporting will make corporations declare their profits across the board, and you use a formula to tell them how much taxes they owe in Maryland. About 21 states do it now, and it's raised a lot of revenue in those states.

I don't like the sales tax, although it's hard to balance the budget without it. I don't think we've done the best job of expanding the sales tax to services. We tax goods the same as if we still had the old manufacturing economy, while we have a service economy that is not taxed. The higher end services like accountants, engineers, lawyers, consultants and realty agents have a well organized lobby, which makes it difficult. But they are a growing part of the economy that is mostly used by wealthy individuals and corporations. If they aren't taxed but your snacks at 7-11 are taxed, that's not good fiscal policy.
I don't like slot machines, and I'm glad that he's open to putting it on the ballot to let the voters of Maryland make a decision to settle this very divisive issue one way or another.

If slots go to a popular vote, doesn’t that mean automatic approval?

To the contrary, I believe slots would be defeated. As soon as people start looking at the details -- the number of slot machines, the locations, how the revenue is divided up, how licenses are sold and to whom, how many days per year slots parlors could be open -- the support drops dramatically, especially in the areas where slots are proposed. As the Harford County Executive said recently, “If you ask my constituents if they’re for slots, 70 percent say yes and 30 percent say no. If you ask them whether they’re for slots in Harford County, 30 percent are for and 70 percent are against.” People want the revenue in the abstract, but nowhere near their own backyard. I believe Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore would vote pretty strongly against slots, and the more conservative areas that are normally pro-slots would be more divided because slots will end up in their backyard.

We have not been able to settle this issue in Annapolis, and the focus on slots has taken much of the oxygen away from other pressing issues like health care and the environment. But if it’s defeated on the ballot, slots will be settled,much like abortion rights and gun control have been ever since they went to a referendum.

If slots come off the table, how do you fill in the gap?

I would tax more services and make the income tax more progressive. But my real concern is that the Chamber of Commerce and other special interests are pushing to take income tax progressivity and combined reporting off the table. It's really important to keep those in there. Otherwise all we're left with are regressive taxes like the sales tax and slots and the cigarette tax. I'm all for the cigarette tax, but obviously it hits low-income individuals more.

When Governor O'Malley runs for re-election I don't want opponents saying he only raised taxes on the middle class and working class families and let rich people and corporations off the hook.

How is the unity in the District 20 delegation?

I think it's real strong. I think we're working together well. We're on the same page on these revenue proposals, especially making the tax system more progressive. I've been working with nationally economists from the Economic Policy Institute, the Center for Budget Policy Priorities and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, many of whom live in District 20. They are studying ways to make the O'Malley plan more progressive and reduce the hit on working families.

I neglected to mention that he has also proposed property tax rebates.

When Ehrlich was in, he raised property taxes five cents per $100 through the Board of Public Works. The raise never went through the General Assembly. O'Malley wants to reduce it three cents. That mitigates the impact of the sales tax on low-income families. For the people in District 20 who are house-rich and cash-poor, this puts a little more money in their pockets at a time we're asking them to pay a little more in sales tax.

Let's move on to other politics. Or maybe all Maryland politics are fiscal right now?

It feels like it.

It should be noted that only legislation related to finances can be introduced in the special session.

True. I'm putting in a bill – the credit for this goes to Sheila -- to raise corporate filing fees and give Maryland companies that are paying their taxes a rebate against the increase. But big law firms and big accounting firms that aren't paying any Maryland income tax at all, the only revenue we get from them is the $300-a-year filing fee.

A soccer team has to pay that much to register with the state.
I know – it's crazy. So Sheila's idea is to raise the filing fee to $1000 and give companies a rebate if they pay taxes.

The Living Wage bill made it into law last spring. Was that your biggest achievement in the regular session?

I’m really proud of how that worked out since I've been working on the issue for almost a decade. Philosophically, the Living Wage says our tax dollars should be invested in building the middle class. Specifically, it requires that service contractors pay workers $11.30 per hour in all large counties and slightly less in rural areas, enough to feed their families without needing food stamps. Once it's fully implemented, it should lift tens of thousands of hardworking families out of poverty.

There has been a similar law in place in Montgomery and in Prince George's, and the Assembly passed Living Wage in 2004 when Erhlich vetoed it, so you would have thought it'd be easy to get it through in 2007. But there were those in Annapolis, believe it or not, who voted for it in 2004 because they knew Erhlich would veto it. They wanted to have it both ways.

This year it was the top priority of the Chamber to kill it, and it became clear that some in the leadership just didn't want it to become law. The bill got stuck in the Senate. We had enough support, but leadership wouldn't allow it to go to a vote. I got Governor O'Malley to engage in it at the last minute. He made a few phone calls, and we added a few amendments to deal with the impact on rural communities, and we got Living Wage passed. On my birthday! The speaker mentioned that during the vote. And at the signing ceremony the governor and the speaker singled me out and thanked me, which I appreciated. It's the first in the nation that applies to state contracts. It went into effect October 1.

And another local guy who is making an impact in Annapolis, Tom Perez, the new secretary of labor – you worked with his office?

