With his big victory margin and more Democrats in the General Assembly, Glendening may shed his reputation for treading cautiously around political enemies, political insiders said yesterday. One well-connected lobbyist said several Glendening appointees already were making lists of legislators and lobbyists who supported Sauerbrey. There were people helped out by this administration who went out of their way to trash it. After receiving a long ovation from supporters in the State House yesterday, Glendening told reporters that he will begin pulling together a package for the General Assembly that will convene in January. Nothing changes in that sense.
Education is our most important priority, by far.
He also named the environment, economic development and gun control, but detailed no proposals. There is no such shyness from the constituent groups that backed his campaign and now hope his reelection will result in his support for their priorities. They include a gasoline tax increase, which Glendening avoided in his first term. Some key lawmakers said there will be great pressure to increase the tax in order to replenish the fund that pays for roads and other transportation projects, and some analysts said a tax increase also would have been likely had Sauerbrey been elected. The Transportation Trust Fund is almost gone. . . .