April 11, 2017 Friends, That s a wrap! The Maryland General Assembly adjourned with a scurry of activity on Monday, April 10 th at midnight. Overall, this has been the most productive session yet in the last decade for Carroll County and for Maryland as a whole. Once again, it is my honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Carroll County, but admittedly, I am anxious to return home to Carroll County after a jam packed 90 days. We passed a fiscally responsible state budget ahead of schedule that included NO NEW TAXES and with tax relief on the first $15,000 of retirement income for first responders and other emergency response personnel who are at least 55 years old. I share Governor Hogan s goal of eliminating taxes on all retirement income. We were very successful working with Governor Hogan to pass his top legislative priorities to create thousands of new jobs, restore integrity to state government, and move forward with dozens of critical transportation projects across the state. As Chair of the Carroll County Delegation, I am pleased to report that our team was able to secure additional funding for Carroll County Public Schools, Carroll Community College and funding for a number of important projects. Additional $4.72 Million for Carroll County Public Schools Thanks to Governor Hogan and bipartisan support, Carroll County Public Schools will receive an additional $1.6M in supplemental grant monies this year and HB684, sponsored by me and co-sponsored by members of our Delegation, will continue to offset the impact of declining student enrollment over the next 2 years for Carroll County and 10 other jurisdictions. This important piece of legislation will give CCPS additional revenue and predictability until a new comprehensive funding formula is put in place in FY2021. Also required by HB684 are accountability measures for Baltimore City Schools including an audit of the school system s finances. Additional Annual $437,959 for Carroll Community College Again, with the support of Governor Hogan and committee Chairs McIntosh and Kasemeyer, Senator Ready and I were able to pass legislation correcting a longstanding funding inequity for small community colleges- Wor-Wic, Chesapeake, Cecil and Carroll Community College.
This will bring $438K annually in additional funding for each institution beginning in FY19. Governor Hogan also included $107K in additional funding for this year allowing CCC to cap tuition increases on our students at 1.5%. Carroll County Capital Bond Allocations Carroll County Public Safety Training Center- $1.65 million has been allocated to the development of a two and one-half story Live Fire Training Burn Building and firefighter training props with a bleacher-style outdoor classroom and toilet room facility. Carroll Hospital Center is receiving a $524K grant for expansion of the obstetrical rooms in the main hospital to provide Family Centered Neonatal Couplet Care. Carroll Hospital will be the first in Maryland and only the 2 nd hospital in the country to offer this program, which allows mommy and baby to remain together. McDaniel College will be receiving $3 million for the construction and equipment for the Gill Physical Education Learning Center for additional classroom space in the basement of Gill. Freedom Army National Guard Readiness Center - an additional $214,000 in funds will be granted to continue funding the construction of a new facility in Sykesville. Union Mills Homestead Restoration- $100,000 has been granted to put towards restoration and reconstruction of the property, including repair of the roof. Boys and Girls Club of Westminster - $80,000 was allocated to support improvements and renovations for the afterschool program that helps students with homework and gives them the opportunity to excel in their studies. Mount Airy Visitor and Caboose Center - $25,000 grant for repairs and construction to include a 40ft x 20ft pavilion that will be built over the restored Baltimore & Ohio Caboose, #2095 on Main Street in Downtown Mount Airy. Carroll County Legislation Carroll Transit System- This legislation will save Carroll County taxpayers $67,500 in FY18 and $90K per year thereafter, due to reduced insurance premiums, by allowing a non-profit corporation to serve as the local public transportation authority, thus limiting liability on the nonprofit corporation. Repeal - Huckster, Hawker or Peddler License & Mechanical Music Devices- Both bills repealed unnecessary local laws that once required licenses to sell produce in Carroll County and to play coin operated devices.
