Jimmy Tarlau - People's Lobbying Group

Democratic Legislative Leadership responds to

Recent Actions of Trump Administration

There is a lot happening in Washington and lots and lots of people are protesting the activities of the Trump Administration. This week the Democratic leadership in Annapolis has started this process, putting forward an initial package of bills to respond to the recent activities of the Administration in DC. These bills are likely to pass.

• Maryland Defense Act of 2017  – Legislation to provide the Attorney General with the directive and the resources to engage in offensive or defensive action to protect citizens of Maryland from harmful efforts of federal policies. The bill is modeled on similar legislation in some other states. In the words of the Baltimore Sun, “The measures include expanding the authority of Maryland's attorney general to take legal action against federal government actions without receiving the governor's permission. The legislation would free Democratic Attorney General Brian Frosh to more aggressively fight Trump administration policies in court.”

• Repeal of the Affordable Care Act Resolution – The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides or helps to provide health insurance to over 400,000 Marylanders, assists seniors with prescription drugs, eliminates pre-existing condition barriers and allows children to stay on their parents’ health insurance. In addition to the problems this would create for citizens and to health care institutions, Maryland is at risk of losing $7.7 billion over the next 4 years should this happen. As reported by the Baltimore Business Journal, these losses relate to Medicaid funding, matching grants for Maryland Children’s Health Program, and other costs.  This Resolution calls on the Congressional Delegation and the Governor to strongly oppose and resist any repeal of the ACA.

 
(You can also sign an  on-line petition asking Governor Hogan to oppose the repeal of the ACA by clicking:  https://www.change.org/p/gov-hogan-strongly-oppose-repeal-of-the-affordable-care-act )
 

• Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act  – Marylanders should have access to high quality healthcare, regardless of pre-existing conditions. In light of the President and Republican Congress pushing to repeal the ACA, the General Assembly will create the Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection Commission with the purpose to monitor work on the Federal level and prepare Maryland to best react should President Trump and the Republicans in Congress decide to take away health insurance coverage from the hard working middle class.

• Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Task Force – After the Great Recession, real progress was made to provide consumers with real financial protection, and ensure that banks couldn’t hurt the American consumer. It is only a matter of time until President Trump and Congress begin to repeal these measures. This legislation establishes the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Task Force to monitor federal changes and keep the Governor and General Assembly updated on those changes.

 
General Assembly Overturns Governor’s Veto of Clean Energy Act

I joined my colleagues in voting 88 to 51 on Tuesday to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill calling for stronger renewable-energy standards.  The Senate today also voted to override the veto by a 32 to 13 margin.

The legislation  requires Maryland to buy 25 percent of its energy from renewable-energy sources, such as wind and solar, by 2020, accelerating existing standards that call for 20 percent renewable energy by 2022.

This  measure would help combat air pollution and climate change while creating green jobs and protecting public health.
 

Governor’s budget Moves Maryland Backwards By

Cutting Key Investments

As a whole, the governor’s proposed budget for fiscal 2018 fails to make the investments we need to continue to move our state forward. 

Prince George’s Medical Center - The Governor cut over $60 million for operating expenses and capital investments for the new Prince George’s Regional Medical Center, postponing the receipt of those funds for two more years.  This delay of funds puts enormous pressure on the medical center, which would have a big struggle to succeed.

Baltimore City -Baltimore City, with some of the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the state, stands to lose millions in state assistance that was meant to help the community recover from the 2015 uprising and build a stronger local economy. There is less investment in health care, housing assistance, and teacher pay. And state agencies not only canot hire additional staff, even in the face of increasing workloads, but also can’t give their employees a pay increase that might keep state workers on the job.        
        
K-12 Education - On paper, it looks like education spending is going up, but the reality is a bit more mixed. The budget also eliminates some innovative educational programs and halts efforts that provide additional support to new teachers. The state is at least $1 billion below its currently established standard for “adequate” funding. A more recent outside review of state funding formulas found that Maryland needs to invest about $2.6 billion more to provide a high-quality education to all students.
Baltimore City will lose $42 million in school aid, reflecting disparities in the current formula. The budget also cuts funding for three programs for students in low-income areas: extended day and summer enhancement programs, mentoring and college readiness services for low-income middle school and high school students, and robotics education programs.

Higher Education - Overall state aid to colleges and universities, including community colleges, is up about 2 percent, on average. The governor said he would cap tuition increases at 2 percent, but it remains to be seen whether the schools will have to cut back on their offerings to be able to balance the books.

On a positive note, the budget would restore funding to the state’s historically black colleges that was cut from the current year’s budget. The state may have to increase funding to its historically black colleges and universities in the future, depending on the outcome of a current lawsuit.

Housing - The proposed budget cuts almost all general fund investment in housing programs, dropping to $4.6 million from $51.5 million in the current year’s budget. The spending plan shifts these programs to the already overstretched capital budget, to be funded through bonds. However, the amount of bond funding available for these programs in the next budget year does not make up all the lost funds, This could be a continued challenge in future years due to competing infrastructure needs.

Economic Development - Economic Development is one area that Hogan is greatly increasing spending. While this is an important role for state government to play, at a time when the state’s cash flow is tight it does not make sense to increase investment in programs that have not proven very effective, like the Enterprise Zones. Hogan’s proposed budget also incorporates the portions of large tax credits to giant corporations that were not included in the current year’s budget -- $20 million to Marriott and $5 million for Northrop Grumman.

We are trying both to move a progressive agenda in Annapolis and also do what we can do in Annapolis to resist some of the Trump Administration’s actions.  We are entering our third week in Annapolis.  Most bills have been drafted, and soon there will be hearings on them. Starting in March the legislature will be voting on these bills.
 
If you want to find out who all your elected officials are at the national and state level and their emails and telephone numbers, you can go to  www.mdelect.net .  
 

District 47 Night in Annapolis

 Monday March 13th  6 PM to 8 PM

What's better than a night out in Annapolis? Join our District 47 Legislators in Annapolis on Monday March 13th; we've got your dinner plans and civic duty covered!
 
Feel free to ask your elected officials about the local and state issues that you care about. Best of all, enjoy good food and great conversation with us.
 
RSVP to (301) 858-3745
or victor.ramirez@senate.state.md.us
 
Approval of Anne Arundel Cardiac Surgery Program is Delayed
 
The Maryland Heath Care Cost Commission (MHCC) last week delayed their approval of the cardiac surgery program for Anne Arundel County (AAC). 
 
Thanks to everybody who wrote, called or emailed the MHCC.  Hopefully they will re-think this decision that could jeopardize the future of the Prince George’s Medical System Cardiac Care Program.  
 
If the Anne Arundel program is approved it will jeopardize the viability of the new PGRMC which the MHCC  just approved. The MHCC will be allowing Anne Arundel County to pull cardiac patients from Prince George’s before the new Regional Center can be completed. This will result in lowering the volume of cardiac cases seen in Prince George’s, thereby ensuring a weakened and threatened Prince George’s Cardiac Care Program.