From health insurance to solar energy to driving while talking on cell phones, Carroll?s lawmakers have wide-ranging priorities for 2007.
With the session starting Wednesday, The Examiner asked the all-Republican delegation to the General Assembly what it wanted to accomplish.
SEN. LARRY HAINES
Haines, District 5, delegation chairman: “The Manchester alignment for a bypass is a priority. … The delegation will be working with our local government and the state … regarding the water issue in Westminster. We are all sensitive to the needs of agriculture and will continue to make funding for farmland preservation a priority and maintain the current level of funding for cover crop programs. I support a maximum 5 percent cap on assessments for owner-occupied homes in Carroll County. This bill passed the Senate last year. Hopefully, the local government would be supportive of this measure during the next legislative session.”
SEN. ALAN KITTLEMAN
Minority Whip Kittleman, District 9: “My legislation would allow Carroll County [schools] to competitively bid out projects instead of having to use the union wage … I will be co-sponsoring legislation that will require proof of citizenship or legal residency in order for someone to get a Maryland driver?s license … [and] supporting legislation that will require a voter-verified paper trail on our voting machines and voters to show identification.
“I am firmly committed to enacting legislation to create commissioner districts. However, the delegation has agreed that we would not address this issue in the 2007 session.”
DELEGATE DONALD ELLIOTT
Elliott, District 4B: “My main concern [is to] find an answer to the health-care crisis: 800,000 people are uninsured, and it?s a burden to all employers who are generous.
“I have legislation that I have been working on for several years. … If you remove approximately 150,000 people from uninsured rolls, this would decrease the amount of premiums that employers would have to pay in cases where they pay for employees? health care. It would also decrease the uncompensated care that hospitals are forced to deliver, and by doing this, it would decrease the hospital rates that all of us have to pay.”
DELEGATE TANYA SHEWELL
Shewell, District 5A: “Goals for 2007 include supporting bills that promote family values and retain marriage as being between a man and a woman … protection of private property rights with no taking for economic development and fair compensation when property is required to be taken for public use under eminent domain laws.
“I have written a bill to curb the ?knowing and willful? giving of alcohol to a minor by an adult by requiring not just a $1,000 fine, but also a loss of driver?s license for up to six months the first time. I have also written a bill … [about] driving while using a cell phone.”
DELEGATE NANCY STOCKSDALE
Stocksdale, District 5A: “My priorities for this year are to obtain increased funding for school construction in Carroll County. Gov.-elect Martin O?Malley has promised $400 million for school construction in his budget. However, with high schools costing approximately $80 million each, that $400 million won?t go very far.
“I am also interested in giving a tax credit for people who invest in long-term health-care insurance as an incentive to encourage people to plan for their future health care needs. I will need people to come to Annapolis to testify. I will also be introducing a bill for Agricultural Land Preservation.”
DELEGATE SUSAN KREBS
Krebs, District 9B: “Reducing the State Residential Property Tax Assessment Cap from 10 percent to 5 percent; doubling the amount of assets that are exempt from the Maryland Estate Tax from $1 million to $2 million; [giving] incentives for using alternative energy sources, such as solar energy; requiring that two members of the Maryland State Board of Education have children attending public schools at the time of their appointment; tightening election laws to ensure transparency in reporting political contributions; and [enacting] a Constitutional amendment to ensure that the Transportation Trust Fund is used for transportation-related items only.”
Minority Leader Sen. David Brinkley, District 4, did not respond to e-mails and phone calls.