Polygraph Testing at the Detention Center- This legislation, requested by Sheriff DeWees, will allow the Carroll County Detention Center to require polygraph examinations prior to employment. A Fiscally Responsible State Budget Your Tax Dollars The General Assembly passed Governor Hogan s FY 2018 Budget largely intact, with few changes made to his initial proposal. General Fund spending grew by only.5% and the budget leaves over $950 million in reserve to guard against potential revenue shortfalls. Hogan s budget contained no tax increases while being structurally balanced and protecting important priorities such as record funding for K-12 and higher education, environmental programs & public safety. When Governor Hogan submitted his budget, he also submitted two pieces of legislation with the goal of ending Maryland s chronic cycle of revenue shortfalls and structural deficit: The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2017 ensures that Maryland is better-prepared to deal with the challenges that may come along. The bill eliminates the practice of using occasional, temporary revenue spikes to fund known recurring future expenses. During years with a revenue surplus, excess income will automatically be moved into the state s rainy day fund this extra revenue will be available to use for years to come when revenues fall short. The Governor s proposal was incorporated into HB 503 -- Income Tax Revenue Estimate Cap and Revenue Stabilization Account, which passed the House and Senate and was signed by the Governor on March 31st. The Common Sense Spending Act of 2017 addresses mandated spending, which accounts for 83% of Maryland s own source of revenues, and ensures that future budgets prioritize key expenditures like education and health care, while giving leaders the flexibility to trim excessive cost increases that exceed revenues. This would force fiscal discipline on our elected officials. Unfortunately, the General Assembly did not pass this initiative. Progress on the Fight Against Opioids Hogan-Rutherford Administration Declared a State of Emergency on March 17th, and Announced Major Funding to Combat Heroin and Opioid Crisis in Maryland In response to 2,000 lives lost last year due to the heroin, opioid, and fentanyl crisis ravaging communities in Maryland, this declaration activated the governor s emergency management authority and enabled increased and more rapid coordination between the state and local jurisdictions. Governor Hogan, along with Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, also announced $50 million in new funding to address the crisis. Rising addiction to prescription opioids is driving a more than five-year surge in overdose deaths.
Education and treatment are at the heart of opioid-epidemic legislation we worked on all session in the Health & Government Operations Committee where I serve. We worked with the Administration on a comprehensive package of new legislation including: HB 1432-Prescription Opioids Limits on Prescribing- requires a health care provider to prescribe the lowest effective dose. HB 1329- Heroin and Opioid Prevention Effort (HOPE) and Treatment Act of 2017 establishes crisis treatment centers and a toll-free health crisis hotline 24/7 for individuals experiencing a substance use disorder crisis. Requires hospitals to have a protocol for discharging patients treated for a drug overdose and expands drug court programs. HB 1082-Start Talking Maryland Act- will require drug education programs to talk about the lethality of the opioid fentanyl and would teach medical providers about drug addiction treatment, expand existing programs that provide drug addiction and prevention education in the public schools and require each public school to store overdose-reversing medication for use in emergencies. Also provides for coordination with local schools, health departments and law enforcement to partner with and involve communities and parents in fighting the opioid epidemic. Controversial Bills Defeated Defeated Legislation That Would Have Made Maryland a Sanctuary State In what I consider to be the worst bill to have passed the House this session, HB 1362 was an irresponsible piece of legislation called The Maryland Trust Act. This law would have directly interfered with the ability of state and local law enforcement to work and cooperate with federal law enforcement authorities on illegal immigration and would have made Maryland a Sanctuary State. Despite the early passage in the House of this ill-conceived legislation, national media attention led to outrage from the citizens of Maryland. Thanks to all of you who called in or signed petitions expressing your concerns to the Senate Majority leadership. They listened! End of Life Options Act (HB 370)- was withdrawn by the sponsor for a lack of support. I opposed this legislation that sought to legalize physician-assisted suicide. For the third year in a row, this bill never made it out of my committee- Health and Government Operations. Supporters of this legislation argue that it would create a dignified death with people suffering from a terminal condition with less than six months to live. This argument overlooks a critical fact: Maryland residents already have near universal access to hospice and palliative care that can provide a pain-free, dignified end of life.
