Bill Signing Ceremony
Annapolis, Maryland
May 20, 2010
(As Prepared)
Thank you all very much,… I especially want to thank President Miller and Speaker Busch.
And thank you Lt. Governor Brown. Anthony is a great champion for veterans issues in our Administration, and in a moment I’ll be signing a package of bills to support our veterans, including new reforms to establish a procurement preference for businesses owned by veterans. Senator Peters and Delegate James were outstanding partners in this legislation.
I also want to say a special thank you to a group of outstanding public servants who are with us. Could the operating and capital budget staffs with the Department of Management and Budget all stand? Let’s give a big round of applause to some of the unsung heroes of our state government.
The decisions that have allowed us to reduce $5.6 billion in spending over four years – more than any four year period in our State’s history – have not been easy decisions. But in times of great adversity as Marylanders we don’t make excuses, we make progress.
Our goals for this session, and our overriding mission from the first days of our Administration are to create jobs, to save jobs, to protect homeownership, and to strengthen and grow the ranks of an increasingly diverse and upwardly mobile middle class, including our family owned businesses and farms. And that’s why we’ve set big goals for improving public safety and public education in every part of our state, and for expanding opportunity: the opportunity to learn, to earn, and to enjoy the health of the people we love and of our land, our water, and our air.
Because of the tough choices we’re making together, we’re better positioned than other states to rebound stronger and sooner. But we still have more work to do,…more work to do so that we can build upon the progress we made in March when we created 35,800 jobs, more than any other state,… more work to do so that we can save more homes and protect more families.
As Marylanders, we’re united by our belief in the dignity of every individual, and our understanding that there is no such thing as a spare Marylander. Because of these values that we share, we know that there is no place more powerful than a family home.
A couple years ago, together we passed what the Washington Post called some of the most sweeping foreclosure prevention reforms in America. And we have a number of nation-leading initiatives underway to stem this crisis. To date, our HOPE network has provided counseling to nearly 40,000 Marylanders.
But the loss of even one home impacts our entire state, and the tough reality is that today, too many moms and dads in Maryland have to look their kids in the eye and tell them “the bank said we have to move.”
To bolster our counter-attack against the relentless, grinding, home-destroying machinery of the national foreclosure epidemic, in a moment I’ll sign new reforms to put families on equal footing with what are often nameless, faceless giants. Reforms that will force mortgage companies to come to the settlement table before they can throw another family out of their home.
There are a number of people I’d like to thank for their work on making this a reality: Delegate McIntosh, Delegate Nieman, and Senator Frosh, Judge Tom Dewberry, Ann Norton and everyone with St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, Kathleen Skullney and everyone with the Legal Aid Society, Robert Strupp and everyone with the Community Law Center, the Maryland Bankers Association for their support, Congressman Cummings, Secretary Sanchez and Secretary Skinner.
There is no government program more empowering for a family than a job. It is the single, most effective tool for helping a family keep their home.
The Sustainable Communities Tax Credit which I will sign in a few moments is projected to create hundreds of jobs in the near term and thousands down the road. This new law will be a win for jobs, a win for our communities, and a win for our emerging green sector. I would like to thank: Delegate Hixson, Delegate McIntosh, Delegate Lafferty, Senator Ulysses Currie, Senator Robey, Jon Laria and the members of our Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development, Don Fry and the coalition of businesses who worked so hard to get this bill passed, Dru Schmidt Perkins and everyone with 1000 Friends of Maryland, everyone with Preservation Maryland, Rodney Little, Secretary Hall, Deputy Secretary Matt Power, Secretary Skinner, and Assistant Secretary Carol Gilbert.
We are working on a number of fronts to advance cleaner, renewable energy and I’d like to thank Delegates Rosenberg and Malone and Senators DeGrange and Raskin for their work on passing a tax credit for the purchase of plug-in cars As well as Senators Garagiola and Middleton and Delegates Hecht and McHale for their work on the bill I’ll be signing to double our solar energy goals for the next six years.
Today, we are passing several pieces of legislation to protect our fellow citizens with developmental disabilities, including new reforms which, for the first time put into law rate increases for our dedicated DDA and mental health services community providers. This is long-overdue, and recognizes the important services they provide and the lives they touch. Thank you Senator Middleton and Delegate Costa.
As I close, I want to mentioned one other bill – new reforms to protect the collective bargaining rights of childcare workers, our fellow citizens who make such a difference in the lives of our kids. Thank you Delegate Davis and Senator Middleton for your leadership to make this a reality.
As a country and as a State, we are by no means out of the woods yet. But we are in better position than other states to recover stronger and sooner and that’s because as One Maryland we continue to make tough choices in tough times – tough choices that are moving our State forward, together.
