Delegate 'Sickened' By Md. Farm Tax Bill Wrangling

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Delegate Kathy Afzali has gone from being happy to have the governor's support for her bill to provide tax relief to farmers to being what she describes as "sickened" by politicking that now threatens its passage.

The Republican freshman from Frederick County surprised Annapolis insiders earlier this year when she secured Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley's support for her bill. It would exempt farming families from paying estate tax when a relative dies.

But Afzali wrote an email Tuesday to supporters expressing frustration with political maneuvering that now threatens to kill the measure this year. She says other lawmakers want to attach it next year to a plan to crack down on septic system pollution in rural Maryland.

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