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2008 General Assembly Concludes
I have highlighted some
of the new laws that may interest you. Of course, there are thousands
of bills each year. If you have specific topics or questions,
please call my office.
For a complete list of bills, you
can also visit the Maryland General Assembly homepage at: Maryland
Homepage.
As your public servant, I will continue the fight for responsible
government that serves the people.
Please feel free to contact me, if I can be of any assistance
at: 410.841.3658.
As I continue to listen to the people of Maryland, I
hear about the extra financial pressures being placed on their families through the
higher fuel, electric and food prices. They are asking for our help in Annapolis, but
amazingly during the recent 2007 Special Session our taxes were increased by $1.3 Billion
annually.
Despite its passage, I want you to know that I emphatically opposed it every step of the
way.
In this 2008 session, there was a movement to repeal many of the taxes implemented
during the Special Session. The computer service tax that impacts almost everyone
directly or indirectly was the only tax repealed, though it was not an easy task.
While I believe the computer tax should never have been enacted in the first place,
there is still a lot of work to be done to alleviate the overburdening tax grip on
Maryland constituents.
As lead sponsor and working across
party lines we were able to strengthen Maryland's version of Jessica's
Law.
Consequentially, I am thrilled to report that my Tough-on-Sex-Predators bill will now
keep violent sex predators in jail longer as they continue to victimize our young
children. They will now have a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years without parole.
As a father of seven children, I understand how precious and fragile our children and
grandchildren are in today’s society.
Also, I was honored to be the lead senator on the
Fallen Soldier Privacy bill that originated when one of my constituents who lost his
son in Iraq shared his deplorable experience with a company profiting from the
unauthorized usage of son’s name on their products.
I submitted Senate Bill 3 and by the end of session, I was pleased
that the bill, The Fallen Soldier Privacy Act, unanimously
passed both legislative bodies. This bill will now protect those heroic fallen
soldiers and their families.
As I presented the bill, several other families who lost their loved ones joined in
the effort. A special thanks goes out to them and the tremendous
sacrifice they gave for our country.
With college tuition cost skyrocketing, the General
Assembly passed a bill that will freeze the increase on in-state tuitions for a third
straight year. For many of our students, education is their key to a brighter future
and this legislation will help ensure their dreams become reality.
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