In the wake of Maryland’s recent vote to expand gambling locations and allow table games, Capital News Service asked Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, if sports gambling is in the state’s future. “It’s always possible that somebody could pursue it,” Norris said, “I just can’t foresee that happening.” Norris further commented, “I’m willing to guess that the current governor is so fed up with the gambling issue that I’m sure he will not support anything.” To move sports betting forward, he suggests, there would have to be more active support for such legislation… Continue Reading Donald F. Norris, Public Policy, in Capital News Service Article
Canadian newspaper The Windsor Star has featured new research from UMBC’s Eric Zeemering, assistant professor of public policy, on how government and NGOs in Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan form cross-border cooperative relationships to promote economic development and create sustainable communities (see full article in the Journal of Urban Affairs). Zeemering told reporter Dave Hall that although there are great opportunities for collaboration between Windsor and Detroit, the international border often serves to keep the communities apart and “there needs to be a concerted effort to forge those relationships.” Zeemering notes, “The danger in creating cross-border relationships at the political level… Continue Reading Eric Zeemering, Public Policy, in the Windsor Star
In the latest post on Governing magazine’s blog “Better Faster Cheaper,” John M. Kamensky, senior fellow with the IBM Center for the Business of Government, reports on compelling new findings from a study by UMBC’s Eric Zeemering, assistant professor of public policy, and co-researcher Daryl Delabbi. Zeemering and Delabbi have found that more than half of county officials across the country are either participating in or delivering shared services or are in active discussions to do so. Why counties? Kemensky writes, “Typically, small local governments jealously guard their independence. County government is a natural place to turn to coordinate or… Continue Reading Eric Zeemering, Public Policy, on “Better Faster Cheaper”
What’s Baltimore buzzing about? A fascinating community project from UMBC’s Departments of American Studies and Visual Arts. Students from the multidisciplinary BreakingGround course “Mapping Baybrook” have been working toward a special community event all semester, producing oral history recordings, a walking tour brochure and other work to highlight the area’s history and culture. The community celebration, highlighted on the Baltimore Magazine blog “The Chatter,” will take place this Saturday, December 1, 1:00-5:00 p.m. at the Polish Home Hall, 4416 Fairhaven Avenue in Curtis Bay. The event will also launch the new Mapping Baybrook website, designed in collaboration with UMBC’s Imaging… Continue Reading Mapping Baybrook in Baltimore Magazine
The latest Baltimore Sun column by Thomas Schaller, professor of political science, explores critiques of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s potential nomination for secretary of state given her role in providing inaccurate information to the American public following the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Schaller writes that although he questions the motives of those critiquing the nomination, they “are asking important questions about what the State Department and the White House did before, during and especially after the attacks,” such as, “Why weren’t requests by U.S. officials in Benghazi for upgraded security in advance of the anniversary of… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun
The Maryland Health Care Reform Simulation Model report produced by The Hilltop Institute at UMBC continues to get press coverage. The Baltimore Business Journal cites a Hilltop estimate of the number of new jobs to be stimulated by health reform in Maryland in the article, “Medical sector heightens focus on jobless to fill demand” [log-in required]. The article states, “A report by the Hilltop Institute at University of Maryland Baltimore County estimates Maryland employers will add 26,900 jobs by 2020 in response to health reform. Labs need assistants to oversee safety and animal care, and hospitals need people to transport… Continue Reading Hilltop in the Baltimore Business Journal
“Now that the governor’s proposal to expand gambling in Maryland has passed at the ballot box, some state senators and delegates who backed the controversial measure are looking to collect,” writes reporter Annie Linskey in today’s Baltimore Sun. The idea that those legislators who backed Gov. O’Malley in his support of the gambling legislation would seek benefits in return for its passage is not a new concept to Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy. “I think it is a nearly universal phenomenon in legislative bodies,” he says. “It is a matter of bargaining and… Continue Reading Donald Norris, Public Policy, in the Baltimore Sun
A new article in Governing magazine, titled “How Higher Education Could Save Medicaid,” explores public universities as effective partners in states’ efforts to reform their Medicaid systems to be more fiscally sustainable and prepare for a significant enrollment expansion under the Affordable Care Act. The Hilltop Institute at UMBC offers one of three examples nation-wide for how this partnership can work. Governing calls Hilltop “one of the primary Medicaid policymaking labs for the state,” noting that it “is responsible for all financial modeling, helped [Maryland] develop its managed care program and works with an actuarial firm to set the capitated… Continue Reading The Hilltop Institute in “Governing” Magazine
Political science professor Thomas F. Schaller’s latest Baltimore Sun column responds to the claim that “President Obama won re-election because Americans want ‘free stuff’.” He argues that “contrary to what talk-show conservatives imply, many government programs skew toward middle-class and upper-income Americans” and usage of federal benefit programs is near universal, rather than tied to political affiliation. Schaller writes, “according to political scientists Suzanne Mettler and John Sides, 96 percent of Americans have benefited from at least one (and typically more) of just 21 federal programs, ranging from student loans to the mortgage interest deduction, from the employer health care… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller in the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post
In the wake of Maryland’s vote for Question 4, UMBC professors T.H. Gindling (economics) and Marvin Mandell (public policy) recently discussed their study, “Private and Government Fiscal Costs and Benefits of the Maryland Dream Act” on NBC Washington news. Their interview highlights the net positive economic impact that each incoming class of undocumented students would have, due to factors such as decreased incarceration rates (and thus lower incarceration costs) for college versus high school graduates. Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, commented on Maryland’s passage of both Question 6 (approving same-sex marriage rights) and Question… Continue Reading Social Science Faculty Gindling, Mandell, Norris and Hussey in Post-Election News
On Tuesday, Nov. 6, Marylanders voted to extend in-county/in-state tuition at local community colleges and public universities to undocumented immigrants who graduate from Maryland high schools and meet other requirements. Press following the 59% to 41% Maryland Dream Act victory have cited a recent study on the Dream Act’s economic impacts by UMBC’s T.H. Gindling (economics) and Marvin Mandell (public policy). Their study concludes, “the Dream Act would generate $66 million in economic activity for each incoming new class of undocumented students.” See the website of UMBC’s Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR) for the original working paper:… Continue Reading UMBC Study on Economic Impact of Dream Act in National Press Following Vote
Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, has offered insight on topics from Maryland ballot measures to the advertising wars throughout the election season. He recently commented in a Patch article on early voting, stating: “There is little or no evidence that early voting matters in overall turnout or in overall turnout among sub groups of voters—elderly, young, minorities, etc. So I am not inclined to say anything about this except that turnout is up.” Why the increase in turnout of early voters? Norris told WBAL, “We’ve got at least three ballot questions that are… Continue Reading Donald Norris, Public Policy, in Election Coverage
