Bond Bill Record Complicates Rightward Shift

With 50 days to go until the June 24th primary the focus is going to shift to the records and the rhetoric on taxes and spending in State Government. Most candidates have talked solely about reducing taxes, though Larry Hogan (whom we of course have endorsed) has also focused on the need to reduce state spending. We at Red Maryland have always focused on the need to reduce spending, with a special emphasis on bond bills. Last week we noted that $16 million was allocated to pork-barrel bond spending for Fiscal Year 2015 alone.

Unfortunately, one of the leading champions of this pork-barrel spending is Delegate Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, candidate for Lt. Governor. During here time in Annapolis, Haddaway-Riccio requested on average $2.1 million in bond bills for her district per year, and was responsible for $17,712,000 in approved bond bill requests.

See the full spreadsheet here.

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Annapolis Republicans are notorious for talking about reducing state spending while still making sure that their counties receive this kind of pork-barrel spending they can point to when it’s time to run for re-election. Haddway-Riccio is no different than many of her Republican colleagues in that regard. But what compounds this as a problem for Haddaway-Riccio as she runs statewide is that she was a signatory to a 2011 letter to Speaker of the House Mike Busch that said Republican leadership in the House was opposed to any bond bills; a year in which Haddaway-Riccio received $1.375 million in funding for her district.

Haddaway-Riccio’s support of bond bills is much more supportive of state spending than would be appealing to most Republican primary voters, and it stands in stark contrast to the drastic shift to the right seen in the Craig-Haddaway campaign over the last few weeks.

We at Red Maryland have always been opposed to these bond bills, and as we noted on last week’s episode of Red Maryland Radio, be sure to ask candidates about their bond bill record over the next 50 days.