Federal Government

Maryland state Sen. Richard Colburn is fed up with the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic's lawsuit against a local chicken farm. But rather than try to shut the clinic down, Mr. Colburn introduced legislation to transfer $500,000 in funding from the University of Maryland to the University of Baltimore for the purpose of establishing an agricultural law clinic "dedicated to assisting farmers in the state with estates and trusts issues,...

Maryland state Sen. Richard Colburn is fed up with the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic's lawsuit against a local chicken farm. But rather than try to shut the clinic down, Mr. Colburn introduced legislation to transfer $500,000 in funding from the University of Maryland to the University of Baltimore for the purpose of establishing an agricultural law clinic "dedicated to assisting farmers in the state with estates and trusts issues,...

If Maryland was not adjacent to the federal government, which has overspent revenues by close to $5 trillion in the last five years, the Maryland economy would make Michigan's economy look good ("Jobs: a silver lining," June 21). Also money is not the answer to improving education. Getting parents of lower income kids involved is. But I understand that is not politically correct in some circles. Lyle Rescott, Marriottsville

While this week's Supreme Court hearings left many Democrats apprehensive that the justices will overturn President Obama's landmark health care law, Gov. Martin O'Malley remains an optimist. The governor said that after reading over transcripts of the hearings, at which Republican-appointed justices expressed deep skepticism about the constitutionality of the law, he's not at all sure that they're poised to strike it down in whole or in part. "I think they're going to affirm it," he said.

MY MOTHER would turn over in her grave if I could tell her that my place of employment, the federal Social Security Administration, could actually be shut down because Congress and the president can't approve a budget.I can hear her now: "Paul, if you get a job with the government, you'll never, ever have to worry about your security. You will always have steady employment, steady income, guaranteed advancement. And the federal government will always be right on target concerning the special needs and facilities for its handicapped employees.

Want a chance to tell the federal government what you think of it? And take a practice ride on the information superhighway at the same time?You can do so for free for the next two weeks, starting today, at 362 public libraries, schools, offices and stores across the nation.To encourage citizens to take part in the new information age technology, the government is sponsoring a National Electronic Open Meeting from today to May 14. It's sort of a nationwide electronic suggestion box.For example, you can tell the Social Security Administration whether it should deposit benefit checks in bank accounts electronically.

Frances Garth Johnson, a career federal worker, died of liver cancer June 12. She was 91 and had lived in Ellicott City since 1987. Mrs. Johnson, who worked for the federal government for decades, was born in Hazlehurst, Miss. She was the ninth of 10 children born to Ada Bird Garth and Llewelyn Branham Garth, a doctor and farmer. After high school, she decided to pursue an education and career in bookkeeping. She attended a two-year business college in Mississippi and earned a bookkeeping degree.

WASHINGTON -- After announcing an ambitious plan last spring to reduce children's exposure to lead, the Bush administration has now decided that while the program is urgent, the federal government will not take a major role in it, either financially or by seeking new laws.Earlier this year, the administration outlined a plan for widespread testing of homes for lead hazards. The plan called for certification of those who would test for lead and clean it up, and treatment for affected children.

A solution for building greater security for our citizens after the tragic events of Sept. 11 has come from Washington. The largest reorganization of the federal government since 1947 - folding 22 agencies and 170,000 employees into the Department of Homeland Security - is supposed to do the trick. It is being hailed as "historic" and "a bold step forward." Even its most fervent supporters acknowledge, however, that it will take years before the new department is forged into an effective anti-terrorist deterrent, though they assure that the war on terrorism will continue to be waged vigorously on all fronts.

WASHINGTON -- As understanding of the human genome advances, genetic testing has become an increasingly popular - and lucrative - tool for diagnosing diseases. There are now more than 800 tests available, promising to assess everything from the risk of Down syndrome to susceptibility to breast cancer. Yesterday, a Johns Hopkins University think tank called on the federal government to strengthen its industry oversight to ensure the quality of testing. The request by the Genetics and Public Policy Center stems from concerns that expectant parents wanting to learn whether their baby would be susceptible to cystic fibrosis or a healthy adult looking for an early diagnosis of Huntington's disease might make life-changing decisions or receive the wrong treatment based on shoddy test results.

