At midnight on Monday, April 11th, Maryland's 443^rd Legislative session ended, heralding the conclusion of the first "close to normal" session since COVID.  One of my top priorities is communicating directly with you and keeping you informed.   Therefore, I would like to share my yearly "End of Session" legislative letter with my perspective on important legislation and how I voted on each.  This year saw several controversial bills, including abortion bills, "green new deal" legislation, and congressional and legislative redistricting.

Political acrimony aside, as the Chair of the St. Mary's County Delegation, I also focused on county issues, introducing several bills dealing at the request of the St. Mary's Board of County Commissioners.

MY BILLS

This year I introduced two bills that I felt would have had a very positive result for every Marylander. 

HB 144 - Motor Fuel Tax Rates - Consumer Price Index Adjustment – Repeal

A little-known fact is that as inflation increases, so does Maryland's gas tax.  Maryland's gas tax is connected to the rise of CPI (consumer price index), and as CPI increases, so does the price at the pump.   Inflation was up 8.5% last month.  With Marylanders already facing rapidly increased costs, I believe it's time we stop the automatic gas tax increase from happening by repealing the CPI portion of the law.  While this bill didn't move out of committee, it did help to change the conversation.  Two weeks after, I tried to amend this policy to another bill; Democrats introduced and passed HB1486 - 30-day gas tax holiday. 

HB 799 - Vaccine by Choice Act of 2022

I am proud to have introduced HB 799- State and Local Government - COVID-19 - Vaccination by Choice Act of 2022.  The foundation of a free society is built on the individual's freedom to choose.  Forcing people to inject a vaccine or risk losing employment is the antithesis of a free society.  HB 799 would have ensured that state and local governments, governmental entities, and publically funded schools K-12 and Institutes of higher Learning do not require proof of COVID -19 vaccination as a requirement for employment or continued employment. While government should not mandate private industry policies, we can and should set the example and act in good faith of the purpose of government, and that is to protect the individual liberties of the citizens.  The bill hearing was quite enlightening for many of my Democratic colleagues; however, this bill died in committee without a vote.

GAS TAX HOLIDAY

HB 1486 - Gas Tax Holiday

Since the beginning of the Legislative Session, I have been pushing for tax relief, especially at the fuel pump.  Unfortunately, inflation and lack of domestic crude have resulted in a 70% increase in fuel price over a year ago. The legislation repealed Maryland's .37 cents per/gallon fuel tax for 30 days.  This bill went into effect on March 18^th and lasted for 30 days.  I voted YES, but I believe that the measure is insufficient to provide real relief from high gas prices.  As the session came to a close, Republicans attempted to extend the gas holiday for 45 additional days, but Democrats refused to allow our amendment to pass.

Ten days after a judge tossed out Maryland's congressional plan for "extreme partisan gerrymandering," legislative plaintiffs dropped their appeal.  Governor Hogan signed a redrawn map into law Monday afternoon.

In other news, the Democratic majority in the General Assembly voted last week to send dozens of other bills to the Governor's desk early this legislative session, on which Governor Hogan will have to either sign or veto by the end of this week.  Submitting legislation before the end of the session allows the legislature to override any potential vetoes before the 90-day session ends next Monday at midnight.  Because this is an election year, this is likely the only opportunity for legislators to override a veto.

Here are the major legislation pieces that I hope receive the Governor's veto pen. 

House Bill 937:  This legislation expands who can perform abortions in the state and provide $3.5 million in financial support to train health care professionals to perform abortions.  The bill would also make the state's existing abortion care coverage under Medicaid permanent and require private health insurance plans to cover abortion care without cost-sharing or deductibles.

Senate Bill 275: This would offer Marylanders 12 weeks of partially paid family leave each year for illness or illness of family members.  This legislation requires employers and employees to foot $1.5 billion in new taxes to fund this new entitlement—this money taken out of YOUR paycheck.  Furthermore, the tax formula is based on a floating ratio, so the exact amount coming out of your salary cannot be identified and is subject to change.  Finally, the bill is connected to the rise in CPI and requires a "reassessment" every two years.  In other words, this tax is subject to a bi-annual automatic tax increase. 

