Reflections On The Legislative Session

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By Nic Kipke
Delegate, District 31

The 2019 legislative session came to a close on the night of April 8. After the historic re-election of Governor Larry Hogan, I was hopeful the Democratic majority in the General Assembly would be more willing to work with him on behalf of the citizens of our state. Unfortunately, their own electoral successes emboldened them to forcefully press a more progressive agenda.

A number of bills passed that will put a great deal of strain on the small businesses that drive our economy and potentially undo the great gains our state has made under Governor Hogan’s leadership. These include the minimum wage increase, the ban on polystyrene food service containers, and the Clean Energy Jobs Act – a bill that will increase electricity rates; any one of these bills individually would be hard for many small businesses to bear. That they must take them all on at once could be devastating, especially if there’s a downturn in the economy. I did successfully pass one of the strongest laws to protect small community pharmacies, a law to make it easier for retailers to know what they must collect the sales tax on, a bill to expand where dental hygienists can work, expanding how many operating rooms outpatient surgical facilities can operate, and I led efforts to require a criminal audit of the University of Maryland Medical System.

Several of the bills introduced would have made law-abiding firearms owners face tighter restrictions on their Second Amendment rights while there was less of a focus on criminals who repeatedly commit crimes with firearms. While there was little progress on increasing penalties for violent criminals, there were still other successful efforts to help combat crime. Governor Hogan announced a major expansion of Project Exile, which will enable federal prosecutors to charge repeat violent offenders with federal crimes in federal courts before federal judges with federal sentencing rules.

In his budget, the governor provided additional state funding committed to pay for the expansion of the U.S. attorney’s team of prosecutors to add federal prosecutors dedicated to charging Baltimore City repeat violent offenders with federal crimes. The governor also created the Baltimore Regional Intelligence Center to house a strike force consisting of 200 law enforcement personnel from 16 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies focused on disrupting and dismantling the major criminal organizations and their members who commit most of the violent crime in the city. This includes the violent crime and gang eradication forces of the EDA, ATF, Baltimore Police Department, FBI and US Marshals. I am proud to have fought to protect these funds in the budget.

Education was a major topic of debate this session. The preliminary recommendations of the Kirwan Commission were passed in Senate Bill 1030 - Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. This legislation expands the availability of prekindergarten, sends needed funding directly to high-poverty schools, and enhances teacher salaries. An important element that was added to this legislation is the significant accountability measures Governor Hogan and I have advocated for over the last two years. The bill creates an independent Office of the Inspector General to investigate allegations of waste, fraud and abuse in our local school systems. With the recent and repeated allegations of wrongdoing and mismanagement in school systems across the state, this is a critical initiative.

The final report of the Kirwan Commission is due at the end of this year, and the General Assembly will undertake the rest of the commission’s recommendations. There is legitimate concern that the recommendations, once fully realized, could lead to tax increases. The last time the state passed historic education funding, it did so with no funding source. The aftershocks of massive tax increases and long-term structural deficits are still being felt today. While we all want our state to have a world-class education system, we have to do this right, and money is not the only ingredient in the solution.

Locally, I worked with Delegate Brian Chisholm and Senator Bryan Simonaire to secure funding for some important projects in the community. We secured $125,000 in state funding for much needed stadium renovations at Chesapeake High School. This money will be matched by Anne Arundel County Public Schools, totaling $250,000 in repairs. We were able to secure $1.75 million to repave Fort Smallwood Road, including the area in Baltimore City. As anyone who drives through there with any regularity knows, this project has been desperately needed for a long time. Some of the work has already begun and I anticipate completion by June 2020. I anticipate that the bridge by Pekin Road over Rock Creek will also finally be resurfaced this year as well.

There are many changes coming to the House of Delegates. A special session will be convened in May to elect a new speaker of the House. No matter who that person is, I hope they respect the job of the minority party and try to work with us and the governor to build bipartisan consensus and do what is right for all of the citizens in our state. It is a great honor to represent the citizens of our district. If I can be of any assistance, do not hesitate to get in touch with me using one of these methods: nicholaus.kipke@house.state.md.us, 410-841-3421, Facebook @DelegateKipke or Twitter @Kipke. 

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