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As we approach the end of the year, I hope you and your family are enjoying the holiday season. After the holidays, please join the District 16 Team for our send-off to Annapolis onSunday, January 10 from 2:30pm-4:30pm. The event will be hosted by the District 16 Democratic Club at the home of Lucy Freeman (4708 Dorset Street). Please email Eliot Greenwald at 301-320-5750 or [email protected] with any questions You can always keep up with all my activities by following me at @mkorman on Twitter or clicking "Like" on Delegate Marc Korman on Facebook.
Legislative News The 2016 legislative session is fast approaching. Our state Department of Legislative Services puts together a set of issue papers before each session to discuss some of the issues that will be considered during the session. You can read the 2016 session papers here. ------- Looking back at the 2015 session, I was proud to pass HB 300 which provided for a Maryland-specific Metro ridership study. I believe this type of information is important as we make budget and policy decisions related to Metro. The report—which will be updated every five years—is now available here. Bethesda Beat covered the release of the report. I was also given the opportunity to discuss the report on a local land use blog which you can read here. Agency News The Governor's Regulatory Reform Commission has released its 2015 report, available here. Among other recommendations, the Commission "recommends that Governor Hogan undertake a comprehensive review of Maryland's state government structure, its regulatory environment, responsibilities, and functions with the goal of reorganizing state government to improve efficiency, accessibility, technology, customer service and adaptability to a rapidly changing business environment." I generally agree with this statement, although I would not limit the need for reform to improving the business environment. As the report points out, Maryland adopted Cabinet government 45 years ago, about 150 years after the federal government adopted it. I hope we do not wait that long to reorganize government for the 21st century. The report gives a great example of a procurement office cutting across elements of state government, but our Department of IT is another example of something that need not be its own standalone bureaucracy, but a cross-cutting council or agency that brings IT to all aspects of state government. There are other examples of the need to remove old cabinet-style, regulatory silos in favor of a broader approach. Indeed, the new Maryland Department of Commerce partially takes this approach with a "Super Secretary" and interagency Commerce Subcabinet. I hope this review can move forward on a bipartisan and broad basis. Unfortunately, the Regulatory Reform Commission itself completely lacks any advocates or professionals committed to, for example, consumer and environmental protection. It also lacks experts in government administration and organization. A broader based commission, perhaps co-chaired by Governors Ehrlich and Glendening (as just two suggestions) is something Democrats and Republicans should be able to support. ------- One of the Governor's priorities has been addressing the use of heroin in our state. The Governor's Task Force recently issued its final report on the issue which you can review here. Community News
District 16 Notes
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