2007 house journal index of days - Maryland General Assembly

Jan. 31, 2007 Maryland House of Delegates 271
When physicians and other providers do not receive adequate compensation for the
services they provide, it threatens the quality and effectiveness of our healthcare system.
Therefore, as part of our legislative agenda, I ask for your support of the task force on
Health Care Access and Physician Reimbursement.
I also ask for your support to create a Life Science Advisory Board – as a potential
precursor to a true Life Sciences Authority – so that we can more effectively grow an
industry that already employs 57,000 people in and around places like NIH, Johns
Hopkins, the University of Maryland and the Food and Drug Administration, to name just
a few.
And finally on healthcare, I ask for your support of a Universal Vaccine Purchasing Task
Force, so we can better understand how to protect Marylanders against the flu and other
foreseeable diseases.
Because healthcare is a battle of a thousand partial victories, I look forward to working
with Chairman Hammen, Chairman Middleton and others in the weeks ahead, as we roll
up our sleeves to craft ways to improve healthcare coverage and our healthcare outcomes.
Our Environment
When it comes to the urgent work of protecting and improving the health of our
Chesapeake Bay watershed for the benefit of generations to come, there is no time to
waste. Nor is there a better time to begin looking toward the next generation of
technologies – to protect our environment and build our economy.
Because smart sustainable growth is absolutely central to preserving our quality of life in
this sensitive Bay watershed, I have directed our Secretary of Planning to reestablish the
Office of Smart Growth within his agency – to help coordinate growth across agencies
lines.
As we move forward with the development of BayStat – to apply performance measured
management to all of our Bay restoration efforts – please know that the following items
are all contained in the proposed budget before you:
• Every dollar of Open Space funding this year – an estimated $289 million – will be
spent on open space.
• An additional $138 million, with your support, will go to improve local water and
wastewater systems for the benefit of the health of the Bay.