Senate Bill 528: This legislation is part of the far left's "Green New Deal" efforts.  It is a position based on politics and not economics or science.  Unfortunately, the result will further increase energy costs and less efficient energy sources.

House Bill 425/Senate Bill 387 would ban untraceable firearms or ghost guns.  This bill is a solution to a problem that does not exist.  It targets gun hobbyists who like to build their own firearms but does not address the cause of crime committed by criminals using stolen guns.

House Bill 459/Senate Bill 691 is a wide-ranging juvenile justice reform effort based on recommendations of the Juvenile Justice Reform Council.  The bill would generally prohibit kids under 13 from facing criminal charges, though charges could be placed in criminal court for the most severe crimes, including murder and sexual offenses.  The bill would also set limits on terms of detention, out-of-home placement, and probation that juvenile courts can impose.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, it will only increase the disruptive problems that already exist in the classroom. 

House Bill 571/ Senate Bill 279: This legislation expands funding to provide tenants with access to free lawyers in eviction proceedings.  This means the taxpayers of Maryland will now be on the hook to pay for free lawyers for tenants who refuse to pay their rent.

House Bill 1080: This legislation requires the taxpayers of Maryland to pay for medical care for pregnant illegal immigrants and their babies.  This is a magnet policy that would serve to increase the number of unlawful non-citizens in our state.  

With less than one week left in the legislative session, if any of these bills are vetoed, they would need to be overridden by next Monday night.  Therefore, I urge the Governor to veto away.

Last December, the Maryland General Assembly convened for a special session to take up the issue of Congressional redistricting.  Unfortunately, instead of working with Republican colleagues in the spirit of fair bipartisan maps, the majority party passed their heavily gerrymandered map in a true partisan fashion.  In contrast, the map drawn by Governor Hogan’s commission with citizen input languished in committee with no vote.

This Congressional map the legislature passed received an “F” grade by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, and the Courts subsequently threw out the December map last Friday. 

In her opinion, Judge Battaglia wrote that "the 2021 Plan is an outlier and a product of extreme partisan gerrymandering." The Judge further wrote,“right of all voters of political participation in Congressional elections, as protected by Article 7 of the Maryland Constitution, was violated by the 2021 plan.”     The court’s ruling closely mirrors the very arguments the members of the Republican Caucus made in opposing this Congressional Districts plan during the 2021 Special Session.

The Democrats rapidly redrew the Congressional maps over the weekend, behind-closed-door sessions yet again, with zero input from the citizens and taxpayers of Maryland.

Here is a photo of the New Maryland Congressional map.

Last night I started my floor speech by asking some very pointed questions of the Minority Leader.  My goal was to lay the groundwork for future lawsuits.  You can view my floor speech on the matter on Youtube:

I voted NO to the original plan, as well as the redraw.

It is disturbing to see the ongoing trend of over-sexualizing children.  Unfortunately, some Progressives are committed to training your kids from kindergarten with inappropriate sexual education.

I believe that small children from pre-k to 3^rd grade should be learning basic math and reading skills and playing outside in the sunshine.  Kids need time to be kids and should have an opportunity to learn without the burden of a particular social agenda forced on them.

On the House Floor last Thursday, my colleague, Delegate Kathy Szeliga, offered a straightforward amendment with the simple provision: “no sexual orientation or gender identity instruction should be given to kids from kindergarten through the 3^rd grade that is not age-appropriate.”

If you think this amendment sounds logical and reasonable, you would be surprised to learn that the House Democrats strongly opposed this measure.

In a contentious Floor debate, Democrats accused supporters of the amendment of pushing a “Don’t Say Gay” policy.  The truth is, the Left feels that they have the right and the duty to teach “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to your kids, children as young as five years old.

I stood on the House Floor in support of the amendment.  However, I don’t believe that it is anyone’s right to teach other peoples’ elementary school-aged children topics such as gender identity and sexual orientation.  This would be the responsibility of the parents.

