House Speaker Michael E. Busch said Tuesday he did not see “a whole lot of proposals to increase taxes” in the Gov. Martin O’Malley’s upcoming budget proposal.

“We talked about adjusting some of the exemptions that currently exist in the law, particularly on high earners,” said Busch, D-Anne Arundel, after a meeting with O’Malley and legislative leaders that lasted more than an hour.

The governor’s budget will also seek to shift some of the cost of teacher pensions to the counties, Busch said, but would also “give the counties revenue opportunities to make up the difference.”

The speaker said O’Malley’s budget includes an increase of $108 million in K-12 education funding for a total of about $6 billion.

“It’s a huge investment,” he said. “Almost half of our budget goes to education and higher education.”

Busch said the group discussed transportation funding, but said “there was no specific proposal.”

Raquel Guillory, the governor’s spokeswoman, said transportation funding, including a gas tax hike, is still being discussed, but would not be part of the governor’s budget proposal on Wednesday.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said earlier Tuesday that he likes where the governor is headed on that issue.

“We’ve talked about the numbers back and forth,” said Miller, D-Calvert and Prince George’s.

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Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said Tuesday he thinks Gov. Martin O’Malley’s yet-to-be-revealed transportation proposal would raise enough money to spend on roads, bridges and other transportation projects.

Miller wouldn’t disclose what the governor will propose, but has said that he and the chief executive have discussed the plan.

“We’ve talked about the numbers back and forth,” said Miller, D-Calvert and Prince George’s. “I’m going to meet with him at noon and I’m going to meet with him at four to discuss votes.”

Miller has expressed support in recent interviews for raising less new money for transportation than the Blue Ribbon Commission on Maryland Transportation Funding recommended.

Miller has said the 15-cent gas tax hike proposal is “too much” and said a plan to raise $500 million more a year is more likely than one to raise $800 million.

Business leaders have also tempered their expectations for a transportation revenue package.

Miller also indicated O’Malley has backed off a trial balloon the governor lifted last week as the General Assembly reconvened.

“I’m glad he’s abandoned the sales tax,” the Senate president said.

Miller said the governor is likely to propose a flush tax increase and a shift of teacher pension costs to the counties.

“It’s not what I would like. It’s a compromise,” said Miller. “Compromise is not a dirty word in politics. The governor gives something to the counties, he takes something away. He makes the counties happy, he makes them sad. Not everyone can be happy in these very difficult times.”

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Welcome to Week 2 of the Eye on Annapolis Podcast where we look back at the week that was and preview the week that will be in the State House.

The 2012 General Assembly session got off to a more contentious start than most expected.

Gov. Martin O’Malley floated the idea of raising the state sales tax a penny as he and lawmakers face a $1.1 billion budget deficit and calls to invest more in transportation, schools, water treatment plants and other infrastructure.

Senate President Mike Miller put an arrow through that trial balloon almost as soon as it launched.

With the governor’s budget on tap this week and much of his legislative package expected, we will soon see how he intends to close the budget gap, spur development of an offshore wind farm and raise money to spend more on roads, trains and other transportation projects.

Listen up.

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Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort, the state-owned hotel, conference center and golf course property in Western Maryland, is $66 million in the hole and that debt has played a central role in efforts to find a casino developer to take over the complex.

One of the reasons the Video Lottery Facility Location Commission tossed a bid for the Allegany County casino license is the development group never came up with a proposal that the holders of Rocky Gap debt found palatable.

The resort posted operating losses of $2.9 million in both fiscal 2008 and 2009, and in fiscal 2010, losses rose to $3.8 million, making Rocky Gap the biggest drag on the finances of the Maryland Economic Development Corporation. (Figures available here, page 9.)

The 280-acre resort — it includes 215 hotel rooms and an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course — generates enough cash to cover its operating expenses, but not enough to cover its debt payments, according to legislative budget analysts.

Most of the resort’s debt is in the form of MEDCO bonds issued to private entities. Four different issues carry $46.86 million in outstanding principal, and $2.82 million in interest.

The resort also has a $650,000 line of credit with MEDCO. As of June 30, it had tapped $579,692.

Rocky Gap also owes:

• $6.7 million in ground rent to the Department of Natural Resources, which owns Rocky Gap State Park.
• $482,296 in surcharges to DNR
• $306,774 in “host community fees” to Allegany County
• $3.36 million for a MEDCO service fee
• $608,145 in an advance to MEDCO
• $3.31 million to the Department of Business and Economic Development, which extended the resort a loan from the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund in May 1996
• $1.5 million to DBED, which also extended an interest free loan in November 2001

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More than two dozen Maryland legislators have signed on to an amicus brief supporting the Affordable Care Act as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on President Obama’s signature piece of health care legislation.

The 26 delegates and senators from the Old Line State were among 518 representatives from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. to sign on to the brief.

“We are in a national health care coverage crisis, and we see that even here in Maryland,” Del. Sam Arora, D-Montgomery, said in a written statement. “Public opinion and the law is on our side, so the President’s opponents are now trying to use the courts to do what they couldn’t in Congress.”

You can read the brief here on Arora’s website.

