MARC KORMAN
  • Home
  • About Marc
  • Issues
    • Airplane Noise
    • Animal Welfare
    • Budget
    • Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
    • COVID-19
    • Economic Prosperity
    • Education
    • Energy & Environment
    • Healthcare
    • Pepco
    • Preserving Our Success
    • Public Safety
    • Seniors
    • Transportation
    • Questionnaires
  • Scholarship
  • Latest News
  • Contribute
  • Contact
    • Subscribe
  • Home
  • About Marc
  • Issues
    • Airplane Noise
    • Animal Welfare
    • Budget
    • Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
    • COVID-19
    • Economic Prosperity
    • Education
    • Energy & Environment
    • Healthcare
    • Pepco
    • Preserving Our Success
    • Public Safety
    • Seniors
    • Transportation
    • Questionnaires
  • Scholarship
  • Latest News
  • Contribute
  • Contact
    • Subscribe

LATEST NEWS

More Bills - Week 4 Update

1/29/2019

 
Picture
I continue to introduce legislation for the 2019 session.  Bills I have introduced during the past few days include:
  • Transit Benefit for State Employees Act: Codifies an existing benefit for state employees to have free transit access and studies expanding the benefit to the MARC commuter rail and Metro systems.
  • Graduate Assistant Collective Bargaining Fairness Act: Extends collective bargaining rights to graduate student employees.  Here is an article on the bill.
  • Regional Transportation and Climate Protection Act: Codifies Maryland's involvement in negotiating a regional agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
Each of these bills will be subject to a bill hearing in the coming weeks.

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

Legislative News

I participated in my first hearing as a member of the Transportation & Environment Subcommittee on Appropriations. The hearing was an overview of our efforts to clean-up the Chesapeake Bay, which you can read here.
----
With numerous new legislators, we held a briefing on WMATA/Metro and received presentations from Metro, the Department of Legislative Services, and the Washington Suburban Transit Commission on Metro issues.  You can view the presentations by clicking on the hyperlinked presenter names.  
----
Democrats in the House and Senate have come together early in the legislative session on seven issues we will prioritize:

Curbing the cost of prescription drugs for our Seniors - Prescription drug spending is expected to accelerate to an average of 7.0% for 2019 as fewer brand-name drugs will be losing patent protection. Per capita prescription drug spending in the United States is more than twice that of 19 advanced industrialized nations. We will pass legislation to establish a commission to increase transparency for the cost and choices of prescription drugs, as well as legislation to cap the out of pocket drug costs to State retirees.

Protecting health insurance, including key ACA reforms such as protecting the ban on pre-existing conditions – The Attorney General has advised that, if the Affordable Care Act is overturned by the Supreme Court in Texas v. United States, hundreds of thousands of Marylanders would be at-risk to lose insurance or have their rates significantly increased because of a pre-existing condition (including pregnancy and cancer). This bill will create a statutory right for individuals to health insurance without being discriminated against because of health status.

Protecting our family's health by limiting tobacco use to those over the age of 21 years of age - This legislation will raise the age required to purchase tobacco and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21 years old. E-cigarette vaping among teens has risen 78% year over year – the Food and Drug Administration has called the rise an epidemic.  Six states and Washington D.C. have passed similar measures, and Virginia’s legislature is considering it as well.

Boosting working families’ incomes by increasing Maryland’s minimum wage to $15 – The General Assembly will pass a $15 per hour minimum wage – following the lead of jurisdictions like New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C. Our $10.10 hourly minimum wage has now been exceeded by 11 other states – when big businesses like Amazon ($15), Costco ($14), Target ($12), and Walmart ($11) are already paying their workers more. This change will benefit 600,000 Marylanders.

Banning 3D & Ghost Guns - For Maryland to continue being a leader in reducing gun violence, our laws need to evolve with new technology. That is why Democrats in the General Assembly will move to ban the possession of 3D printed gun blueprints and untraceable “ghost” guns. Both types of unregulated firearms pose extreme threats to public safety, as they don’t have serial numbers, and, if made out of plastic, are able to pass through metal detectors unnoticed. By banning these weapons, we are closing a loophole where a prohibited individual can access a gun and potentially use it to commit a crime.

Reducing child care costs for parents by increasing the child care tax credit: The cost of child care in Maryland continues to skyrocket – nearly $14,000 per year on average and is the 5th highest in the country. Maryland’s existing child care tax credit has remained unchanged for almost 20 years – a family making more than $50,000 no longer qualifies for it. Our proposal increases funding by more than $20 million per year, modernizes the credit, and benefits approximately 110,000 Marylanders who are currently struggling to pay for adequate child care.

Cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, by banning Styrofoam and other pollutants-  Maryland will become the first 'foam free' state by banning polystyrene, a synthetic polymer often used in Styrofoam packaging--and already banned in Montgomery County. Making Maryland ‘foam free’ will continue our commitment to a cleaner environment and reduce the amount of non-biodegradable waste in our landfills, city streets, and the Chesapeake Bay. Businesses would be required to use alternate materials such as compostable or recyclable containers which will reduce waste and result in cleaner communities across the state.

Administration News

Later today, Governor Hogan will present his State of the State Address.  You can watch the speech at noon on Maryland Public Television or online here: http://www.mpt.org/stateofthestate/

Community News
  • Congratulations to Jason Yang and Katya Marin on becoming chair and vice chair of the Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board.
  • Condolences to District 16 resident Marc Wilensky on the passing of his mother, Gayle.

Community Events
  • The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club will host its next meeting on Monday, February 4th at the Original Pancake House in downtown Bethesda.  The guest will be Maryland Democratic Party Chair Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.
  • County Executive Marc Elrich will host a budget forum on Monday, February 4th starting at 7pm at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, 4301 East West Highway in Bethesda.
  • The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Implementation Committee (BIC) will host its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 19th at 7pm at the Bethesda Chevy Chase Regional Services Center in downtown Bethesda.
  • On Monday, March 11th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, Councilman Craig Rice, Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith, and Montgomery College President Dr. DeRionne Pollard will host an education forum at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School.
​
​If you know of a District 16 resident who merits recognition or condolences or an upcoming event, please email [email protected].

Comments are closed.

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All
    Legislative Session Update
    Monthly Update
    News Clip

    RSS Feed

By Authority of Friends of Marc Korman; Mark Brown, Treasurer
HOME
ABOUT MARC
ISSUES
SCHOLARSHIP
LATEST NEWS
CONTRIBUTE
CONTACT
sign up to receive updates