2007 house journal index of days - Maryland General Assembly

Jan. 31, 2007 Maryland House of Delegates 269
• I ask that you pass legislation codifying our State’s commitment to phase in funding of
the Geographic Cost of Education Index, beginning next year;
• I ask that, together, we start to get our children out of the temporary learning shacks
that have been popping up behind every school in our state – and approve the record
$400 million in school construction dollars proposed in this year’s budget; and
• I ask for your support, in this year’s budget, to increase our investment in our
institutions of higher learning by $192 million – including an 18% increase for
Community Colleges.
Along with those investments, I ask for your support of SB 108 and HB 134 to freeze any
further increase in tuition this year for in-state students. This will give families some
relief while Lieutenant Governor Brown works with the Hogan Commission on a longterm
solution to keep higher education affordable. Working families must be able to send
their children to Maryland colleges.
When it comes to improving Public Safety and Homeland Security in our State, we have
our work cut out for us.
Our Department of Corrections, Parole and Probation, and Juvenile Services are deeply
troubled. All are in urgent need of reform and have been for some time – little wonder
that Maryland is the 5th most violent state in the union.
Compounding our challenge is the fact that our nation’s capital is now – and for the
foreseeable future will remain – a prime target in a new type of global warfare.
Among other things, I ask for your support for an additional $7 million in this year’s
budget to fund 155 additional correctional officers. I ask for your support for
$2 million additional dollars to protect Maryland families from sexual predators, with
advanced Global Positioning Systems that tracks offenders.
I ask for your support for an additional $500,000 to allow the Maryland State Police to
knock out the huge backlog of violent offenders from whom DNA “fingerprints” have yet
to be taken. Finally, I ask for your support for an additional $5 million to expand drug
treatment through the increased use of recently approved buprenorphine therapies.
And I look forward to working with leaders of both houses as, together, we find new
ways to attack our common enemies of gang violence and violent crime.
In order to make Maryland a leader in improving Homeland Security, we will:
• Constitute a new Maryland Security Council to bring all relevant agencies and
departments into the prevention, preparedness and recovery regimen on a quarterly basis.