Posts Tagged Maryland General Assembly
The Tax Credit and Next Week’s Special Session
Posted by Preservation Maryland in Advocacy, Advocacy Alert on May 11, 2012
A special session of the General Assembly will begin on Monday. This Wednesday Governor Martin O’Malley, joined by Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch, laid out the outline of the proposed budget plan. This special session is to finish the work left from the regular General Assembly session. As you likely know, the session ended in April without passage of a budget that would have prevented the so-called “doomsday budget,” resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts from a wide spectrum of programs. Among these cuts would have been the Sustainable Communities Tax Credit for commercial projects.
We are happy to say that funding for the Sustainable Communities Tax Credit was included in the plan laid out on Wednesday. The Tax Credit is considered Maryland’s most effective historic preservation and community revitalization program, resulting in the rehabilitation of over 4,000 historic residential and commercial buildings while leveraging $1.6 billion of private investment. Losing this funding would be devastating to preservation efforts in Maryland.
So what can you do to help make sure this money stays in place during the special session? Let Governor O’Malley, President Mike Miller, and Speaker Michael Busch know that you appreciate their support of the Tax Credit and let your representatives know how important the Tax Credit is to Maryland’s historic resources. Please take a few moments to send them a note or call their offices. There are lots of issues on the table in the special session and we need to make sure our voices in support historic preservation are heard.
If you need material about the Tax Creidt’s benefits, you can find out more on our Advocacy Resources page and Economic Benefits page.
Jessica Feldt
Advocacy Alert! Budget Numbers Released. Hearing Dates Announced.
Posted by Preservation Maryland in Advocacy, Advocacy Alert on January 26, 2012
Governor O’Malley has released his budget numbers for FY2013. Below is a rundown of how preservation-related programs fared.
Sustainable Communities Tax Credit: $7 million (level funding from FY2012)
Maryland Historical Trust Grant Programs:
The Non-Capital Grant Program: $0 (decrease of $40,000 from FY2012)
The Museum Advancement Grant Program: $0 (second year of no funding)
Capital Grant Program: $0 (fourth year of no funding) Maryland Heritage Areas: $1.85 million (decrease $650,000 from FY2012)
African American Heritage Preservation Grant Program: $1 million (level funding from FY2012)
Maryland Humanities Council: $43,500 (decrease of $10,000 from FY2012)
Main Street Maryland
Community Legacy: $6 million (increase of $1.75 million from FY2012)
Neighborhood BusinessWorks: $4.25 million (level funding from FY2012)
The Maryland General Assembly is now in the process of reviewing Governor O’Malley’s budget. Your representatives in the General Assembly need to hear from you about the importance of these funding programs to preservation efforts in your community. Hearing dates have been set, but are subject to change. The Committee Assignments and tentative hearing dates for the various budget items are as follows:
Senate Budget and Taxation Committee: Public Safety, Transportation & Environment Subcommittee
James E. DeGrange, Sr., Chair (410) 841-3593, (301) 858-3593
Budget Items: The Non-Capital Grant Program, Maryland Heritage Areas, The Museum Advancement Grant Program
Hearing: Friday, February 10, 1:00 PM – Miller Senate Office Building, Schweinhaut Subcommittee Hearing Room
Senate Budget and Taxation Committee: Capital Budget Subcommittee
James E. DeGrange, Sr., Chair (410) 841-3593, (301) 858-3593, Douglas J.J. Peters, Vice-Chair (410) 841-3631, (301) 858-3631
Budget Items: Sustainable Communities Tax Credit, African American Heritage Preservation Grant Program, and the Capital Grant and Loan Program
Hearing: Tuesday, February 7, 4:00 p.m. – Miller Senate Office Building, 3 West
House Appropriations Committee: Transportation & the Environment Subcommittee
Tawanna P. Gaines, Chair (410) 841-3058, (301) 858-3058, Steven J. DeBoy, Sr., Vice-Chair (410) 841-3328, (301) 858-3328
Budget Items: The Non-Capital Grant Program, Maryland Heritage Areas, The Museum Advancement Grant Program
Hearing: Wednesday, February 15, 1:00 PM – House Office Building, Room 120
House Appropriations Committee: Capital Budget Subcommittee
Adrienne A. Jones, Chair (410) 841-3391, (301) 858-3391, Melony G. Griffith, Vice-Chair (410) 841-3557, (301) 858-3557
Budget Items: Sustainable Communities Tax Credit, African American Heritage Preservation Grant Program, and the Capital Grant and Loan Program
Hearing: Wednesday, February 8, 4:00 PM – House Office Building, Room 120
What can you do to help?
