Scholarships Awarded to Local Students

As a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, I have the privilege of annually awarding State Delegate Scholarships to help local students pay for college.  Providing these scholarships to residents of Gaithersburg and Rockville is a personal highlight of my job as an elected official.

In total, I awarded more than $52,000 to 114 amazing students from Rockville and Gaithersburg this year, including sponsoring one NAACP scholarship.  An additional $10,000 in scholarships will be awarded later this summer to students at The Universities at Shady Grove.

There were many powerful personal stories told by this year's recipients. I was truly impressed by the drive and determination of all the students! 

Recipients of my Delegate Scholarship are attending 16 colleges across the state of Maryland:

• Montgomery College

• University of Maryland, College Park

• University of Maryland, Baltimore County

• University of Maryland, Baltimore

• University of Maryland, Global Campus

• University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

• Johns Hopkins University

• Towson University

• Bowie State University

• Coppin State University

• Morgan State University

• Notre Dame of Maryland University

• University of Baltimore

• Loyola University Maryland

• Howard Community College

• Frostburg State University

Scholarship recipients graduated from all 7 high schools that serve students in District 17: Gaithersburg, Quince Orchard, Richard Montgomery, Rockville, Thomas S. Wootton, Walter Johnson, and Watkins Mill.

2024 Legislative Session Summary

I’m proud to serve as one of your state lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly.  We just wrapped up a challenging but highly productive 90-day legislative session that saw a record number of bills introduced and passed.  Of the roughly 2,700 bills introduced in the legislature this year, over 1,000 were sent to Governor Wes Moore for his signature.  Thirteen of the bills I sponsored passed the legislature and two have already been signed into law.  Highlighted below are a selection of notable bills we passed during the 2024 legislative session.

The General Assembly passed a $63 billion budget for FY 2025 on a bipartisan basis.  State support for education totals $9.1 billion, a 5.3% increase over last year.  The state also made important new investments in child care, health care, public safety, and climate resiliency.  In the aftermath of the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, we provided $275 million to assist impacted port workers and businesses.  As part of the bill, scholarships will be provided for the children of the six construction workers who lost their lives on that fateful evening.

One of my leadership roles in the General Assembly is serving as Chair of the Early Childhood Subcommittee.  The highest profile bill my subcommittee considered this year was the Freedom to Read Act, which was championed by House Speaker Adrienne Jones and will protect public libraries and school libraries from partisan book bans.  I had the honor of defending the bill on the House floor.  Another big accomplishment is the expansion of public pre-K and ensuring that 31,000 low-income children can continue to participate in high-quality child care with state scholarships.  We also passed a bill to prohibit libraries from issuing fines to children, and a bill I sponsored to protect kids with food allergies while in child care settings.

The General Assembly passed many bills on K-12 and post-secondary education.  Three bills I sponsored–and that passed–will require public middle and high schools to include the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline phone number on student ID cards and handbooks, require school districts to report on corrective actions in response to a state audit, and require more transparent forms of communication from districts.  We also passed a bill to require greater transparency in school district budgeting.  Another bill will require schools to implement safeguards when conducting an active shooter safety drill.  We also addressed the rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia in schools by requiring anti-bias training for school employees.  Among the legislation passed on higher education were bills prohibiting legacy admissions at public colleges and requiring community colleges to provide academic credit for immigrant students taking English learning courses.

This year’s legislative session was a momentous one in furthering fair and affordable housing.  The General Assembly passed Governor Moore’s omnibus Renters’ Rights and Stabilization Act, which will help prevent tenant eviction.  We passed bills to shield court records for rent cases that do not result in eviction, to require notice of utility bills in leases, and to grant tenants additional remedies in addressing uninhabitable living conditions.  We also passed bills to incentivize local governments to increase both affordable and market-rate housing production (especially near transit) with new financing options and zoning flexibility, and to require local governments to publicly report on how much housing they are building (or not building).  Lastly, significant budget investments were secured for housing programs, including for expanding home broadband access and down payment assistance.

