'08 Maryland Legislation

Following on my last post, the 90 Day Report, your best option for a review of the legislative actions in the '08 session is now available. The report is organized into 12 subject areas and discusses, for each category, the majority of bills that passed as well as significant bills which did not.

Overview Of The '08 Session

As of now, the 90 Report which provides the most comprehensive review what happened in a particular legislative session, is still waiting to be published for the '08 session. In the meantime, there are a number of useful resources to give you an overview of what passed and what didn't. The last edition of the Legislative Wrap-Up gives a good overview of legislation that passed. You can also see a list of legislation that was signed by the Governor, based on the date on which it was signed. So far, bill signing ceremonies took place on April 3rd and April 8th. Additional bill signings are scheduled for April 24, May 13, and May 22. This session also witnessed one legislative override (SB 497). SB 497 was vetoed by the Governor and then the legislature overrode the Governor's veto.

Report On Maryland's Real Estate Market

A new report, "Trend Watch 2008: The Baltimore/Washington Commercial Real Estate Outlook,” a combined effort of the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business and the Maryland chapter of the Appraisal Institute gives a surprisingly upbeat take on the region's real estate market. “Although the warning signs pointing to a downturn in the national economy are many, Trend Watchers on the whole express cautious optimism about the Baltimore/Washington commercial real estate market,” the report states. Take a look at articles by the Sun, the Daily Record, and Commercial Property News. Unfortunately, the report does not appear to be online.

Maryland Tech Tax Repealed

I realize that by blogging standards, this is already "old news." Not surprisingly, a number of papers reported on this major event. See articles from the Sun and Daily Record. None of the articles that I saw, though, provided links to the bill. So, here it is. The bill, SB 46, was passed by both Houses, and now awaits the Governor's signature. For more specifics on the bill, see the bill's fiscal note.