1) If your representative is listed as a member of these important committees, please contact them to encourage their support of the preservation agenda. Otherwise, please contact the committee chairs. Be sure to give them examples of museums, historic sites and tax-credit projects in their district which have benefited from these programs.
2) Familiarize yourself with the issues through the links to the websites for the programs above. Also, familiarize yourself with the legislative process and the way the General Assembly works. Our advocacy resource page has resources including a rundown on how the legislative process works and important dates to remember.
3) Make sure you know your representatives on a state and federal level by clicking here.
4) You can join colleagues immediately before the Maryland Historical Trust Awards for an advocacy training opportunity at 2:30 PM on January 31st. The program is organized and presented by the Maryland Association of History Museums. Click here for more details and registration information.
Jessica Feldt
State of Preservation
Posted by Preservation Maryland in Preservation Maryland Op-Ed on January 13, 2012
Maryland State House in Annapolis
The preservation movement in America really began in 1853 with the Mt. Vernon Ladies Association’s effort to save George Washington’s home. Of course, at that time there were no state or federal programs or laws for preserving of our new nation’s cultural or architectural heritage, even Mt. Vernon.
Thankfully, in response to international efforts to preserve historic sites like the Coliseum in Rome, things began to change in the 1930’s leading to the establishment of the nation’s first municipal historic district in Charleston, South Carolina. Eventually the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) was enacted in 1966, which created the National Register of Historic Places and State Historic Preservation Offices and the system for identifying and protecting historic buildings and sites.
Maryland has long been a leader in historic preservation. In fact, the Maryland Historical Trust was established five years before the NHPA in response to lobby efforts by the Society of the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities, now know as Preservation Maryland, to create a quasi-state agency dedicated to preserving historical and cultural resources. But while today the preservation of historic buildings and sites is widely recognized as important to the public welfare, with an established legal and regulatory framework, it is often seen as secondary to education and other social services, or even economic development interests.
Historic preservation is vital to understanding our shared history, maintaining a sense of place, revitalizing older neighborhoods and Main Street commercial districts, creating sustainable communities, and plays an important role in our culture and economy. Accordingly, every five years states are required to produce preservation plans in order to receive federal funding for preservation programs. Unfortunately, the Maryland Historical Trust’s PreserveMaryland planning initiative has stalled at critical time when we need to be demonstrating the importance and benefits of historic preservation when competing for shrinking state revenues.
One of my goals for PreserveMaryland is for the Maryland Historical Trust and Maryland Department of Planning to develop an annual “State of Preservation” report, which both documents and illustrates the impact of the state funding and other programs on preserving are Maryland’s historical and cultural resources. It could be used to more effectively educate lawmakers and empower preservation advocates in the efforts to gain support for the Maryland Historical Trust and its programs, like the Maryland State Arts Council and Department of Business and economic Development do so successfully.
Earlier this week the Maryland General Assembly convened in Annapolis for its 430th legislative session. It’s critical for those who care about the important role of preservation in their lives and communities to make your voices heard. The Governor’s budget is due to be released on January 18. We’ll let you know how preservation interests fare and hope to see you in Annapolis!
Tyler Gearhart
