Here’s an update on a story from this week, Maryland’s Education Funding, and information about my annual business breakfast in June.
Senate Republican Leadership Responds to Governor Moore’s Comments on Maryland’s Business Climate
Today the Senate Republican caucus issued a statement from Minority Leader Steve Hershey and me - responding to recent comments by Governor Moore about Maryland “falling behind” in job creation and economic growth as well as the Maryland Supreme Court allowing a very bad digital advertising tax to go forward - the first of it's kind in the nation. It is NOT a mystery why Maryland is lagging, it's extreme, anti-business policies that kill job creation - passed by a Democratic super-majority for the past decades, and rammed through over Republican opposition and Governor Hogan vetoes. Here's the press release:
Problems Paying for the Blueprint for Education
Many local jurisdictions are struggling to find the money mandated by the “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future”. (See this recent article about Howard County’s struggles, Howard school officials propose scaling back Blueprint plans to address $67.3M funding gap – Baltimore Sun.)
The answer from some in the establishment in Annapolis to concerns about local cost has been “well they’ll just have to raise taxes”. But even jurisdictions with high property tax and county income tax rates are already facing huge shortfalls. And the costs are more than many of the supporters bargained for. I didn’t vote for the Blueprint (often also referred to as "Kirwan" named after the commission that it resulted from) for a number of reasons. Huge cost was probably the biggest reason, as well as concerns about how the state would define and actually measure "success" in education; but even if someone supports the overall aims - it’s clear that restructuring must take place. In the next Legislative Session - beginning in January - we must take action to get this train back in the tracks.
Save the Date - Senator Ready Annual Business Breakfast
Join me on Tuesday, June 13th right before we head into summer for a 2023 Session wrap-up and outlook on where we go from here. The breakfast will take place at Greenmount Station, 1631 N. Main Street, Hampstead, MD 21074 from 8:00 - 9:30 AM. This event will help replenish campaign funds from the 2022 election and help my efforts to continue getting our positive, conservative message out. To purchase tickets or - if you can't make it - to contribute, click here.