ardt continued. “The Labor Department is implementing reforms passed last year so we’ll have to see what the results are before we decide what comes next; in the meantime, we’ll meet the needs of those who have been hit the hardest,” Jones promised. SENIOR ISSUES: “Adequate care for seniors has been challenging. Nursing and retirement homes were among those the pandemic hit hardest,” Eckardt said. “Their residents still don’t have enough caregivers. We need a consistent, qualified workforce in our medical fields and we’ve been working with our medical boards on this.” Del. Johnson is concerned about retirees’ financial well-being. “Almost every nearby state is more retirement-friendly on Social Security taxes or pension withdrawals because retiree incomes don’t keep up with inflation costs. People shouldn’t have to leave their kids and grandkids behind to retire elsewhere. We need to look at what other states are doing.” Elfreth sees a tradeoff. “Social Security taxes is a tough issue but we have some of the best hospitals and schools in the country compared to lower-tax states. Every tax credit that we give, we’ll have to pay for.” HOUSING: “Stability in the rental markets, including landlord-tenant relations, is a
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top priority. Property repairs are needed more than ever,” Del. Henson stated. “I’m reintroducing a bill to establish statewide standards for mold remediation like we have for lead, radon, and other biohazards.” Elfreth added, “When a house sells, we also must be open and honest about its flood zone status.” MENTAL HEALTH: “The trauma impacted by Covid-19 must be addressed, including mental illness, substance abuse, unresolved family conflicts, and increased gun violence,” Eckardt said. Cullison intends to reintroduce mental health-related bills “to learn more about suicides and become prevention-oriented.” RECOVERY TOOLS: “Last year we passed a law providing a tax benefit to those who donated food and other necessities and who provided a variety of assistance programs for help with evictions and other legal services,” Jones said. “The result: Many resources are available at every level of government for those who need them.” Her office has put together a master list: https:// bit.ly/DelDJResources
The 2022 Elections REDISTRICTING: Legislators will have completed a December special session for congressional redistricting; in
What’s Up? Annapolis | December 2021 | whatsupmag.com
the 2022 session’s first weeks, they’ll tackle state redistricting, according to Ellis. “It’s the biggest issue so it’ll be very time consuming,” he said. “After the Governor goes first, our goal is to create a map that will withstand the courts, which have full authority to make adjustments.” The nine Eastern Shore counties want their boundaries intact, Eckardt said. “We don’t want their redrawn districts to spill over to the other side and we don’t want their numerical compositions to change because that would reduce the size of our overall delegation. We should emphasize single-member districts to be fair to our minority communities.” VOTING: Buckel wants to review all voting records “to catch any potential discrepancies, just to be efficient,” he said. “We need an auditing process capability to verify voter eligibility, both who can vote and how. What names need to be scrubbed from the voter rolls? People die or move out of state but they’re still there. The State Board of Elections works hard but local governments administer local elections. Allocating more resources to expand state oversight could be difficult but also productive. We need neutral criteria like not having voted in three straight elections from the same address. Someone could contact the person to verify
residency so that the potential for partisan abuse is eliminated.” He’d also like more data on voting without a photo ID. “Most voters don’t have an issue with obtaining a valid, government-issued identification. Does not requiring one impact the integrity of a mailed ballot?”
Conclusion
Other funding bills will cover a range of topics such as adding summer programs to offset the “lost learning” from Covid-19 (Henson); expanding permanent mail-in voting drop boxes (Elfreth); broadening bandwidth to support continued telecommuting (Eckardt); protecting student data from intrusive marketing (Jones); providing greater access to dental care and paid family leave (Cullison); and rebuilding Southern Maryland’s roads (Ellis). Fortunately, according to Ferguson, “We now have a significant budget surplus.”
Mark Croatti, who teaches courses on American Government, Public Policy, and Comparative Politics at the United States Naval Academy, the University of Maryland, and the George Washington University, has covered Maryland’s Legislative Session since 2004.
