Cross-Over, Bill Status, and the Budget

As I write this, snow and ice have started to fall from another winter storm.  Here are some useful websites and phone numbers to have during weather incidents.

As always, you can always keep up with what I am doing by following me at @mkorman on Twitter or clicking "Like" on Delegate Marc Korman on Facebook.

Legislative News

At the cross-over deadline (the date by which bills have to be passed from one chamber to the other to be guaranteed a hearing in the other chamber, here is the status of the legislation I have sponsored during the 2018 legislative session.

HB 131
State Highway Administration - Project Planning Documents - Public Access
Bill withdrawn because of federal tax changes.

HB 199
Graduate Assistant Collective Bargaining Fairness Act
Still pending in Appropriations Committee.

HB 204
Traffic Control Signal Monitoring Systems – Yellow Signal Compliance (Red light camera bill)
Passed the House unanimously.  Pending in the Senate Committee.

HB 227
State Legislature Local Public Campaign Financing Act
Still pending in the Ways and Means Committee.

HB 230
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Extension Act
Passed the House.  Pending in the Senate Committee.  Identical bill has passed the Senate and is now pending in the House.

HB 370
Metro Board Member Act
Passed the House.  Pending in the Senate Committee.  Identical bill has passed the Senate and is now pending in the House.

HB 372
Maryland Metro/Transit Funding Act
Passed the House.  Pending in the Senate Committee.

HB 540
Maryland Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Act
Failed in the House Committee.

HB 993
Maryland Pension Climate Change Risk Act
Passed the House.  Pending in the Senate Committee.

HB 1016
Bond Bill for Josiah Henson Park
Pending inclusion in the state capital budget.

HB 1017
State Personnel – Collective Bargaining – Exclusive Representation Access to New Employee Program
Passed the House.  Pending in the Senate Committee.

HB 1098
Career and Technology Education and Workforce Investment Act
Provisions of the bill were adopted in another bill.

HB 1280
Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Rare and Expensive Case Management Program - Waiver Amendment
Pending in the Health and Government Operations Committee.

HB 1281
State Highway Administration - Project Planning Documents - Public Access
Bill withdrawn because the State Highway Administration provided the requested study.
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The cross-over deadline brought a flurry of action to the House floor.  What follows is a summary of some of the major issues constituents have been writing to me about.  If an issue or bill you care about is not mentioned, please reply to this email and I can provide an update.

• Firearm Safety: The House of Delegates passed a ban on bump stocks, the device that did so much damage in Las Vegas.  We also passed so called "red flag" legislation.  The bill allows for extreme risk protection orders, which can be used to temporarily remove someone's firearms.
• Environment: As the federal government threatens to impose off-shore drilling, the House of Delegates passed legislation that makes parties strictly liable for any injury, death, or loss that results from an off-shore oil spill.
• Education: I have written previously about the Kirwan Commission, which is reviewing all of our state's education policies and expenditures and recommending reforms.  On the basis of their initial report, we have passed legislation establishing several pilot programs.  The bill includes support for capital costs for career and technical education programs, which was part of a bill I previously introduced, the Career and Technology Education Workforce Investment Act.
• Healthcare: Premium costs in the individual health insurance market have seen unsustainable growth.  One proposal to try to keep those cost increases in check is "reinsurance," whereby the most costly patients are covered through another mechanism.  The House passed legislation for a reinsurance plan.
• Diversity: We passed legislation expanding access for Dreamers to in-state tuition rates at our state's four year colleges and universities, a policy ratified by the voters during the 2012 election.
• Sexual Harassment: My seatmate, Delegate Ariana Kelly, has led the effort to reform sexual harassment laws in the legislature.  We passed a bill that enacts many of the recommendations from a work group that Delegate Kelly worked on as Chair of the Woman's Caucus.  The bill enacts best practices for prevention, reporting, enforcement, and accountability in the Maryland General Assembly.
• Childcare: Speaking of Delegate Kelly, we also passed important legislation that came from work she did as House Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families to increase the childcare subsidy, the support we provide to working families that need assistance with childcare costs.

Several other bills you have written about have not passed the full House. 

The Comptroller sent a package of reforms related to the craft brewing industry to the legislature but the bill did not pass the Committee.  Sections of the legislation may move forward in narrower bills.

The so-called "Education Lock box" legislation has passed the Senate and we will consider that chamber's version of the bill.

The Senate has also passed compromise measures related to the effect of the federal tax changes and a crime package.  Both bills will be considered by the House.
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The full House is considering the state's operating budget this week.  The budget is balanced, as is constitutionally required every year.  It passed out of Committee with a bipartisan vote with only one Republican legislator dissenting.  You can read the House Report on the budget here.  Highlights of the budget include that it:

• Fully funds the educational formulas as directed by law and sets aside a $200 million reserve for new education programs;
• Rejects the Administration's proposed cuts to behavioral health services and support services for the disabled;
• Reduces funding for private school voucher tax credits;
• Includes language designed to reduce duplicative standardized testing;
• Leaves a sizable fund balance (unspent funds in case tax revenues do not materialize); 
• Fully funds the actuarial required contribution to the state pension plus an additional payment of $75 million; and
• Maintains a Rainy Day Fund of 5% of general fund revenues.

The operating budget must now be reconciled with the Senate version.  The House must also still consider the capital budget, which the Senate has already passed.
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Progress continues on dedicated funding and reform for Metro.  Washington, D.C. has committed to an annual dedicated funding amount of $178 million.  My Metro legislation is pending in the Senate. 

Community News

• Scholarships are available through my office.  For more information please visit http://www.marckorman.com/scholarship.
• Congratulation to Sarah Wolek, who was recently appointed to the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee.
• A big thank you to Walt Whitman High School principal Alan Goodwin, who recently announced his retirement.

Community Events

• The Woman’s Democratic Club of Montgomery County, MD (WDC) will host a forum for Democratic County Executive Candidates on Thursday, March 22, 2018.  All six Democratic candidates (Roger Berliner, David Blair, Marc Elrich, Bill Frick, Rose Krasnow, and George Leventhal) will participate in the forum. Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart will moderate the forum. The forum will begin promptly at 7:00 PM at the Silver Spring Civic Center.  For more information and to pre-register, visit the following event website:  http://bit.ly/2Bze2D0 or call 301-648-2644.
• The State Highway Administration will hold a public meeting on the Braeburn Parkway/River Road Intersection on Thursday, March 29 at 7pm.  The meeting will be held at Walt Whitman High School.
• The Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP) will host the annual Bethesda Film Festival on April 6 and April 7 from 6pm to 8:30pm at Imagination Stage.  More information is available at BUP's website.

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​If you know of a District 16 resident who merits recognition or condolences or an upcoming event, please email marc@marckorman.com