The other Maryland lawmakers on board with the brief are all Democrats — House Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve, Del. Elizabeth Bobo, Del. Al Carr, Del. Barbara Frush, Del. Anne Healey, Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Sheila Hixson, Del. Marvin Holmes Jr., Del. James Hubbard, Del. Tom Hucker, Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones, Del. Anne Kaiser, Del. Ariana Kelly, Del. Ben Kramer, Del. Eric Luedtke, Sen. Roger Manno, Del. Aruna Miller, Del. Doyle Niemann, Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk, Sen. Victor Ramirez, Del Kirill Reznik, Del. Sandy Rosenberg, Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez, Del. Veronica Turner, Del. Kriselda Valderrama, and Del. Jeffrey Waldstreicher.

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As Maryland lawmakers consider sanctions against one of their own, a new committee of seven senators will be searching for ways to make the state’s ethics laws more open and transparent and toughen sanctions against lawmakers who break them.

The Senate Special Committee on Ethics Reform will compile a list of suggested reforms by March 1.

Meanwhile, a joint General Assembly committee will hold hearings on Sen. Ulysses Currie’s failure to disclose work for a grocery store chain.

Jurors who acquitted Currie, D-Prince George’s, in November of conspiracy, bribery, extortion and other federal charges said after the trial that there may have been conflicts of interest and that those ethical questions should be handled by the General Assembly.

“It’s not news to anybody that public trust nationally in public institutions is very low right now,” said Sen. Jamie Raskin, the Montgomery County Democrat heading the committee.

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Harford County has won the “House of Cards” sweepstakes, landing the production of the political drama to be distributed by online streaming service Netflix.

County Executive David R. Craig announced the deal this week.

“This represents a tremendous opportunity for Harford County and will provide a noticeable boost to our economy,” Craig said in a written statement. “Between the number of jobs created, office and studio space leased, hotel rooms booked, and businesses utilized, this is yet another indication that industries of all types recognize that Harford County is a good place to do business.”

The statement said the county expects “House of Cards” to have a “major impact” on its economy.

“House of Cards” will star Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey and its pilot will be directed by David Fincher, whose recent credits include “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “The Social Network.”

The Maryland Film Office estimates the series of 13 hour-long episodes will spur $75 million in spending in the state and create more than 2,000 jobs for local crew, actors and extras.

Filming is expected to take place in and around Baltimore, so those effects will likely be spread throughout the region.

“House of Cards” will be Harford’s first major film production since “Tuck Everlasting” in 2002.

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Maryland’s lawmakers are back in Annapolis on Wednesday for the 430th legislative session.

The General Assembly faces a host of major fiscal issues, including a $1.1 billion budget deficit and a push by powerful lawmakers and interest groups to raise more money to spend on transportation.

Gov. Martin O’Malley is expected to unveil his transportation plans this week and has already said he will propose a $372 million in school construction funding, the second-highest level ever in the state.

House Speaker Mike Busch and Senate President Mike Miller have said a 15-cent gasoline tax proposal is too much, but said they will look at other options to raise transportation taxes and fees.

Lawmakers will also have several other major issues on their plates, including offshore wind power, same-sex marriage and a regulatory overhaul initiated by O’Malley in October.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley, the former mayor of Baltimore, mixed a little pigskin and politics Tuesday in advance of the Sunday’s playoff game between the Houston Texans and his hometown Ravens.

Governors and mayors from the states and cities from which playoff teams hail often make good-natured bets before games.

O’Malley said Tuesday he has reached out to Texas Gov. Rick Perry to agree on a wager.

“I had a hard time reaching him on the phone,” O’Malley joked.

Perry is also the former chairman of the Republican Governors Association, but left the post to Virginia’s Bob McDonnell when he launched his presidential bid. O’Malley heads the Democratic Governors Association.

Perry has been largely rendered a non-factor in the race after a weak showing in the Iowa caucuses.

“We’re putting out a bet to Rick Perry that the Ravens will score more points against the Texans than he gets in New Hampshire tonight,” O’Malley said, referring to the Granite State’s primary on Tuesday.

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Maryland’s Democratic congressional delegation sounded many of the same themes at the party’s annual pre-General Assembly session pep rally. They spoke of investments in the future, the state’s strength in education and all that’s at stake in the 2012 election.

Oh, and you can add Beyoncé to that list.

“Have you heard that song by Beyoncé?” Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger asked the crowd.

“I’m a survivor, keep on survivin’,” he sang, using the Beyoncé-led Destiny’s Child hit “Survivor” to communicate the attitude of Congressional Democrats.

“I’ll give up my day job and my job will be singing Beyoncé,” said Ruppersberger.

The congressman was at the podium, in part, to introduce colleague Rep. Elijah Cummings, who appeared to be in lockstep with the Ruppersberger’s choice of music.

“I, too, am a fan of Beyoncé,” he said.

But Cummings chose a different song from the Beyoncé catalog, settling on “I Was Here.”

“It’s a very powerful song,” he said, and returned to its lyrics when he introduced House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

When Hoyer “looks back on his career,” Cummings said, “he’ll be able to borrow some words from Beyoncé and say ‘I was here, I made a difference.”

That was the last we heard of Beyoncé at the Democrats’ event, but Hoyer did refer to House Speaker Mike Busch and Senate President Mike Miller as “the beer brothers.”

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