Week 7 - On Kojo

I had a great thrill last week participating on a WAMU show I have been listening to for years, the Kojo Nnmadi show.  The show was about the Governor's proposed highway expansion.  You can listen to it here.

​I was also excited that my first piece of legislation passed the House, the Transit Benefit for State Employees Act.  Now it is on to the Senate.

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
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I am pleased to announce that I have joined the Capital Budget Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.  The Subcommittee has oversight over the state's construction budget and I will participate in hearings on numerous capital projects being proposed by the state over the next few weeks.
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One of the responsibilities of the Maryland General Assembly every four years is to elect a State Treasurer, with each Delegate and Senator getting one vote.  The State Treasurer sits on the Board of Public Works, the Board of Trustees for the state pension, and the Maryland 529 board, among other responsibilities.  Yesterday, we re-elected Nancy Kopp as our State Treasurer.  Treasurer Kopp previously represented District 16 in the House of Delegates and has been Treasurer since 2002.
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The Maryland Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education--referred to as the Kirwan Commission--has released its interim report.  The Commission's mission has been two-fold:

• Review and recommend any needed changes to update the current education funding formulas (known as the Thornton formulas); and
• Make policy recommendations that would enable Maryland’s preK-12 system to perform at the level of the best-performing systems in the world.

In the Interim ​Report, the Commission explains its proposals for expanding early childhood education; improving the teaching profession; increasing college and career readiness pathways; investing in students by focusing on resources for special needs, English language learners, and concentrated poverty; and by creating a new governance model.  The Commission is recommending an approximately $325 million increase above the mandated education funding increases in year one.
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The all new Public Transit Caucus continues its meetings.  One of our recent presentations was Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) 101.  The MTA is the state agency that is in charge of the Purple Line, MARC commuter rail service, and local transit service in Baltimore.  We also met with the Inspector General for WMATA.
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Of course, we consider many significant bills that I am not the sponsor of.  Two bills of major impact made some progress last week that I wanted to highlight.

• End of Life Options Act: This legislation is sometimes referred to as "death with dignity" and would expand policies in California, Oregon, DC, and elsewhere that allow the terminally ill to be prescribed physician assistance for dying.  This legislation is a sensitive topic, but an important conversation. 
• State School Board Membership: This legislation was vetoed last year but passed the House again last week.  It creates public school teacher and public school parent seats on the state Board of Education.

Administration News

The Administration continues its plans to widen the Beltway and I-270.  Last week, they announced a reduction in the alternatives being studied (which now include only toll lanes) and released a video explaining the current status of the project from the Administration's perspective.

Community News

• Congratulations to District 16's Bob Levey on being re-nominated to the Montgomery College Board of Trustees.  Mr. Levey was among 124 appointments to state Boards and Commissions made by the Governor last week, including Ike Leggett being nominated to the University System of Maryland Board of Trustees.  You can read a complete list here.
• Jeneva Stone of District 16 published an important op-ed in the Washington Post about how the state fails to support adults with disabilities.
• The Bethesda Urban Partnership Board of Directors has a vacancy for a resident representative living within the Urban District.  You can view the announcement and determine if you live within the Urban District here.

Community Events

• District 16 resident and former County Office of Community Partnerships Director Bruce Adams will provide an armchair slideshow tour of Montgomery County’s five Sister Cities at Oasis in Bethesda from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday February 21. Learn about Montgomery’s extraordinarily diverse community by exploring the Sister Cities located in the five top countries of origin of Montgomery County’s immigrant population. Join Oasis for visits to Morazán, El Salvador; Hyderabad, India; Daejeon, South Korea; and the ancient capitals of Xi’an, China and Gondar, Ethiopia. There is a $10 fee. Please register for class # 420 at oasisnet.org/washington. Bruce’s presentation will be at the Oasis headquarters located in the Macy’s Home Store at Westfield Montgomery Mall, 7125 Democracy Boulevard in Bethesda.
• The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club will next meet on Monday, March 4th at 7:30am.  Their guest will be County Executive Marc Elrich.  Meetings are at the Original Pancake House in 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.
• The Bethesda Chevy Chase Educational Foundation will hold its annual Wine, Chocolate, and Cheese Fundraiser on Thursday, March 14th starting at 7pm at the Woman's Club of Chevy Chase.  You can find more information here: http://bccedfoundation.org/about-the-foundation/

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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