Maryland's attacks on business

Washington Times:

Maryland officials are scaring off investment in the state with such anti-business moves as the court-ordered scrutiny of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s energy rates and the law that forces Wal-Mart to pay employee health benefits, business leaders say.
"Wal-Mart yesterday. BGE today. Who's next?" asked William R. Burns, spokesman for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, which represents about 850 businesses employing more than 340,000 people statewide.
He said companies are thinking twice about operating in Maryland after Baltimore Circuit Judge Albert J. Matricciani Jr. ordered the state's Public Service Commission to review the utility company's pending 72 percent rate increase and open its books for political leaders.
The lawsuit by Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, a Democratic candidate for governor, also succeeded in voiding the energy plan of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican seeking re-election.
The plan -- which Mr. Ehrlich brokered in April after the Democrat-controlled legislature adjourned without agreeing to any action -- gradually would have phased in the company's rate increase to market-based electricity prices when the 1999 rate caps expire July 1.
However, the order does not guarantee that the rate increases will be less than 72 percent, the market-level price that will increase the average utility bill by about $700 per year.
"It has had a negative impact on Maryland's business climate," Mr. Burns said.
Maryland Secretary of Business and Economic Development Aris Melissaratos, whose chief job is attracting companies to the state, said the judge's ruling was a "huge negative."
"I'm often asked why Baltimore does not have more [corporate] headquarters," he said. "This is the answer. It makes my job that much tougher."

...

What do Democrats have against the free market? If they do not believe in the free market as the best judge of the value of a commodity or service, they need to take remedial economics.