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Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is booked to square off Sunday against former GOP presidential contender and former Speaker of he House Newt Gingrich on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (Spencer Platt — Getty Images)NBC is billing the conversation as one between “two influential members of their parties about what’s fair game when it comes to campaign attacks and where the race between President Obama and [Mitt] Romney stands now.”

The scheduled appearance of O’Malley, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, comes just two weeks after he was bumped from another booked segment on “Meet the Press.”

O’Malley has become a regular on the Sunday talk circuit since his ascension in 2010 to DGA chairman, a perch that has prompted speculation about national ambitions in 2016.

Gingrich, who visited the State House in Annapolis in March shortly before suspending his presidential campaign, will be among the higher-profile adversaries O’Malley has faced on the talk show circuit.

(Robert F. Bukatay/AP)Maryland House Republicans announced their opposition Thursday to holding a special session on a gambling expansion, saying the issue needs to be considered in a “more deliberative and thoughtful fashion.”

The move could complicate efforts to craft a bill that has a chance of passing the House of Delegates in a session Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) has advertised for the week of July 9.

A Senate bill died in the House on the final night of the regular session that called for a statewide vote on allowing a full-fledged casino in Prince George’s County and Las Vegas-style table games at Maryland’s five existing slots locations.

The issue remains divisive among Democrats, and House leaders have suggested that a bill could be difficult to pass in the chamber without some Republican support. Similar bills have passed by lopsided margins in the Senate with bipartisan backing.

Montgomery County officials on Wednesday butted heads with school officials over school employee raises, which the county says is excessive and could ultimately undermine student learning.

School officials announced on Monday that their workers would receive the first raise in three years. The raises — which cost about $25 million, according to the officials — are part of a $4.6 billion operating budget that the Montgomery County Council is expected to approve on Thursday.

The size of the raise depends on a number of factors, including current salary and length of employment. The increase, which will be permanently added to the employees’ salaries, is about 5 percent on average, according to county and school officials.

County officials, on the other hand, approved a $2,000 one-time lump-sum bonus for their employees. They said they should not spend more until the county’s economic situation improves.

Though county unions agreed to the one-time bonus, they still weren’t happy about it. In a letter to the Montgomery County Council this month, Gino Renne, one of the county union presidents, decried the “ever-widening gap” in compensation between school employees and other government workers.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is heading to the Eastern Shore on Wednesday afternoon to host donors to the Democratic Governors Association at a two-day spring policy conference.

The gathering in Cambridge, Md., the latest in a series of similar DGA events, is billed as a conference on energy issues, a favorite topic for O’Malley (D). He is one of a half-dozen governors expected at the event at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa & Marina.

Lisa P. Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is scheduled to address the conference, which also includes a ”golf scramble” on Wednesday afternoon.

O’Malley has served as chairman of the DGA since December 2010.

The $350-per-person donor event is closed to the media.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)The Maryland General Assembly will convene the week of July 9 for a special session on expanded gambling if an 11-member work group announced Monday can reach consensus on a plan, Gov. Martin O’Malley said.

O’Malley named John Morton III, a business and financial services executive, as chairman of the group, which also includes four members of O’Malley’s staff and six legislators, three apiece picked by the leader of the House and Senate.

A bill died on the final night of this year’s 90-day legislative session that called for a public vote on allowing a full-fledged casino in Prince George’s County and Las Vegas-style table games at Maryland’s five existing slots locations.

Some lawmakers blamed brinkmanship over the bill for slowing down budget negotiations, which also collapsed on the session’s final night.