Good morning. Thank you for inviting me back to be part of this important event.
During my eight years in the House, I was proud to stand with my colleagues in the Legislative Black Caucus and fight for better equality, better schools, and wider access to opportunity for all Marylanders. And I’m proud to stand with you today as we pursue those issues that are important to not just Marylanders of African descent, but issues that are important to every person across our One Maryland.
Senator Jones, thank you for your service and your leadership. You’ve been a powerful voice for the Legislative Black Caucus and a strong ally in the efforts Governor O’Malley and I have made to bring progress back to our State House.
Delegates Turner and Taylor, thank you both for your partnership and your leadership. And, please, allow me to digress to thank Del. Taylor for his work on behalf of Maryland’s working families. Herman pushed Maryland to act and because of your dedication and your urging, we can proudly say that we are the first state in the nation to have a living wage law.
You know, when I first accepted your invitation a few months ago, I had expected it would be a nice reunion with my friends from the General Assembly – an opportunity to catch up after an extended break from the hustle and bustle of the 90-day session.
But, because of two decisions, one being an unnecessary politically-motivated tax cut and the other being a greater long-term commitment to K-12 education, we’ve had to bring you back to Annapolis to work to steer Maryland back onto a path of progress.
So, let me start by thanking you for your work these past weeks. The Governor and I called you back last month to help us find a comprehensive, long-term budget solution that is fair to working Marylanders and their families and maintains our commitment to education at all levels. We asked you back in hopes that we would find consensus among the fair-minded men and women in both the House and the Senate. And through that consensus, we envisioned a future that maintains the promises each of us made to our constituents and our children.
Promises that emerge from the goals Governor O’Malley set for Maryland during our campaign last year:
We’re not quite there yet. We still need to find that consensus between the packages the two chambers have passed. We still need to bring legislators from different parts of the state and different parties together. We need to step back and remember that despite our differences, we share many of the same values – values that see the dignity in each person and cherish our rich diversity as a state and nation…
In the coming days, as we find consensus around a long-term solution to our structural deficit, remember those values we share, remember the promises we all made to our constituents and our children.
And when we complete our work, know that you and I and Governor O’Malley will push for even greater progress – progress that will be built from the strength of the work you are already doing and the progress you have made.
During the last legislative session, you led the way in the General Assembly and stood with our Administration on a platform that sought to pull the State out of four years of stalled leadership.
And from that effort and teamwork, along with the novel idea that members of the Executive Branch ought to talk with members of the Legislative Branch, you helped us put our state back on a path of making progress.
You owe yourselves a round of applause:
The Legislative Black Caucuses priorities championed the beliefs I know we all share. They are beliefs that say each person has a unique dignity. Beliefs that say there are no spare Marylanders. Beliefs that remind us that our diversity is our greatest strength.
You helped us pass a living wage. I already thanked Del. Taylor individually, but each of you deserves credit.
You helped us re-enfranchise former offenders who have paid their debt to society and deserve to have their voice heard. Thank you Sen. Britt for working with your colleagues on that important issue for human rights.
I was particularly proud to stand with you behind Sen. Jones’ bill that called on Maryland to divest from the Republic of Sudan. That’s a fight I’m certain each of us would fight again.
And working together, we passed a long-overdue apology for Maryland’s role in slavery.
And you stood with Governor O’Malley and me on our priorities. Together, we increased our investment in public education by $580 million; We set aside $400 million for school construction; We increased funding for higher education by $110 million and froze tuition so working families and students could afford the opportunity to attend college; We increased support for community colleges by almost 17 percent, the highest any of us can remember; And we invested in a sustainable future for our environment – Clean Cars, renewable energy, and, with your support, we actually used Program Open Space dollars for the purchase of open space.
We created the BRAC Subcabinet that is working hard and working smart to ensure we are ready for BRAC. And a major component of that readiness and that preparation is in our redoubled efforts to expand opportunities to MBE contractors and minority-owned businesses.
And as we plan for the next legislative year, Governor O’Malley and I look forward to working with all of you in the Legislative Black Caucus to build on the progress we’ve made. We look forward to building a stronger a partnership with you so that we can begin the work of erasing the many dichotomies standing in the way of our state’s true greatness.
We are the wealthiest state in the nation but also the third or fourth most violent;
We are the most educated state in the nation, but one out of five Maryland adults are functionally illiterate;
We have one of the most robust bio-tech industries in the world, yet 800,000 of our neighbors live without health insurance;
Our students are showing incredible gains in reading and math, yet the performance gap between white students and black students is closing at a stubbornly slow rate;
High school graduation rates are up across the state, but black students in Maryland are still 15 percent less likely to graduate than their white peers.
We know there is work still to do. We know we face challenges and we look forward to working with you to make the type of bold progress we all ran for office to make. We share a vision for our future and image of the world we’ll leave our kids. It’s a world that we will realize if we heed the words of Dr. King:
“Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men [and women] willing to be coworkers with God.”
We know there is work still left to do and we are eternally grateful to have the support of passionate, dedicated friends like each of you to help us along the way.
Thank you very much and Godspeed.