New Ideas, Experienced Leadership
I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about some of the issues which are important to me. Of course, if you have any questions, about issues listed here or about anything, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Scroll down to see all the issues, or click on the links below
· K-12: As a product of public education, I have seen firsthand the great caliber of students that a good public education system can produce. I strongly believe in public education and feel that, as a State, we must work together to ensure that needed resources are available to our schools so that teachers can teach and students can learn to their utmost potential. Even in our State’s current tight fiscal times, we must ensure that schools have funding for new buildings, teachers have the resources to properly teach, and that students have the technology and resources available to help them succeed. During the 2008 Session, I am proud of our achievements in increasing our level of support to the K-12 Education system and funding the Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI) for the first time in Maryland’s history. In addition, we were able to bring in over $46.3 million to Montgomery County schools for construction and capital projects. Though more is needed, the Montgomery County school system is eager to put these funds to work for our County’s students.
· Higher Education: Maryland has some of the best universities and community colleges in the country, and our best and brightest graduate every year. Unfortunately, with rising tuition and textbook costs, the dream of college is becoming less attainable for high school students and their families. We must work to provide our students an affordable college education by ensuring that college funding is stable, and the cost for tuition and resources are predictable allowing Maryland’s families to be able to plan for the future. In addition, we need to make sure that vocational education is available through our high schools and community colleges. Through creative thinking and partnerships, our students who chose an alternative to college will get the necessary skills they need to be able to get a good job and career path for the future. Working together, we were able to freeze tuition for a third year in a row to ensure that our students would be able to pay for their Higher Education costs and plan better for the future.
After education, transportation is probably the most critical issue facing Montgomery County and our State as a whole. Nobody likes sitting in traffic on I-270, and our county, our State, our environment and our economy are all being harmed due to lost productivity and time, increased pollution, traffic and congestion on our roads. In Montgomery County, a big part of the solution centers on an expansion of our current mass public transportation system. I strongly believe that the State must work with the County and the federal government to fund transportation projects to help Montgomery County find alternatives to our endless traffic and be able to sustain our quality of life.
I am proud of my votes to increase the allocation to the Transportation Trust Fund. With this additional money, Maryland can begin to tackle the huge backlog of transportation projects we desperately need.
· The Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) – The CCT is a proposed Light Rail service that would run from the current Shady Grove Metro station to Frederick, MD. This project has been planned for Montgomery County for over 40 years. Recently, with community involvement, I am proud of my efforts to help restore interest in this project and provide funding for the project’s design in the 2008 budget
· The Purple Line – The Purple Line is a proposed Metro or Light Rail route that would run from Bethesda to New Carrollton, connecting with an estimated 14 stops. The budget that we passed in 2008 also includes money for the design of the Purple Line so that we can continue to work to move the project forward and help to create this necessary mass transit link.
· Buses – We cannot forget that mass transit also includes buses. More buses means less cars. We must continue to invest in clean energy buses, providing for more routes, more capacity, and more access.
· Road Projects – Even with all of these mass transit alternatives, we must still work to eliminate congestion on the roads by supporting a number of necessary road projects. This includes the expansion of certain roads like Clopper Road and Muncaster Mill Road, improving a series of intersections to provide for better traffic flow, and ensure that our busy streets also provide for pedestrian safety by improving crosswalks, lights, and intersection design.
Maryland has a proud history of environmental protection, and I believe that it is incumbent upon all of us to not only continue that tradition, but to strengthen it.
·Chesapeake Bay – The Chesapeake Bay is Maryland’s crown jewel. Not only is the Bay a beautiful and majestic part of our natural landscape, but it provides environmental benefits, jobs, entertainment, and is a strong contributor to our State’s economy. In 2008, I voted to provided $25 million to the Chesapeake Bay Fund for clean up and restoration efforts and passed legislation to improve administration and enforcement of “Bay and Coastal Critical Areas”. I plan to work closely with our Legislature and Governor to ensure that more money is allocated and this precious natural resource is protected.
