- Local every day in
Guide: Three Referendum Issues On the Ballot
Maryland voters will have the opportunity to overturn Maryland's same-sex marriage law, the Dream Act and the congressional redistricting map on the November ballot.
This fall, Maryland voters will likely have the opportunity to overturn or solidify at least three pieces of controversial legislation. The three state referendum issues voters could see on the ballot in November include congressional redistricting, the Maryland Dream Act and same-sex marriage.
Tell us in comments: How will you vote on these ballot issues this fall? What ballot issue is most important to you?
Congressional Districts: Every 10 years, state government has the opportunity to change congressional districts based on census data. Gov. Martin O'Malley's 2012 redistricting map was passed by the General Assembly in an October special session.
The proposed redistricting would shift the boundaries for Carroll County's 4th district, so that it will include both Carroll and Howard counties.
It also moves the Town of Sykesville into a Howard County district and splits the Eldersburg Census Designated Place boundaries in half along Route 26, putting half of the 26,062 population into a new three-member Carroll County District and half in a Howard County District across the Patapsco River, as previously reported on Patch.
The Maryland DREAM Act: This act will give illegal immigrants in-state tuition to community colleges.
State Bill 167 constitutes that undocumented immigrants would be eligible for in-state tuition if their parents filed to pay state taxes and if they graduated from a Maryland high school they attended for at least three years.
The bill passed the House of Delegates by a 74-65 vote and the Senate by a 27-20 vote in 2011.
Same Sex Marriage: The Maryland legislature passed same-sex marriage this year and O'Malley signed it into law.
Local Officials Respond
Carroll County Delegates Donald Elliott and Justin Ready, both Republicans, said they would like to see all three of the issues overturned by citizens in referendum.
"O'Malley's redistricting map is an awful, gerrymandered mess--the worst in the country in my opinion," Delegate Ready said.
"And I do not believe we should be giving taxpayer-subsidized benefits to illegal immigrants," Ready said. "Our state government has been tightening the squeeze on our citizens and legal residents. There is widespread, bipartisan opposition to in-state tuition for illegal immigrants."
"The Catholic church supports the DREAM Act because we believe that every person, regardless of their legal status is a child of God," said Bishop Denis Madden, auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, at a UMBC rally supporting the DREAM Act. "As a church and as a community, we flourish when we strive to provide the opportunity for every person to reach their full potential and to develop the unique God-given gifts that they have been given.
"We are convinced that when Marylanders know the facts about the DREAM Act, that they will happily embrace the chance to do the right thing for our young people," Madden said.
Carroll County Delegate Susan Krebs said that she hopes the ballot wording makes it easy for people to understand the issue.
"My one concern is how the referendum issues are going to be worded on the ballot," Krebs said. "The wording needs to be straightforward so that our citizens know what they are voting on and not confused by ambiguous ballot language."
Sign up for the Westminster Patch newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for instant news updates and community conversations.
Thanks. We'll email you the next time we update this story.
Maria Warburton
6:47 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
I hope to see the Civil Marriage Protection Act stand so that all can take advantage of the benefits that a legal marriage provides. And it seems like the libertarian thing to do....less government intrusion into people's lives. I haven't decided on the Dream Act although it does seem to be more beneficial than harmful overall and the benefits go to young people trying to make a productive life for themselves, their family, and in return society. I will likely vote to overturn the redistricting plan.
JoAnn Nicholls
8:05 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
government coming between two consenting adults and their place of worship to commit to one another is equivalent to an insurance company/government coming between a doctor and their patient....Three is a crowd...remember what mama taught you!!!
JoAnn Nicholls
8:10 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
I will DEFINITELY vote AGAINST the DREAM ACT and vote AGAINST the gerrymandering redistricting done by the thugs in Annapolis....Surprise, surprise; Census Bureau data reveals that most U.S. families headed by illegal immigrants use taxpayer-funded welfare programs on behalf of their American-born anchor babies.Even before the recession, immigrant households with children used welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives, according to the extensive census data collected and analyzed by a nonpartisanWashington D.C. group dedicated to researching legal and illegal immigration in the U.S. The results, published this month in a lengthy report, are hardly surprising.Basically, the majority of households across the country benefitting from publicly-funded welfare programs are headed by immigrants, both legal and illegal. States where immigrant households with children have the highest welfare use rates are Arizona (62%), Texas, California and New York with 61% each and Pennsylvania(59%).
Dan Schaller
1:31 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
I agree with Delegate Krebs that the language used in the ballot definitions of the initiatives should be clear and understandable by the least literate among us. In this light, I think that the beneficiaries of the "Maryland Dream Act" should be clearly described as the CHILDREN of undocumented non-citizens who were orn outside this country and brought here by their parents or other adults. These are not people who have made a choice to come here, and they are not what some call "anchor babies" - born here.
These young people have grown up in this country and, in most cases, have no real connection to the country of their birth or its internal culture, and should not be penalized for the actiosn of others.
