Governor Martin O'Malley Introduces 2009 Legislative Agenda

Improving Public Safety, Strengthening Safety Net for Maryland Families and Workforce Top O’Malley’s Agenda;

O’Malley Works to Address Domestic Violence and Firearms; Repeal Death Penalty, Address State Police Surveillance; and Improve Juvenile Justice

Maryland: Smart, Green and Growing Initiatives to Address Energy Conservation, Smart Growth, Restore the Chesapeake Bay 

 

gov speaking

ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 26, 2009) – Governor Martin O’Malley today released his 2009 Legislative Agenda focused on improving public safety in every region of our State and strengthening the safety net for Maryland’s families and workforce during this national economic recession.  Just days after introducing his FY 2010 budget that closes a projected $2 billion shortfall, O’Malley’s top legislative priorities include initiatives to expand unemployment benefits for those families hardest hit by the recession, efforts to improve juvenile justice, and take firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers. 

“These are common-sense initiatives that protect the progress we have made, continue to improve public safety in every community and every home in our State, and provide vital resources and assistance to Maryland families struggling to make ends meet during this national recession,” said Governor Martin O’Malley.  “We will do everything in our power to help our families through this recession, but we will not abandon the progress we have made to build the No. 1 ranked school system in the nation, make college more affordable, improve the health of the Bay and ensure a more sustainable future for our children.  These are critical challenges facing our State and now – even in these tough times – is the time to move forward again, protect our progress and build that future that we all prefer as Marylanders.”

Governor O’Malley’s legislative agenda is comprised of a number of public safety initiatives that would repeal the death penalty in Maryland, strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence, and prohibit the State Police from conducting surveillance on individuals without reason; includes reforms to protect Maryland’s workers in these tough economic times, such as the extension of unemployment insurance benefits to part-time workers and the reduction of the prevailing wage threshold; and lays the groundwork to further Maryland’s Smart, Green and Growing initiative to protect Maryland’s precious, yet limited, natural resources in every region of our State.

“Our legislative agenda protects and builds upon the progress we’ve made over the last two years,” Lt. Governor Brown said. “I look forward to working with my former colleagues in the House and Senate to pass these priority bills to improve public safety, fight back against domestic violence, preserve the environment and stand up for the military families who have sacrificed so much on our behalf.”

Governor O’Malley is also sponsoring legislation that would assist and protect Maryland’s seniors by implementing a rapid dissemination of information for missing adults with cognitive impairments.

Governor O’Malley, with Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown, introduced bills that would specifically:

Improving Public Safety:

  1. Strengthen laws regarding the surrender of firearms while a protective order (temporary or final) is in effect to provide protection for victims of domestic violence;
  2. Allow juvenile court records to be shared with a State or federal agency that performs the same functions in its jurisdiction;
  3. Implement the recommendations of the Task Force to Combat Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and Alcohol;
  4. Increase restrictions and sanctions on provisional drivers as well as learner’s permit holders to promote safety amongst Maryland’s teen driving population;
  5.   Authorize local jurisdictions to use speed monitoring systems to identify and issue civil citations to drivers who are recorded driving at least 12 miles per hour (MPH) over the posted speed limit;
  6. Repeal the Death Penalty;
  7. Prohibit the State Police from conducting surveillance on individuals without reason; and
  8. Provide a statewide system for rapid dissemination of information regarding a missing adult who is believed to be suffering from a cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s disease.  The Silver Alert System will work much like the successful Amber Alert for missing children.

Strengthening the Safety Net for Maryland’s Families:

  1. Extend Unemployment Insurance benefits to part-time workers;
  2. Enable the State to recover damages and penalties from individuals who defraud the State by filing false claims against health plans and programs;
  3. Crack down on the misclassification of employees as independent contractors in targeted industries where the practice is most prevalent;
  4. Reduce the threshold for application of Maryland’s prevailing wage law;
  5. Make it permissible for State collective bargaining negotiations, with the exception of higher education, to include the right of an employee organization to receive service fees;
  6. Allow Maryland to join the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children; and
  7. Build on Maryland’s groundbreaking foreclosure laws by ensuring that consumers are protected by optimal state and federal regulation of mortgage lenders.

Making College More Affordable:

Building on the fourth straight year of not allowing a tuition increase – which has moved Maryland’s four-year public institutions from the 6th highest tuition in the nation to an estimated 18th under the O’Malley-Brown Administration – Governor O’Malley looks forward to building on the work of the Bohanan Commission to develop a long-term strategy to preserve the quality of our higher education system while maintaining affordable, predictable tuition policies.  To that end, the Governor will sponsor legislation to:

  1. Reauthorize the Higher Education Investment Fund, which dedicates a portion of corporate income tax revenues to help keep college affordable for Maryland’s families.

Maryland: Smart, Green & Growing:

  1. Implement recommendations from the Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development in Maryland by:
    1. Requiring local jurisdictions to implement and follow the comprehensive plan it adopts as it pertains to local development and Smart Growth;
    2. Directing the Maryland Department of Planning to develop measures or markers for Smart and Sustainable Growth in conjunction with local governments and the Task Force;
    3. Reforming and reauthorizing the Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program, which is due to expire in July 2010;
    4. Modernizing the State’s “Planning Visions”; and
    5. Expanding the ability of local governments to finance Transit Oriented Development projects.
  2. Set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and
  3. Modify the oyster lease law to enhance the aquaculture industry in Maryland.

 

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[ View a summary of the bills ]

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