2007 house journal index of days - Maryland General Assembly

272 Journal of Proceedings Jan. 31, 2007
• And with your support, this budget will also provide record funding for cover crops and
will triple Maryland’s investment in the development of agriculture and resource-based
industries through MARBIDCO.
By making sustainable farming in Maryland more profitable, we preserve open space and
improve the health of the Bay.
Speaker Busch has been a tremendous champion of another bill I am asking you to
support. The Oyster Restoration Act will, for the first time, allow our Department of
Natural Resources to lease parcels of land on the floor of the Bay for oyster restoration
projects. We need to restore this natural aquatic filter to the Chesapeake if we hope to
turn it around.
As we accept our responsibility in the fight against global warming, I ask you to support
the Clean Cars Act, adopting stricter pollution emission standards for cars sold in
Maryland. By taking action, we can help children suffering with asthma. We can remove
pollutants from the air and the Bay. And we can join 11 other states in getting this done,
this year.
We will also be revamping the Maryland Energy Administration to spearhead our state’s
effort advancing the development of clean and renewable energy, including the next
generation of biofuels – like cellulosic ethanol – which our academic institutions and
private companies are already pursuing. And government should lead the way by
increasing the percentage of clean fuels we purchase each year and by investing in green
building technologies. Maryland can and should lead on energy independence.
Transportation
Because the decisions we make about transportation determine – in a very real way – the
future character of our State, this year’s budget also fully protects the integrity of the
Transportation Trust Fund. I ask for your support for the over $1 billion dollars in
highway and roads projects across our state, and the $300 million in mass transit projects.
And I look forward to working with all of you in the months ahead as we bring greater
balance to our efforts in transportation – solutions that foster smarter and more
sustainable patterns of growth for our future. But all of us must recognize that however
efficiently and effectively we stretch our State’s current investment in transportation
solutions, we will never be able to multiply “bread and fishes” to cover the multitude of
needs without new dollars.
Conclusion
My friends there are many other initiatives that will strengthen and grow our middle class
– the agency fee legislation that allows state workers the right to organize and have their