Health reform bill scaled back
Legislators abandoned plans to give small-business subsidies to provide insurance to workers, and they eliminated a provision that would have required that higher-income individuals and families buy insurance or pay a fee.

Proposed Budget Remedies Include Slots, More Taxes
By next year, Maryland residents could pay another penny per dollar in sales tax on most products they buy. They could pay several cents more for each gallon of gas they put in their cars and another dollar for each pack of cigarettes they smoke.

They could face new levies when they get their car repaired, get help preparing their taxes, get a haircut or even when they use an escort service. And they could, at long last, get the chance to play slots at racetracks.

Raising Maryland bond debt debated
Some leaders in Annapolis are wondering whether the purse strings are being held too tightly, and they have suggested easing the limits that the state has set on how much bond debt can be issued.

Editorial: A Balance for Labor - A House bill on union organization goes too far
The so-called card-check arrangement would give labor too much power to spring unions on employers . Employers who don’t want to see their workers organize deserve a chance to make that case to employees in advance of the decision.

Rascovar: There may be method in Miller’s madness
At first blush, these may seem like nutty ideas, but a deeper look at Miller’s reasoning reveals a game plan grounded in hard-to-refute logic.