Changes To Corrections Reform Bill Appear To Reduce Savings

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Maryland's Senate president said Monday he is asking lawmakers to find more savings in a measure aimed at cutting spending on the state's corrections system by reducing recidivism, after an analysis said changes made last week slashed previously projected savings.

Meanwhile, the Senate approved a modest tax-relief measure that will be phased in over five years.

The trouble with the corrections reform bill, known as the Justice Reinvestment Act, surfaced Monday morning after an analysis by the Pew Charitable Trust indicated that the estimated savings over 10 years have been reduced from about $247 million to less than $40 million.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, D-Calvert, said one of the major changes affecting the savings relates to caps on probation violations. For example, judges would have been directed to impose sentences of 15, 30 and 45 days for first, second and third probation violations -- instead of potentially longer terms. The original bill had the caps, but the amended one doesn't.

"I think that's the main problem right now, because that's where the savings come from, so I'm going to ask the committee to go back and look at that and see if we can come up with some additional savings," Miller said, adding that the money is needed to put more probation and parole agents on the street to discourage recidivism.

Sen. Robert Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat who chairs the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, disputed the savings analysis. Zirkin also noted changes to a provision that would have automatically paroled someone with a 10-year sentence after the prisoner served 25 percent of it.

"Judicial Proceedings thought that that was a bridge that went too far and risked public safety in a number of ways, so we moderated that down to make sure that violent offenders and high-risk offenders weren't simply being let out on the street without somebody taking a look at them," Zirkin said.

The bill was expected to be on the Senate floor Monday evening.

In other business, the Senate voted 37-8 for a modest tax-relief measure, comparable to a plan Republican Gov. Larry Hogan proposed. The measure, which would add up to about $600 million over five years, would reduce Maryland's top four tax-rate brackets over five years. That portion of the plan would affect single filers who make more than $100,000 and joint filers with income over $150,000. It would cut taxes between 1 and 3 percent for those brackets.

The plan also would expand the state's Earned Income Tax Credit, which is offered to low-income workers. People in the middle who make between $60,000 and $100,000 would get a small increase in their personal exemption by $50 a year for up to four years.

Supporters said the reductions in the higher tax brackets were needed to help small businesses.

"We've got to create incentives that are balanced across the board that will create jobs so that these people at the lower end will have an opportunity to work," said Sen. Andrew Serafini, R-Hagerstown.

But opponents said the tax cuts will make it harder for the state to pay its bills, with no assurance they stimulate the economy.

"This bill will come due, whether it's fixing our infrastructure, whether it's paying for schools, whether it's ensuring people have a healthy and safe environment in the state of Maryland," said Sen. Paul Pinksy, D-Prince George's.

The General Assembly's "crossover" deadline is Monday. That means each chamber is supposed to approve legislation it intends to pass favorably over to the other chamber by the end of the day.

(Copyright 2016 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)