· Alternative Energy – With fuel prices skyrocketing and the burning of fossil fuels damaging the environment, Maryland must invest further in alternative energy resources. Based on the great environmental work of Maryland over the last several years, I will continue to work to promote wind and solar alternatives, help to increase the use of energy efficient, hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles, and focus on helping Maryland families to improve the energy efficiency in their own homes and businesses.
· Environmentally-Friendly Construction – In 2008, I voted to take a great step forward towards improving energy efficiency and lowering energy costs for the long term. I am proud of co-sponsoring and working to promote the High Performance Buildings Act. This new law requires all new State-constructed buildings to adhere to specific energy efficiency standards.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said “[o]f all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
With over 700,000 Marylanders going without health insurance in our State, providing necessary and adequate health care for all has become imperative. As a member of the Health and Government Operations committee, I am proud to be in a position where I can actively influence the health care legislation that comes before the General Assembly.
In 2007 and 2008, I voted to take bold action to help decrease the number of uninsured in our State. We’ve raised eligibility to receive Medicaid benefits to people up to 116% of poverty, provided subsidies to micro-employers (between 2-9 employees) to help pay for health insurance for their employees, worked with CareFirst to provide a fund to seniors up to 300% of poverty facing increased prescription drug costs as a result of the Medicare Part D “Donut Hole”, and implemented a program to help identify and enroll thousands of children who qualify for the Maryland Child Health Insurance Program (MCHIP).
But there is so much more to do. We must act now to make sure that all Marylanders receive health care coverage and access, especially those that are most vulnerable. We must work to provide parity in mental health care and care for developmental disabilities. And we absolutely must maintain Montgomery County’s position as the leading innovator in health and bio-technology so that tomorrow’s cures and treatments are developed here.
Small business is the driving force of our economy. Small businesses employ more people, pays more taxes, and creates more wealth than any other segment of business.
Maryland, and especially Montgomery County, is a great place for small business. With our close proximity to our nation’s capital, the most educated population in the United States, and the finest public schools producing the next generation of business leaders, innovators, and thinkers, we are the premier place for small business to flourish, and we need to work to keep it that way.
I believe it is the job of State Government to make sure that small businesses and small business owners have the tools they need to grow. This includes maintaining and expanding centers of education geared to the needs of the small business community, maintaining a fair tax plan that meets the needs of government while respecting the hard work of small business entrepreneurs, and providing the infrastructure that small business needed in order to success. Finally, I believe that it is the role of State Government to provide a space for innovation to take place, by encouraging research and development and attracting the minds and talent needed.
From personal experience, I know that the United States is a land of immigrants. In 1978 my parents were lucky enough to emigrate from the Soviet Union with my older brother and me, to seek a life free from persecution in a country where anything is possible.
Immigrants have and continue to contribute to our economy, our education, our culture, our global understanding, and our diverse way of life.
As such, I feel that as a member of the House of Delegates, we must continue to defend the rights of all people to seek the same opportunities. Ultimately, I believe that your ability to succeed in our great country should be based on hard work and sweat, and not your place of birth or country of origin.
Since my time in the House of Delegates began, I have helped to start the New Americans Caucus, composed of a group of Delegates and Senators who are either immigrants themselves or first-generation Americans. We have worked hard to stem the anti-immigrant legislation coming from some halls of the General Assembly, as well as push for inclusion and understanding by all members of the General Assembly of the role of New Americans.
As a former member of the Montgomery County Committee on Hate and Violence, I feel very strongly that our government should not tolerate racism or bigotry in any form. I believe that people who commit hate crimes must be prosecuted and that discrimination in any form is still discrimination. Similarly, I am opposed to the death penalty as I believe that such a flawed system of justice cannot possibly provide for the civil rights of the accused while working to punish the guilty.
I am also a staunch supporter of marriage equality and do not believe that it is the role of government, or any one group of people, to tell any individual who they can love or share a live with. I, along with many of my colleagues in the General Assembly, am working tirelessly to help give all people equal rights under the law. I am proud to have had an opportunity during the 2008 session to vote for bills allowing for some rights to be extended to couples in domestic partnership, and will continue to work to expand those rights further. While these new laws are in no way comparable to marriage, it is at least a small step to ensuring that some rights currently afforded to the majority of us, as expanded to all of us.