As the General Assembly debates a 50 percent increase to the sales tax on alcohol, here’s some background. It’s the comptroller’s fiscal 2010 report on alcohol excise taxes — not the sales tax — which can be helpful in terms of context.

Since the legislature bumped the sales tax across the board from 5 percent to 6 percent, wine and liquor sales continued to increase while beer sales have declined. That tax bump took effect January 2008, halfway through fiscal 2008, where the decline begins, but that could also have something to do with the recession that began a month before. Here’s the data:

The report also includes a county-by-county breakdown for alcohol consumption. In gallons:

It’s not that those counties at the top of the list are full of bigger drinkers. It could be that they just visit, or pop across the border to pick up a 30-pack or a bottle of liquor. Worcester County is home to Ocean City, which if you’ve been there during the summer, you can see why that county’s numbers are so. And those other counties at the top of the list border jurisdictions with higher alcohol excise taxes — Delaware — and others with more draconian blue laws — Pennsylvania.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley’s top economic proposal cleared the House of Delegates Friday on a 94-43 vote Friday. The state Senate c0uld start making its own changes to the Invest Maryland bill as soon Friday afternoon.

In a blog post Friday morning, O’Malley wrote the bill is “one of the most important pieces of legislation this session.”

The governor wrote:

Maryland ranks as one of the top three state for entrepreneurship and innovation and we are rich with institutes of higher learning, centers of innovation and R & D facilities. Yet, as a state, we lag behind others in providing our innovators with the early stage dollars they need to grow their companies and create jobs.

The House passed a version of the bill that trims the funding for the governor’s proposal, but expands it scope.

Invest Maryland would allow the state to sell tax credits to insurance companies to fill a venture fund to be targeted at high-tech companies. The committee’s version of the legislation cuts the amount of credits from the $142 million Gov. Martin O’Malley proposed to $100 million. Auctioning those tax credits with a floor of 70 cents on the dollar would yield the state $70 million in the House plan, as opposed to the $100 million in the governor’s bill.

The House’s version of the legislation, HB 173, also alters the distribution of the funds. One-third would be controlled by the Department of Business and Economic Development, which would focus its investments on entrepreneurial and early-stage companies. Two-thirds, or about $50 million, would be invested on the state’s behalf by private venture capitalists, with a focus on larger, growth-stage firms.

Principal and profits returned to DBED would be recycled into the program, while all returns from the private venture capitalists — 80 percent of the profits and all the principal of successful investments — would be pumped into the state’s general fund.

That would leave the private side of the program at the mercy of governors who set budget proposals and lawmakers who cut from them.

The bill gained preliminary approval Thursday, escaping a series of amendments largely unscathed. One change adopted would require DBED to post annual reports about who purchases the tax credits and who receives investments from the program.

The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee could take up the bill as soon as Friday afternoon or evening.

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The Invest Maryland bill got a preliminary OK from the House of Delegates on Thursday and skated through a volley of amendments mostly unchanged.

The program, Gov. Martin O’Malley’s top economic initiative, would allow the state to auction $100 million in tax credits to insurance companies to fill a venture fund with at least $70 million. (The auction has a floor of 70 cents on the dollar.) That money would be invested in high-tech early stage and growth-stage firms.

One change the House accepted of the seven proposed by Republican lawmakers added a reporting requirement to the bill. The Department of Business and Economic Development would have to post an annual report on its website detailing the purchasers of the tax credits and recipients of Invest Maryland investments.

“It’s intended to spread the sunshine,” said House Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell, who proposed the amendment.

Other amendments would have carved out funds for investment in urban areas and written DBED out of the bill. Under the House proposal, two-thirds of the funds raised by the tax credit auctions would be invested by private venture capitalists and one-third overseen by DBED. One proposal would have put the public share of the money under the control of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, and another would have given it all to private VC’s.

The firms that invest on the state’s behalf would repay all of the principal and 80 percent of the profit on successful investments.

Invest Maryland will likely be up for a final vote Friday, and then head to the upper chamber, where senators are considering changes of their own.

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A bill that would have given preference to local, community banks competing for state banking contracts was killed by a House committee Wednesday.

The bill, HB 619, was similar to one introduced last year but tempered slightly to expand its appeal. The bill had supporters from both sides of the aisle, but ultimately failed to clear the Economic Matters committee.

The vote came in 16-4 against.

The bill would have required the state treasurer’s office to take into account, among prospective bankers’ other qualifications, whether or not they are chartered in Maryland, or if they have less than $5 billion in total assets.

Eight senators and 29 delegates signed on to the legislation.

The state has more than 1,200 accounts — the number has been as high as 1,600 — spread from the Eastern Shore to Western Maryland. Holding those accounts means fees for banks and, in some cases, capital with which to make loans.

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The House Appropriations Committee is set to vote on a full slate of budget tweaks and cuts tomorrow. Among the big ticket items they’ll take up is restoring $58.5 million to public school funding, the raid of $100 million in transportation funding proposed by Gov. Martin O’Malley and what to do with teacher pension costs.

But there are plenty of small items on their plates, too, including a pair of transportation items that caught my eye Wednesday but didn’t make it into my business and transportation budget story in the dead tree edition Thursday.

The transportation subcommittee recommended on Wednesday that the Maryland Transportation Authority study potential changes to its toll structure as it prepares to raise tolls later this year.