You can read more about the contentious floor debate in the Maryland Matters article:

https://www.marylandmatters.org/2022/03/17/house-of-delegates-rejects-florida-like-amendment-to-school-anti-discrimination-bill/

Here is a picture of the vote for the amendment.

Feeling the pressure to address the issue of skyrocketing gas prices, Annapolis Democrats finally gave in a little, and today we unanimously passed a Gas Tax Holiday.  The legislation repeals Maryland's .37 cents per/gallon fuel tax for 30 days and is awaiting Governor Hogan's signature.  The Gas Tax Holiday bill is emergency legislation meaning it goes into effect immediately once signed by the Governor.

The cut comes as a welcome surprise.  Since the beginning of the Legislative Session, House Republicans have been pushing for tax relief, especially at the fuel pump.  Inflation and lack of domestic crude have resulted in a 60% increase in fuel price over a year ago.

The rapid rise in inflation led me to pre-file HB144 back in November that would stop the "Inflation Tax" on fuel schedule to increase at the rate of CPI this July 1^st.  While my bill likely will not pass, it drew attention to the issue, prompting Democrats to draft and pass HB1486 quickly.

This action comes as a massive win as this is the first time the fuel tax has ever been cut in state history.  In addition, it is a huge acknowledgment that our constituents benefit from lower fuel and energy costs.  Given enough pressure, even politicians representing deep blue areas are willing to vote for the reduction.  Also, further confirmation that the Gas Tax Holiday would not have happened if Republicans had not led the charge.

This logical fact should benefit Republicans as we debate Green New Deal legislation that will significantly raise utility bills, which are coming up in the last few weeks of the session.        

I have received some social media messages from those concerned about the loss of revenue to the Transportation Trust Fund.  Overwhelmingly motorists pay into that fund with fuel and registration taxes.  However, over 61% of that fund goes to mass-transit, which only benefits some of the state's metropolitan areas.  Below is a diagram showing this. 

I want to take the time to update you on my efforts to stop a significant and automatic tax hike in gas tax this year. 

A little-known fact is that as inflation increases, so does Maryland's gas tax.  Maryland's gas tax is connected to the rise of CPI (consumer price index), and as CPI increases, so does the tax consumers pay at the pump.

Inflation is at a 40 year high.  With the excessive fuel costs, I believe my constituents need a break.  Yesterday, my fellow Republican colleagues and I were trying to stop the projected $37.5 million gas tax increase by amending my bill onto a Democrat bill HB288 from the house floor.

Here is the link to watch the floor debate: https://youtu.be/Yj0UPL2kOBk

Here is the link to watch the floor debate on Facebook mobile: https://fb.watch/bvu7mncFph/

Unfortunately, the amendment failed.  

There is still a chance to get this bill out of committee and onto the house floor.  If you are concerned about the rapid increase in fuel prices, please consider emailing the members of the Ways and Means Committee: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Committees/Details?cmte=w%26m

Tell them that you support HB144 and would like for them to bring it out for a vote.

One of my top priorities as an elected official is to keep you informed on your state government's interworking.  Therefore, I will send out a weekly email on important topics before the legislative session, and I encourage and welcome your feedback.

School Mask Mandate

As many of you are aware, I have been on the frontlines arguing for the State Board of Education to end the statewide mask mandate in our schools immediately.  But, unfortunately, for nearly a month, the State BOE dug in their heels and resisted, citing their unattainable and unscientific "off-ramps."

As my office fielded many emails and phone calls during this time, we encouraged hundreds of phone calls and emails to the State BOE.

I am happy to report that the State BOE finally reversed its early position and voted on February 22 to lift the statewide mandate.

Later today, the AELR, the joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, will vote to make face-coverings optional.  After the vote today, the decision to mask children in our school will be a local school board decision. 

Superintendent of St. Mary's county schools, Dr. Scott Smith, announced that St. Mary's County Schools would lift the mandate pending that vote.  I have it on very good authority that AELR will vote to return the mask issue to the local boards.  Hopefully, our children will have the option to mask by March 1.

