Bill Signing Ceremony
November 19, 2007
Governor Martin O'Malley
I’d like to thank all of you for being here. We’d like to thank many of you for being here for about three weeks, which seemed like three months, some days three years. I want to say thank you to all of you that were part of this process, including our friends in the media, who made sure that they let the people who we work for know what was going on down here every single day.
During the last three weeks we have achieved more than many of us thought was possible, not just in the short time we had, but what we accomplished in these last few weeks is something that, you know, is hard to accomplish even over the span of three years. And we were able to pass a fair, long term solution to an inherited $1.7 billion structural deficit. And, more importantly, we were able to get Maryland back on the path of progress.
None of this would have been possible without courageous leadership in both the House and the Senate. And I really want to thank the Speaker and the President for what they have done to pull all of us together over these last few weeks. (Applause.)
There were also people on their staffs, the Speaker’s staff was absolutely terrific. Kristen Jones and company, and Vickie Grouper in the President’s office and their entire staff, John Provasa in the Speaker’s office, Joe Brice, Secretary Foster, our budget secretary, who was incredible, Michael Enright, Matt Gallagher, Peggy Watson, Josh White and many, many others.
And also Lieutenant Governor Brown, who worked tirelessly over these last three weeks with the relationships that he had had in the House of Delegates and his entire staff, who were here around the clock many nights. Everybody was part of moving this forward.
And this was one of the toughest things I think that you ever have to do in any sort of representative democracy, and that is to tell the people that we work for to tell one another that, yes, we have to sacrifice more and we have to invest more. And it was hard and it was hard to ask people to do more, but it would have been irresponsible not to ask the people of our State to choose to make progress and to choose to move forward.
We have protected our long-term investment in K-12 education. We have for the first time ever created a dedicated stream of funding for higher education to keep Maryland competitive and also hold down college tuitions. We’ve made our tax system fairer by providing an income tax cut for middle class families to offset that penny sales tax increase. We have closed corporate loopholes. Roughly at least 40 percent of us will actually see no increase or a slight decrease in our tax burden under that sales and the income tax.
We began this whole process by reducing spending growth by $550 million, on top of $280 million in cuts earlier this year. We passed a law to make health care more available and hopefully make it more affordable for all of us, including small businesses in our State. We created a Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund, that is the green fund. We invested in transportation and we finally settled that most contentious issue of all that had divided us for these last four years, finally we committed to let the people decide.
All of us should be very proud of the men and women who serve us in the Maryland General Assembly. Each of them really rose to the challenge. Chairman Curry at Budget and Tax; Chairman Conway in the House Appropriations, as well as Sheila Hixon, Chair of Ways and Means. And, really, every member of the General Assembly.
You know, when we had to accomplish as much as we had to accomplish, that was as difficult as it was, none of that would have been possible were it not for the courageous work of the men and women of this General Assembly. (Applause.)
They were asked to do really difficult things, things that I’m sure they would rather not to have had voted for in more ideal circumstances. But at the end of the day, they were motivated by the knowledge that the only way we make progress as a people is when we find consensus. And that’s what they were able to do.
And it’s a great privilege. I’ll always consider it one of the great privileges in my life that I was able to serve, especially at this time, with such a terrific group of men and women. And there were people of both parties that made those margins possible, by the way, so that we could continue to strengthen and grow our middle class, improve public safety and public education, and expand opportunity in our State. That’s what we’re about, that’s what we were elected to do.
We still have a lot of work to do ahead of us, but we have overcome a tremendous challenge and it would not have been possible without everyone coming together.
I want to turn it over now to the Speaker and then the Senate President for any other remarks.