The tweaks could include discounts for E-ZPass users with Maryland accounts, charging more during peak travel hours and less during down times and changing its toll facilities to all electronic collection.

The second item doesn’t have quite the potential to impact Maryland drivers. The subcommittee recommended MdTA cut money for employee recognition, events, and retreats. The authority is funded through tolls, so the money won’t go to schools or health care or other state priorities. It would be, however, about $140,000 more for roads.

The subcommittee recommended cutting $83,090 for employee recognition, $55,750 for employee events and $6000 for an annual off-site retreat.

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Just in time for those due dates on your tax returns, Gov. Martin O’Malley is reminding small businesses they may be eligible for tax credits based on the health care they provide their workers.

Businesses that cover at least 50 percent of workers’ premiums, employ 25 or fewer who average $50,000 or less in annual salary may be eligible.

Individuals can visit the state’s Web Connector to see for which tax credits and services the qualify.

You get three extra days to file your taxes this year. They’re due April 18. The delay is due to Emancipation Day, which celebrates the freeing of slaves in Washington D.C. It falls on April 16, but because that falls on a Saturday, the holiday will be celebrated on April 15.

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Sen. Lisa Gladden, D-Baltimore, introduced a bill Wednesday that would force picketers farther away from funerals.

The legislation comes in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that grew from a  protest at a Marine’s funeral in Westminster. The court ruled 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church, which has in recent years drawn much attention for its protests at military funerals.

From the AP…

The Rev. Fred Phelps and his family members who make up most of the Westboro Baptist Church have picketed many military funerals in their quest to draw attention to their incendiary view that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God’s punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.

Gladden’s bill, cosponsored by Sen. Roy P. Dyson, would force protesters to stand 500 feet away from funeral services. The current law gives funerals a 100-foot buffer.

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The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee didn’t waste any time with the bill seeking disclosure of and an apology for the activities a potential MARC operator undertook during the Holocaust.

The bill, SB 479 and its House twin, HB 520, which together carry 45 sponsors, would require SNCF to disclose whether it has records relating to the deportation of people to concentration camps, where the records are kept, what property it has that was taken during the deportation and how it disposed of the property.

SNCF is the majority shareholder in Keolis America, which, through a subsidiary, is seeking the contract to operate a pair of MARC lines.

The Senate committee heard the bill Thursday evening and voted later that night. It passed 11-0.

Chairwoman Joan Carter Conway, D-Baltimore city, said such quick action on bills isn’t unusual in cases where there is little or no disagreement among committee members.

SNCF and Keolis “didn’t have an argument,” said Conway, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill. “They didn’t answer any questions and when they did, they were conflicting.”

The House Health and Government Operations Committee held a hearing on the bill as well on Thursday, where executives from SNCF America and Keolis Rail Services America were battered by lawmakers unimpressed by their excuses.

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Faced with a $1.6 billion budget deficit, Maryland lawmakers are asking their federal counterparts to cut the defense budget and spread the wealth.

The letter, to be released Monday and signed by Sen. Jamie Raskin and Del. Sheila E. Hixson, both Montgomery County Democrats, said defense spending $1 trillion over the next decade without endangering U.S. troops.

The letter will be sent to the state’s congressional delegation, and is backed by 40 state lawmakers.

“The economic downturn has drained our state and local treasuries to dangerously low levels and is inflicting immense suffering on our people,” Raskin and Hixson write. “In the context of this crisis, the current unprecedented level of military spending constitutes a shocking misallocation of national resources. We ask you as our colleagues and our leaders in Washington to press for a dramatic shift in federal budget priorities.”

They continue, writing that the state’s budget straits have hampered job creation by forcing the furloughs of public employees, eroded funding for crumbling infrastructure maintenance and replacement, strained social services and reduced funds available for education.

They ask for defense spending to be reduced by at least 25 percent over the next five years.

“Savings can be invested in the crying social needs of the nation,” the letter states.

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Maryland Jockey Club President Tom Chuckas was working the State House halls Wednesday, chatting with lawmakers as they filtered out of their morning floor sessions.

Horse racing interests and state officials are hashing out a long-term plan for the industry. Gov. Martin O’Malley has proposed to extend the state’s subsidy of operations at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course as the negotiations progress.

Chuckas said Wednesday discussions have been “limited” so far, but the parties are scheduled to meet next week.

“I think everyone wants peace in the valley,” he said. “Everybody wants a long term solution, but there are so many different interests involved.”

Laurel Park increased daily purses by $26,000, or 16 percent, this month thanks to subsidies coming from the state’s share of slot machine revenue at Hollywood Casino Perryville and Casino at Ocean Downs.

Chuckas said it was “too early to tell” what impact that would have on the health of the ailing thoroughbred tracks.

“We’re starting to see a few more horses, a little more quality,” he said. Hopefully, as more gaming facilities come on line, we’ll be able to bump them up again.”

Also on the horse racing front, Del. Justin Ross, D-Prince George’s, introduced a bill Tuesday to require the Maryland Stadium Authority (you know, the guys who oversee Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium) to study the feasibility of building another thoroughbred track in Maryland.

“Maryland is in the horse track business,” Ross said. “The hope is not to replace them (Pimlico and Laurel Park), but there may be a place where it makes more sense. You’ve seen where the growth is, in Frederick County and in Southern Maryland. Those are two options.”

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