From: dan morhaim Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 11:27 AMSubject: 2009 Maryland General Assembly Preview
Dear Friends and Community Leaders,

With the 2009 Maryland General Assembly underway, I want to share my perspective and invite you to actively communicate with me. Your input has always been the most important and best way for me to represent you. I personally read every letter and email from the district, and I try to return as many phone calls as possible.

As always, I work closely with the other members of our 11th District Legislative Team: Senator Bobby Zirkin, Delegate Jon Cardin, and Delegate Dana Stein. My staff (led by Mary Lou Cole and Penny McDougal and aided by Keshia Pollack, Tyler Cymet, and Shannon Frattaroli) is ready and able to serve you.

Below are my thoughts on the upcoming legislative session. Please also read the three recent media articles at the end. These cover some of the items below.
Money, as usual, is the main focus. The fiscal crisis that has hit the U.S. and the world has hit us here in Maryland. There are only three ways for government to raise funds: raise taxes, cut programs, and find efficiencies. Let me cover these one at at time.
- Raise Taxes: There is no room or desire to do this. Selected taxes were raised in 2007, and some of these I supported (tobacco tax) and some I opposed (computer tax, income tax). Raising taxes now would be counter-productive.
- Cut programs: Governor O'Malley and the legislature have done this, cutting over $1 billion from the budget. But further budget cuts run the risk of hurting education, health care, public safety, environment, and economic development. And the safety net of the non-profit sector has already been hurt by lower donations at a time of increasing demand.
- Government Efficiency: This has been a focus of mine. There are many areas where government could run better and more effectively. The State spends $10 billion (1/3 of its overall budget) on purchasing goods and services, and the counties and school systems spend $20 billion. This totals $30 billion. If 1% savings were achieved, that would translate to $300,000,000 and 2% would mean $600,000,000, and this would go a long way to addressing our fiscal challenges. Like a family meeting its budget, the State has to live within its means and take advantage of economies through smart buying, coordinated purchasing, exchange of best practice information, etc. This is a complex, bureaucratic, and admittedly tedious area, all too often overlooked. But there are large gains here that can save money without hurting services or programs. I will be introducing legislation to push progress in this area.
Other legislation I plan to introduce would do the following:
- Expand wellness programs, and change health insurance parameters to reduce costs to small businesses.
- Reduce diesel emissions from school buses and heavy equipment. Diesel emissions are a major cause of respiratory disease and environmental pollution.
- Eliminate antiquated and redundant programs in the Department of Health, building on HB 142 from 2008 session.
- Encourage and expand "green building" practices.
- Give true payment parity for mental health services.
- Expand opportunity to women and minority owned companies in bidding for State business by eliminating inappropriate "bundling" of contracts.

Here are links to the three recent articles mentioned above:
Article in Baltimore Examiner by Dan Morhaim and Vincent DeMarco Medicaid makes Marylanders healthier, wealthier

Article from Baltimore Jewish Times on Health Care for the Homeless
http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/cover_story/jewish_soul_of_baltimores_health_care_for_homeless/

From The Gazette on Government Efficiency (Morhaim mentioned towards the end)
http://www.gazette.net/stories/12252008/poliras155902_32472.shtml

Please stay in touch on any issue. I look forward to hearing from you as we work together to keep Maryland strong, safe, smart, and healthy.

Delegate Dan Morhaim
Deputy Majority Leader, Maryland House of Delegates
410-841-3054 office
410-841-3385 fax

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