JoAnn Nicholls
1:57 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
It's very easy to be maudlin about this...Delegate Krebs is wrong...there are laws on the books that if not enforced makes us a lawless union...that type of mentality, to make. "exceptions" is wrong and is insulting to every American who is respectful of our Constitution and most importantly to the taxpayers...Perhaps Delegate Krebs could answer this.....How is this anchor baby supported by illegal parents who haven't any authority to work here under the I-9 forms that I as an employer are required to keep?Welfare? Krebs is a big government RINO, and is representative of the grave issues our country is facing right now to keep the full blown communists in check.
JoeEldersburg
5:46 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Yikes JoAnn, you just attacked one of "your own", who has like a 100% rating from every conservative instution on the planet...I guess she didn't make your book burning rally! Did she urinate on your most recent Tea Party cross burning? Please stop hating and fearing foreigners or all the people that don't think like you, which is fortunately most of us. Learn to be more tolerant of people and ideas that are different from yours and don't seek to control other people's lives, but instead accept them for wanting to live the way they want to live...you'll sleep much better at night!
Why Do I Care
4:05 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Easy: No changing the district lines, no same sex marrage and no dream act.
What is wrong with hard work for normal working folks who earn their way with no special incentives to do so.
who wants to live and buy a house in the district of their choice, only to have it changed bgecause they can do so every ten years. Too Political for the group who is in office.
What my choice of sex is none of your business and what someone else's choice is none of mine. What happened to just being plain decent and keeping your business to yourself. Does everyone have to hang a flag out on their porch to tell all their sexual preference. Crazy.
JoeEldersburg
6:46 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Why you should care. Easy: Your arguments make no sense and you need to think before you type 1) The Dream act has nothing to do with incentives and you are implying that illegals are neither "normal" people or working, which is ridiculous. 2)Nobody but morons would buy their house based on a political boundary. We change school districts all the time, so of course election districts even gerrymandered ones are part of life and this is the valid reason to oppose it. 3) Same sex marriage has nothing to do with "choice of sex or hanging out flags". What is "crazy" is that you don't understand the basic premise of civil rights, which prevents people from being discriminated against based on their orientation. Gays want nothing more than straight people. The right to marriage that you seem to seek denied to them. One day we'll look back at this and see how stupid we were for opposing this, just as we did slavery, women suffrage & segregation. Please get a clue.
Roland Joseph Meerdter
7:12 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Joe, I did not understand JoAnn to hate all things different from her. She just wants to pay her own way and wants others to do likewise.
You should read again what you wrote to this lady and re-think your own intolerance.
Such a nasty response is not civil discourse. Respectively submitted
JoAnn Nicholls
7:30 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Knock it off with your liberal spew to try and spin my comments into your disgusting hate mongering. I am a law abiding citizen. If I were not, I would be arrested. An illegal alien is violating our laws and for you or any politician to condone an unlawful, unconstitutional act is as unlawful as the person committing the crime. And the politician is guilty of violating their oath of office and guilty of sedition.
JoeEldersburg
5:25 pm on Monday, July 23, 2012
Talk about "spew"...you wrap yourself up in the American flag and say you follow the Constitution, but only when it suits you and your twisted follower's arguments. You wouldn't know sedition if it hit you upside the head, as most of the drivel that passes as We the People propaganda, constitutes seditious attacks on the President (or anyone else that doesn't think like you). Look at the recent insulting diatribe of your fearless leader, Michelle Jefferson and let me know if you think it's reasonable to refer to President as "Twinkle-Toes" and talk about pulling his ears, while she infers that he's not American and a Muslim...where do you and your friends come from JoAnn? If Eldersburg is much different than when you were there, I'd say it's definitely gotten better (addition by subtraction).
JoAnn Nicholls
8:47 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
http://www.usillegalaliens.com/impacts_of_illegal_immigration_diseases.html Read this and tell me how mean and hateful those who are deeply concerned about this are. NONE of these people are health screened and there are cooking your food at many of the local restaurants....
John Culleton
5:24 pm on Friday, July 20, 2012
I oppose the redistricting of Carroll County, both the Congressional district changes and the Delegate District changes. Carroll County has no Democratic representative in the state legislature which means we can be carved up to serve the interests of other jurisdictions. We now have only three delegates who will be Carroll County residents.
The Congressional map is intended to increase the size of the Democratic delegation to the house of Representatives, but I fear the Dems have overreached and we may lose a seat, not gain one. The Same Sex Marriage Act should have been a Civil Union Act instead, preserving the term marriage for the sacrament between a man and a woman. Otherwise same-sex couples should have all the legal rights of marriage. The Dream act recognizes the reality that we are all immigrants or descendents of immigrants. Even the Native Americans had ancestors who came across the Bering Strait eons ago. So we should look for sensible solutions for those who have been here for a while. The Dream Act offers fairness for the children who were brought here.
John Culleton
JoAnn Nicholls
8:43 pm on Monday, July 23, 2012
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLJxmJZXgNI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my iPad. My, my, my JoeEldersburg....you are ready to burst a blood vessel.....remember Joe, three strikes and you're OUT!....you're appearing desperate....never thought we could do it??? Got all three on the ballot so the citizens of Maryland could have their say....what are you so afraid of?
John Culleton
7:38 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
The original article confused two different redistrictings. The question on the ballot refers to congressional districts and not delegate districts.