"Death with dignity" legislation is dangerous with a lack of safeguards to prevent coercion and abuse of Maryland's most vulnerable patients such as the disabled, poor, and minorities. Even the supporters of the concept believe that there are flaws in the legislation. "Death with dignity" prescriptions are given to patients at their local pharmacy, the patient must selfadminister the lethal drugs without any health care providers present, and there is no requirement to tell family members ahead of time. Governor Hogan s Successful 2017 Initiatives The Public Integrity Act of 2017- Governor Hogan insisted on the first major update to the Legislature s ethics rules in over fifteen years. The Legislature unanimously passed a version of this sweeping ethics reform targeting conflicts of interest and corruption among state officials, increasing transparency and public access to state government, and reforming the Prince Georges County liquor board nominating process following a string of fraud and bribery scandals. It will also create a new citizen advisory board to recommend ways to further tighten ethics laws for lawmakers. This act comes in the wake of former, current, and prospective Democratic members of the Maryland General Assembly, as well as local officials, being indicted on federal and state charges in connection to their public or elected position. During his campaign for governor and in his inaugural address, Governor Hogan pledged to hold all of state government to the highest ethical standards. His first executive order outlined strict standards of conduct for the governor s executive staff and all executive branch employees. From the start, the Hogan administration has taken action to root out corruption across the state, including partnering with federal law enforcement agencies in an extensive investigation into the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services that resulted in 80 indictments of corrections officers, state employees, and inmates. Legislative Transparency Act of 2017 This proposed legislation would have made key reforms to open up state government and leverage technology to make the legislative process more accessible to citizens. The proposal required that all meetings of the General Assembly be livestreamed, which is done in all but seven states in the nation. The Governor s FY 2018 budget included $1.2 million to fund the livestreaming. Unfortunately this bill never made it out of committee. What don t they want you to see? Disappointments No Pension Reform- Once again, the Legislature punted and did not act on Maryland s largest fiscal crisis- the state pension system s $20 billion shortfall. Despite a very articulate presentation of the crisis and potential solutions by Governor Hogan, other Maryland Republicans and myself, the respective legislative committees rejected all four of the pension proposals. No meaningful discussion occurred on how to ensure that over 40,000 current and
retired teachers and state employees can depend on the secure retirement they have been promised. Not to mention the burden we are leaving on future taxpayers- our children and grandchildren. No Redistricting Reform Act of 2017- Gov. Hogan continued to push to institute a nonpartisan redistricting process to ensure free and fair elections in Maryland, which is home to some of the most gerrymandered districts in the nation. The legislation echoed the administration s 2016 proposal, which was not advanced by the Legislature despite support from an overwhelming majority of Marylanders. I'm saddened to inform you that once again, the Democrats voted to kill the Governor's redistricting bill without even a discussion on it. Instead, they have passed a measure that would allow an independent commission to draw the boundary lines ONLY IF, AND WHEN, SIX SURROUNDING STATES DO THE SAME -FIRST. This is ludicrous! I fully supported Governor Hogan s efforts to end gerrymandering and adopt a common sense redistricting initiative. Transitional Supports for Ex-Offenders HB 860 Removes the requirement for drug testing for felons to receive food stamps and cash assistance. Our mutual goal of felons reentering society and becoming contributing members will not be achieved by repealing drug testing requirements for welfare benefits. Plenty of employees must pass a drug test to work. Unfortunately, along party lines, the House voted to pass this measure. Firearms Legislation - Some Bad Some Good Weapon-free Higher Education Zones HB 159 DEFEATED ON SINE DIE- Criminalized the possession of any firearm on any public college property in Maryland, including the transport of a weapon in a private vehicle passing through a large campus on a state road such as the University of Maryland or Towson University. I voted against this feel good piece of unnecessary legislation. Firearms - Handgun Permit - Preliminary Approval - HB 1036- this commonsense legislation would have repealed the requirement that an applicant for a carry permit spend time and money on training before applying for a permit. It allowed the State Police to grant preliminary approval of an application and the applicant would then have 120 days to obtain the mandatory training before getting the carry permit, thus lessening the burden of the handgun permitting process. This legislation could have been a small victory for 2A supporters, but was hijacked on the last day of session and passed in the Senate. Sexual Assault Bills HB 642- Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Statute of Limitations and Required Findings- extends the statute of limitations for civil cases that occurred while a victim was a minor. The new stature of limitations will be 20 years after the victim reaches the age of 18.
HB 255- Procedure- Sexual Assault Victim s Rights- Disposal of Rape Kit Evidence and Notification- would require all jurisdictions in Maryland to retain rape kits and other related evidence for at least 20 years after it has been obtained. It will also require victims to be notified in writing that their kit will be destroyed and that they will have an opportunity to request their kit be kept longer. HB 428- Child Conceived Without Consent- Termination of Parental Rights- Rape Survivor Family Protection Act- This bill allows a court to terminate the parental rights of an individual convicted of or found to have committed an act of nonconsensual sexual conduct against the other parent that resulted in the conception of a child. Final Thoughts We still face many challenges In Annapolis with a political and philosophical divide among the Legislature. However, Governor Hogan and his administration have pushed forward to work on bipartisan issues without compromising the common sense principles on which he was elected. I will continue to support Governor Hogan in his efforts to make Maryland a better place to work, raise a family, grow a business and retire. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to contact me on legislative issues, your feedback and involvement is important to me. If you are not already receiving my periodic e-mail updates News From Annapolis and are interested in doing so, e-mail me at susan.krebs@house.state.md.us or call 410-841-3200.