I’m working closely with Tom's office to put Living Wage regulations in place. They teamed up with some of the economists I mentioned to write the regulations in a way that covers the largest number of workers without having any onerous effects on businesses.

It's the cornerstone of all the Administrations’s new legislation related to working families, and it's a biggest applause line for the governor as he travels around the state. Next we want other states to adopt it. Governor O'Malley is already talking to other governors about it, and I'm talking to other lawmakers around the country.

How did your environmental legislation work out?

I love the committee I’m on – Environmental Matters. We had a good year. We passed the Clean Cars legislation to bring Maryland in line with 15 other states that have adopted the California air emission standards. We should have done this a long time ago. Maryland has some of the worst air quality in the country, some of the worst childhood asthma rates. I was very glad to be selected to defend the bill in a televised debate on Maryland Public Television. The auto manufacturers and auto dealers fought hard against it and were able to get some concessions but weren't able to stop the bill.

We also passed legislation to restore the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay. Oysters are now at only two percent of their original population, partly because of disease, which is bad not only for anyone who loves to eat oysters but bad for the bay since they help filter the water. We really need the natural systems to be allies in the effort to clean up the Bay. So we are funding a lab that breeds new healthy baby oysters and then replants them after cleaning out the diseased beds. For the Bay, we also passed legislation to remove phosphates from dishwasher detergents. This closed a big loophole that wasn't dealt with years ago.

And we protected the Maryland terrapins. Hard to imagine you can eat the symbol of the University of Maryland. Not only are they still eaten, but there's a growing market for them in China. They take a long time to reproduce, and they need protection.

What about the Green Fund?

That's the bill we spent the most time on. The Green Fund would put a new fee on development to help offset the damage developers do each year to the Bay. It passed the House, but the Senate didn't take action on it. We're hoping to tie it to some of the revenue bills and pass it during the special session.

And your legislative ambitions for next year?

I'm going to continue to work with Catherine Tunis of Takoma Park and other advocates on a bill to stop mercury pollution in the Bay. The biggest source right now is from switches in older cars. Other states require switches to be pulled out of the engine before the car is scrapped. We want to set up a bounty so recyclers take the switches out and send them back to the manufacturers.
Also, we have a bill in the works to make home builders and developers use better environmental techniques. We're trying to create incentives to limit impervious surfaces like parking lots and driveways.

Now that Silver Spring is getting the Fillmore instead of the Birchmere did we end up with a good deal?

I don't know whether we would have ever gotten the Birchmere. The Birchmere had been in discussion with Montgomery County for five years but never signed a letter of intent, so the County became to feel they weren't serious. They didn't want to pay for cost overruns, and they kept asking for a smaller hall. It started out as 700-800 seats, and by the time the deal fell through it was down to 450. If you are going to justify an expenditure of tax dollars on a project like this, it has to appeal to a lot of people.

I think people will be happier with the final result. The Fillmore will bring in different types of music. You know the old joke about having both kinds of music – country and western. The Birchmere was in danger of going down that road. The Fillmore will offer rock and pop and soul and salsa as well as country. The audiences will be bigger – up to 2,000 standing, and 1,000 if seated like a theater, and about 750 if seated around tables. They'll change the seating around, depending on the concert. Also, the Fillmore is not going to serve food. You'll have to eat at a nearby restaurant, which will put more money into Silver Spring. And because of the diversity of acts and diversity of seating, the Fillmore will be open more nights than the Birchmere would have been. Plus there are discussions with AFI to have some Silverdocs shown there and discussions with Discovery to have them use it. More use, more public benefit.

What do you think of Peter Franchot's idea to invite D. C. United to move to Maryland?

D.C. United is a great soccer franchise, and if they wanted to come to Maryland that would be great, especially if the owner wanted to pay for the stadium. They would bring some jobs and other economic development with them. But so far it sounds like they are committed to staying in the District.

How does it feel to move from one side to the other side in Annapolis, from being an advocate to being a legislator?

I'm glad to be in public office – it's really an honor -- but I wouldn't want to represent any other district. Representing District 20 I haven't had to change my stripes at all. I get a clear sense of mission from residents here. District 20 generates amazing enthusiasm for progressive legislation. I got a 185 letters telling me to vote for my own Living Wage bill. My colleagues from swing districts like Catonsville or Towson, they are hearing constantly from proponents and opponents. Their lives are a lot harder than mine.

“[Living Wage] is the cornerstone of all the new legislation related to working families, and it’s a biggest applause line for the governor as he travels around the state.”

At the same time I think I've learned how to work with opponents. The key is not to demonize them. You're looking for common ground. I try to effectuate progressive values in a way that isn't screechy advocacy. As I have for years, i work to bring people together in coalitions to make more change possible. Right now we have environmentalist and church groups and the NAACP and the teachers union all pushing for progressive revenue solutions. Getting legislation enacted is the name of the game. If you can't get it enacted you're really not improving anybody's lives.

Constituent services are also a big new focus for me. I hired the most experienced aide I could find, Maria Topper, who's been in Annapolis 12 years. Anyone can call our office anytime for help, or call my cell directly at 240-481-4825.

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