In addition, the General Assembly passed all of the other priority bills sponsored by the Governor, including bills to:

• Establish a Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention

• Protect road workers from excessive speeding

• Protect election officials from death threats and other harassment

• Establish a grant program to help address child poverty

• Incentivize data centers to locate in the state

• Expand career opportunities for military spouses and law enforcement officers

• Expand workers’ compensation for firefighters

The General Assembly also acted to further protect animals and the environment.  Among the bills we passed on animal welfare are a ban on exotic animals in traveling circuses and my bill updating the state’s Endangered Species Act, which requires routine reviews of the state’s endangered species list and scientific evidence to list or delist a species.  We passed bills to support community solar and to attract more wind energy companies to come to the state.  We acted on bills fighting water pollution and PFAS contamination.  We updated Maryland's energy efficiency program, introducing incentives for adopting efficient electric appliances and heating.  We also passed bills to encourage electric vehicle charging stations in condo and HOA communities, grow pollinator habitats along state highways, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing.

A number of bills passed to improve transportation across the state.  Importantly, the House and Senate reached a compromise to close the overall transportation budget gap, preventing major cuts to road and bridge repairs, local road maintenance, and locally operated transit systems.  The gap was filled through a variety of revenue reforms, including a fee for electric vehicles (which do not pay gas tax) and charging registration fees on a sliding scale based on vehicle weight.  We also invested $150 million in WMATA to help prevent reductions in Metro rail and bus service.  I’m proud to serve as Secretary of the legislature’s Transit Caucus, which was successful in passing several of our priority bills this year.  Maryland’s pursuit of no roadway deaths will be furthered by a bill I sponsored that will require the Maryland Department of Transportation to hold quarterly public meetings to discuss infrastructure deficiencies on roads where there are pedestrian or bicyclist fatalities.  The Caucus also succeeded in passing a bill to toughen criminal penalties for killing or injuring bicyclists.  The legislature acted to strengthen penalties for street racing and to make it easier for low-income Marylanders, including those who are homeless, to get their license or ID card free of charge from the MVA.  Lastly, the General Assembly passed a bill I sponsored that authorizes Montgomery County to use cameras to ticket noisy vehicles that have an illegally modified exhaust system.

The legislature acted on many bills concerning health and social services.  More people will have access to care through the state’s health insurance market and school-based mental health providers will be able to reach 520,000 additional kids.  We protected consumers by prohibiting liens from being placed on homes because of medical debt and granted the Attorney General greater power to crack down on health care fraud.  We designated gender-affirming treatment as legally protected health care.  We passed bills to grow our physician, nurse, and dentist workforce.  We expanded health insurance coverage for hearing aids, prostheses, and pediatric dental care.  Other notable bills expanded supplemental SNAP benefits for seniors, shored up funding for our 988 suicide hotline, expanded access to contraceptives, and required baby food to be tested for toxic metals.  We prohibited vaping on mass transit and in public buildings.  We created a “purple alert” (similar to amber alert for missing children) for missing people with disabilities.  We also passed my district-mate Delegate Joe Vogel’s bill to provide children in foster care with luggage when they are moving to a new home.

On the subject of consumer and worker rights, we passed several major bills to require the posting of salary ranges on job listings, prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, crack down on third-party energy suppliers that use predatory bait-and-switch tactics, protect the online data of minors, and give consumers the right to opt out of targeted online advertising.  The General Assembly passed my bill to ensure that Marylanders seeking employment, a mortgage, or a loan are not unfairly rejected based on outdated information in their credit reports.  We required gas stations to display the credit price of gas if it’s higher than the cash price–an issue that Senator Cheryl Kagan has worked on for years.  We protected consumers against price gouging in ticket sales for concerts and sporting events by requiring fees to be disclosed in the up-front price.  We passed several workers rights bills prohibiting non-compete agreements among health care professionals, preventing the misclassification of home care workers, granting collective bargaining rights to library workers, and exempting federal government employees from work search requirements during government shutdowns.  We also added military status to the list of protected classes under our housing and employment discrimination laws.  Lastly, the legislature affirmed the federal Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution.

