Maryland's Legislative Session is set to begin this Wednesday, but yesterday's Capital newspaper headline says it all, "Into the Blue." After overwhelming election wins, Annapolis Democrats feel they have a mandate to push their dystopian ideas.

The sub-headlines should scare everyone. "It's the first time in eight years that Democrats control both legislative chambers and the chief executive's office, and the party's leaders are seeking to wield the increased power as the focus turns to recreational pot, paid leave, and gun control when the General Assembly meets for its fast-paced session beginning Wednesday." Add in woke ideas like banning natural gas in homes, taxpayer-funded transgender affirmation surgery, and spending away the $7 Billion Rainy Day surplus that the previous administration left. You get a well-rounded picture of what Annapolis Democrats have planned for the next 90 days.

The upcoming legislative session will require all of us to be bold and step up. We have lost our ability to hold the majority party accountable with recent Republican losses in Maryland, making citizen engagement more important than ever. I'm committed to keeping you informed of any developments - but it's going take an unprecedented level of involvement from citizens like you to prevent those in power from taking advantage!

Last week while watching "Tucker Carson Tonight," the story of Alex Berenson caught my attention. If you would like to watch the segment for yourself, here is a link: https://rumble.com/v1nw38k-alex-berenson-powerful-people-wanted-to-suppress-berenson-says-dr.-scott-go.html

I hope you made it through the weekend's storm safe and dry.

I wanted to take the time to share the results of a poll conducted by the Winston Group on issues driving Independent voters.  In this analysis, the data is broken down by party and the overall responses of how issues rank in importance on a scale of 1-10.  Any issues above seven are marked in Red.

I find this poll very informative for a couple of different reasons.  First, I firmly believe Republicans have a huge advantage, not only with Independents but all voters.  The first five most concerning issues: Food and grocery prices, Inflation, Economy/Jobs, Crime and Safety, and Gas Prices.

The facts are self-evident that Progressive policies have resulted in higher inflation, higher food and fuel cost, and the lack of labor and contributed to the overall malaise of our economy.  On the topic of crime, Maryland voters can quickly look at laws like Justice Reinvestment, No Cash Bail Bonds, Juvenile Justice Reform, and Police Reform, as well as an overall and unrelenting drive by the Left to defund the police.  All of the above have contributed to a rise in crime, making our citizens less safe.

Second, the purpose of the poll was to highlight important issues to Independents, but what I find fascinating are the two questions that polled highest among Democrats: question 12 - Voting rights and question 21 - Congressional Hearings into January 6th.  I think the high score of both of those issues among Democrats directly reflects media manipulation and is more of an indicator of what news you read and watch than the issues you can see with your own eyes.

I hope you find this data insightful and valuable!  Poll Insights below:

By now, I am sure you have heard of Joe Biden's $500 billion giveaway of his student loan forgiveness plan. I believe it is wrong for this administration to transfer personal debt onto the taxpayers. This act is clearly a Biden Administration election-year gimmick that the courts will most likely strike down. However, it does highlight the problem of the cost of higher education.

Unfortunately, because of the high cost of higher education in our university systems, Marylanders carry more student debt than any other state in the nation.

One of the solutions to lower college costs is to introduce competition and options. Allowing regional community colleges to offer select bachelor's degree programs in select fields is an idea worth considering. This model has worked well in states like Florida and makes sense for taxpayers who have already invested a great deal of their tax money into the infrastructure of their local community colleges. In addition, students benefit since the community colleges of Maryland already offer classes at much more affordable tuition than the current in-state rates at universities.

To make this a reality, we must pass legislation allowing regional community colleges to be accredited.

Delegate Mark Fisher originally had this idea and drafted legislation to do this for CSM back in 2016. The bill had bipartisan support from every member of the Southern Maryland Delegation but failed. The idea was perhaps before its time, but now that student debt is at the forefront of the country's kitchen table discussion, I believe it is time we start the conversation. Delegate Fisher and I will bring a bill forward this year that will do just that.

I have exciting news! Perseverance has paid off, and common sense has prevailed.
On Saturday, I was delighted to hear that after months of communication, the College of Southern Maryland decided to reverse its discriminatory treatment of non-vaccinated students. As a result of the reversal, CSM's new admission policy becomes effective immediately.

I thank the CSM board of trustees and President Murphy for objectively reviewing the policy and agreeing to eliminate the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. During the last few months, I have had dozens of students and their family members reach out to our office about how this policy prohibited them from furthering their education. I am so happy the policy has been reversed, and hopefully, it is not too late for many of those students to sign up for fall classes.

I am pleased that the CDC has finally revised its COVID guidance. The CDC says that due to breakthrough infections and natural immunity, there is no reason to treat vaccinated and unvaccinated people differently. 

The new COVID guidance from the CDC is about a year late as it has been self-apparent to anyone who wants to look at COVID data objectively and without political influence. In addition, the revised guidance finally acknowledges the absurdity of the discrimination against unvaccinated people over the past year. 

After reading the revised guidance late last night, I first thought of the CSM vaccination mandate policy. I want to let constituents know that I will be drafting a letter to CSM's Board of Trustees to ask that they immediately reverse their vaccine policy in light of the CDC revised guidelines. I will post the letter on my Facebook page later today.  

While many state primary races are still undecided and coming down to an absentee ballot count on Thursday, we had a great night last night.  Conservative Republicans I endorsed went 3-0 in our local primaries.  I want to congratulate Mike Alderson for Commissioner, Debbie Burch for Clerk of the Court, and Dorothy Andrews for School Board on their primary wins last night.

We also went 6-0 on the state races We were involved with, highlighted by an upset win in Harford County of freshmen Delegate Lauren Airkan over a 20-year incumbent.