The federal government is considering closing dozens of rural court sites across the country, including one that serves Maryland's Eastern Shore — a move that would force people to drive up to 110 miles to the nearest courthouse to have their cases heard. "It would be a grave inconvenience to litigants to have them come to a federal court in either Baltimore or Greenbelt. It makes no sense," said Deborah K. Chasanow, chief judge of Maryland's U.S. District Courts. The potential closures, 60 of them spread throughout 29 states, are being considered as a cost-cutting measure within the federal judiciary.

Efforts to restore native oysters in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay are about to begin in earnest, as state and federal officials air plans to conduct large-scale reef rebuilding projects in Harris Creek on the Eastern Shore. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources , along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the US. Army Corps of Engineers , are scheduled to present their plans for oyster restoration work in Harris Creek from 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum inSt.

Would someone please tell Gov.Martin O'Malleythat I'm already sharing the wealth - with the federal government. Leonard Magsamen, Nottingham

The definition of rape that dictates how local police departments report crimes to federal record keepers is expected to change — for the first time in more than 80 years — in early 2012. The final step of changing the Uniform Crime Report definition of rape was publicly acknowledged Wednesday, when FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he approved expanding a definition that critics say was too narrow. "[I]t was in some ways unworkable, certainly not … fully applicable to the types of crime that it should cover," Mueller said in response to a question from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., about why it was important to update the rape definition.

Those who think the government shouldn't be promoting energy innovation have short memories. The federal government's satellite and ballistic missile program spillovers are what brought us Silicon Valley. The energy program spillovers are going to land someplace else. Bringing about a technological and industrial revolution requires a huge commitment of collective resources as well as private initiative. It requires fundamental research, well ahead of the possibility of commercialization.

A Columbia-based health care firm has agreed to a $150 million settlement with the federal government and 43 states to resolve criminal and civil charges that it submitted claims for millions of dollars of work that it did not perform and operated offices that were not properly licensed, officials said Monday. A five-year federal investigation found that Maxim Healthcare Services Inc., one of the country's largest providers of home healthcare services, submitted $61 million in false claims for services to the federal government's Medicaid and Veterans Affairs health programs over an 11-year period from 1998 to 2009.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. - 10th amendment to the Constitution The last of the amendments that make up the Bill of Rights is the foundation of a political cry long associated with conservatives. "States' rights" has been evoked to oppose the growth in the authority of the federal government for several generations of American politics. The cry was heard in opposition to the Civil Rights movement that called for federal court orders and legislation to force states to desegregate schools, buses and, eventually all public accommodations.

Already decimated by Gov. William Donald Schaefer's budget cuts, the state's drug-abuse treatment program now is threatened with a loss of $22 million in federal funds, says the director of the state's alcohol- and drug-abuse administration."

The rancorous debate over the federal budget has obscured a central fact: The U.S. military has accomplished the near-impossible feat of reducing taxpayers' costs with bipartisan support in a large, complex, national program that nearly everyone admires. The program, named Residential Communities Initiative (RCI), is modeled on Columbia, Jim Rouse's pioneering city that combines housing, jobs, shops and recreation. One of the first RCI projects, in Fort Meade, is now home to 2,600 military families.

While Rep. Chris Van Hollen may wish that a deal to fix the federal government's fiscal problems could leave Medicaid untouched, the reality is that if the federal deficit is to be addressed, entitlement programs like Medicaid must be fundamentally reformed ("Debt crisis could hurt Maryland," July 17). Under the current Medicaid system, in which the federal government gives Maryland a dollar-for-dollar match for every Medicaid dollar the state spends, there is little incentive to control costs.