Several bills passed on criminal justice. The biggest was a juvenile justice reform bill which seeks to reduce juvenile crime by creating a commission to oversee the juvenile legal system and improving accountability for juvenile offenders who fail to meet diversionary program obligations.  We passed a bill to create a correctional ombudsman’s office to investigate problems at jails and prisons.  We banned machine gun conversion devices, aka “Glock switches,” and stripped gun manufacturers of civil immunity, empowering the Attorney General to take action against the industry for failing to make their firearms safe.  We prohibited expunged criminal charges from appearing in consumer credit reports.  We also required courts to redact the names of crime victims who are minors and made major reforms to the victim compensation process. 

I have the pleasure of serving on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees the state’s election laws.  A bill I sponsored with Senator Cheryl Kagan to tackle election judge shortages by allowing unemployed Marylanders to serve without impact to their unemployment benefits is awaiting the Governor’s signature.  We also passed bills to modernize the election recount process and to address election disinformation.  Tax policy is another major focus area for me and the committee.  Notably, we expanded the tax on tobacco and vaping devices to fund the expansion of public pre-K and other education programs, as well as further reduce smoking.  State Comptroller Brooke Lierman’s bills passed, including a bill to crack down on scam tax preparers and a bill to establish a tax credit eligibility awareness campaign.  We also authorized local governments to establish property tax credits for public school employees and new housing construction.  We expanded eligibility for the homeowner’s and renter’s tax credits and boosted funding for low-income tax clinics.

I serve as Chair of the Montgomery County House Delegation and I’m pleased to report that the county secured many wins in the state budget.  Overall, Montgomery County will receive $1.3 billion in state aid, an 8.4% increase from last year.  State funding for our public schools totals $979 million, an increase of $38.8 million.  We secured $27 million for bus rapid transit and $2.7 million in new funding for park and school playground upgrades.  Capital projects at Montgomery College, Shady Grove Medical Center, and the Institute for Health Computing were among the many county priorities that received significant state funding.  Many of District 17’s local bond requests received funding: Bohrer Park and Walder Park in Gaithersburg, David Scull Park in Rockville, and capital projects for EveryMind (the county’s 988 mental health call center) and the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center.

Thank you to all of the residents of Gaithersburg and Rockville who contacted my office this session.  Your visits, phone calls, letters, and emails are appreciated.  Have questions about topics I didn’t address in this letter?  Please reach out and ask!  Even though the legislative session is over, my legislative office will continue to operate.  Please reach out if there is anything I can do to assist you with state agencies or to share your opinion.

Best,

Julie Palakovich Carr

State Delegate, District 17 (Gaithersburg and Rockville)

2023 Legislative Wrap Up

We just wrapped up a very productive 90-day legislative session, where we pushed Maryland forward on issues including child poverty, reproductive rights, education, cannabis legalization, and more. Of the roughly 2,300 bills introduced in the legislature this year, over 800 passed and were sent to Governor Wes Moore for his signature. Highlighted below are a selection of notable bills we passed during the 2023 legislative session.

Governor Wes Moore has already signed into law the Family Prosperity Act, which will help working families and lift thousands of children out of poverty. Specifically, it makes permanent the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit we passed in 2021 and expands the Maryland Child Tax Credit to an additional 40,000 families. Senator Nancy King and I have been working on the Child Tax Credit for four years and I'm so proud that the Governor included it in among his legislative priorities for his first session. I had the honor to defend this bill on the House floor and take part in the Governor’s bill signing ceremony.

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the General Assembly passed multiple bills related to reproductive health. The legislative package included measures to enshrine the right to choose in Maryland's Constitution, which will be on the ballot in 2024 for voters to ratify; protect reproductive health medical records from being used in criminal prosecution or civil litigation outside of Maryland; and enhance access to reproductive health care at colleges and universities.

Last November, voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational cannabis. This session, we followed up with legislation detailing implementation of the new cannabis market. Sales will be taxed at 9%, the same rate as alcohol sales. Safeguards include creation of a production tracking system from seed to sale. We also passed a bill to protect Marylanders’ rights against unlawful stops and searches by prohibiting police stops based solely on cannabis odor.