Thank you to all the parents who have spoken out about this issue.

*** I have received emails from constituents who disagreed with removing students' masking requirements.  I am happy to say that today's masking policy change coincides with the news that the CDC will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines today.  I am glad to see the federal medical and scientific community supporting a return to normal.  Link to the AP story: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-pandemics-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-0be4f20f94f125c511dbca42ae317546

Sexting Bill HB-194

I agree with the provisions of this bill, which was to include education regarding the dangers of "sexting" into the sex education curriculum in school.  However, I held the bill on the house floor for possible amendments.  My colleague, Delegate Szeliga, introduced an amendment to the bill to allow for the new curriculum to be posted online, providing a high level of transparency and access for parents.  Strangely, the Democrats vehemently opposed the amendment.  I believe this speaks to the more significant problem in our state education system: parents need to be informed and have more control over their children's education. 

Home School Bill HB-832

Another concerning bill was introduced that seeks to regulate homeschool education.  The bill would create a "homeschool advisory council," adding an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy to homeschool regulations.  There is no need for an additional board of individuals who are not involved in homeschooling and do not homeschool their own children.

I signed on to the letter requesting the sponsor to withdraw the legislation.

Abortion bills HB 1171, HB 937, and HB 952

This week in my HGO committee, we heard three concerning pro-abortion bills Democrats are looking to pass in the coming weeks. 

HB-1171

This bill enshrines abortion within the State Constitution in the Declaration of Rights.  If this bill passes, it would guarantee abortion on demand and would be very hard to restrict even late-term abortion. 

HB-937

The legislation requires the governor to include annually $3,500,000 of taxpayer dollars in mandated spending to train abortionists and expand the list of medical professionals that can perform an abortion.

HB-952

This bill mandates abortion services coverage by insurance.

HGO Republicans have held these bills from their committee vote for the maximum time.  But, unfortunately, they will be on the voting list next.  I will continue to stand on the side of LIFE and vote to oppose each of these bills.

Good news regarding EZ pass billing issues

Many citizens, including myself, have continued to experience problems being billed for tolls by MD EZPASS.

MDOT announced yesterday that they would waive all civil penalties for anyone owing tolls due until November 30, 2022.

If you owe EZPASS bridge or tunnel tolls and have a fine or penalty attached, you may take advantage of the civil penalty grace period if you pay the toll portion of the bill by November 30^, 2022.

  Customers should note the following key dates:

• Payments made/postmarked before February 24, 2022: Civil penalties that are already paid will not be reimbursed.
• Payments made/postmarked February 24 – November 30, 2022: For every unpaid toll transaction paid in full, the corresponding civil penalty will be waived.  Additionally, no toll debt will be referred to CCU or MDOT MVA.
• February 24 – Mid-March 2022: Civil penalties will be waived for each paid toll, but civil penalties remain on accounts until the software changes are in place to reflect the waiver.
• Mid-March: The system functionality for the waiver grace period will be completed, allowing customers to confirm online that their penalties are being waived following full toll payment.
• November 30, 2022, at 11:59 p.m.: Civil penalty waiver grace period ends.
• December 1, 2022: All unpaid tolls AND civil penalties are due based on the printed due dates, and toll debt referrals to CCU and MDOT MVA resume.
• Visit https://driveezmd.com/faq/ to view our Frequently Asked Questions.

Customers with unpaid Video Tolls can pay by the following methods:

• Visit https://csc.driveezmd.com/pay-tolls-now.
• Mail the bottom portion of the notice(s) along with your check/money order payable to:

MARYLAND TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY

P.O. Box 12853 Philadelphia, PA 19176-0853 (Do not send cash)

• Use the automated call system 24/7 at 1-866-320-9995 (select Option 1 for Notice of Toll Due, then enter the mailing number on the notice when prompted).
• Visit an in-person Customer Service Center.

Also, customers who pay their Video Tolls before the notice is mailed will save 15% (maximum of $5 per transaction). You can pay your Video Tolls at https://csc.driveezmd.com/pay-tolls-now.