Priorities for the 2008 Maryland General Assembly Session
For the Lutheran Office on Public Policy/Maryland
Care of Creation An effort to have Maryland adopt ambitious goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be one emphasis by LOPP/MD in this session. Maryland has 3,100 miles of tidal shoreline and needs to join other East Coast states in becoming part of global warming solutions.
Energy The Maryland Public Service Commission has concluded what advocates have been advising since 1999; namely, that the Electric Universal Service Program is under funded by about half. We will be urging that the State's low and moderate income households be kept connected to the public utility system they've helped finance.
Sufficient Livelihood The 2007 special session chose regressive revenue measures (the sales tax and state-licensed gambling) to raise most of the new revenue Maryland needs to pay its bills. One corrective rejected in the special session is to provide a sales tax rebate through the State income tax to low-income earners. We support reviving this policy. We also support qualifying part-time earners for unemployment insurance, since they pay into the system, and allowing workers the right to use accumulated leave to care for sick family members. /
Death Penalty Repeal of Maryland's death penalty is overdue and gaining support. Maryland's death sentences are racially disparate and error-prone, and now its procedures for administering death must be rewritten to comply with Maryland law. Many have concluded it is time for execution to go, and we will urge repeal in this session.
Affordable Shelter The effort to develop State and local programming for more affordable housing, including creation of an affordable housing trust, continues this session. We also support ending discrimination based on the source of income in rental housing. Maryland will also need to provide some assistance to homeowners threatened with foreclosure by predatory mortgages.
Access to Medical Care Following an expansion of Maryland's Medicaid program during the 2007 special session, one goal we will be supporting is an active effort by the State to enroll all 225,000 newly eligible adults.
Education The recently adopted ELCA commitment on education calls us to advocate for adequate and fair funding and public support for equitable and excellent education opportunities for all students. We support increased adult education, stable funding equalization for the State's public schools, and access to higher education.