The Supreme Court's Bruen decision requires Maryland to overhaul its gun safety laws. The General Assembly passed legislation to limit where firearms can be concealed-carried and prohibit possession of a regulated firearm by a person who is younger than 21, who suffers from certain mental disorders and has a history of violent behavior, or who has been involuntarily admitted for more than 30 days to a mental health facility. Also passed was a bill to reduce unsupervised access to firearms by children.

The General Assembly passed all of Governor Wes Moore’s priority bills, including to:

• Address the educator shortage in Maryland by enhancing financial support for college students who student teach

• Allow military veterans to claim a larger retirement income exemption on their taxes (the Keep Our Heroes Home Act)

• Offer a service year as an option for young people to learn professional skills after high school while serving their community

• Establish a pilot program to provide matching funding for infrastructure projects and spur innovation in the technology sector

This session, the Speaker of the House named me as Chair of the Early Childhood Subcommittee. A top priority for my subcommittee this session was expanding access to high-quality, affordable child care. We expanded eligibility for publicly funded full-day pre-K to include homeless kids and low-income kids with disabilities or whose families don't primarily speak English at home. We ensured that the Department of Education wouldn’t unilaterally create waitlists again for subsidized child care. We also addressed child care on military bases, Montessori pre-K, and created a new pilot program for outdoor preschool. My subcommittee also passed bills to increase teacher pay at nonpublic schools that serve students with special needs and to increase funding for nonprofits that provide free books to young readers.

The General Assembly passed many bills on K-12 and post-secondary education. I sponsored legislation to ensure that public schools are taking steps to protect students with severe food allergies. We banned corporal punishment in schools and increased funding for free school breakfasts. For higher education, the legislature passed an increase in tax credits for state employees with student loan debt and reformed the state’s troubled 529 Prepaid College Trust program.

The General Assembly also acted to further protect the environment. Among the bills we passed are expansions of offshore wind and community solar, stricter energy efficiency standards for state government buildings, and measures to boost recycling and composting. Clean vehicles will get a boost through increased funding for the charging rebate program and commercial truck electrification grants, and owners of electric vehicles will continue to be able to drive in an HOV lane with a permit. We took action to conserve forest canopy and enhance the Attorney General’s environmental crimes unit. Lastly, my bill to ensure diverse representation on the Maryland Wildlife Advisory Commission–including a scientist–is on the Governor’s desk.

A number of bills passed to improve transportation across the state. I’m proud to serve as Secretary of the legislature’s Transit Caucus, which was successful in passing all five of our priority bills this year. Maryland’s pursuit of no roadway deaths will be furthered by a new requirement for the state to implement short-term safety improvements while a pedestrian or bicyclist safety project is in the construction queue. The Caucus also succeeded in repealing a requirement that the Maryland Transit Administration increase transit fares with inflation and in increasing state funding for local transit systems–including Montgomery County buses–with inflation. Our other priorities require that equity be considered when state transportation plans and goals are developed and establish a revolving loan fund for transit-oriented development projects.

The legislature acted on many bills concerning health care and social services. Hospitals will now have to identify and reimburse patients who paid an out-of-pocket expense but qualified for free medical care. We passed legislation to significantly lower–or eliminate–out-of-pocket costs for breast and lung cancer diagnostic imaging. We made reforms to the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to ensure that the Board is effective in limiting prescription prices and required pharmacies to provide accessible prescription labels for blind and visually impaired individuals. Mental health services will get a boost from $12 million in annual funding for the 9-8-8 hotline for suicide prevention and mental health help. Maryland Medicaid will soon provide gender-affirming treatment when medically necessary. Importantly, the state is now reimbursing stolen SNAP benefits and will be streamlining enrollment in SNAP, Medicaid, and other safety net programs.

The General Assembly passed several bills to further fair and affordable housing. Marylanders who have been waiting for months or years for federal housing assistance may get help from a new state housing voucher program. We provided $2 million in emergency rental assistance. The General Assembly passed my bill to prohibit local governments and landlords from penalizing residents for calling police and emergency services; this is especially an issue for victims of domestic violence. Other bills passed include requiring a landlord to notify a tenant in writing before increasing the tenant's rent and that a landlord be in compliance with local rental property licensing requirements if they are trying to evict a tenant.

On the subject of consumer and worker rights, Governor Moore led the effort to accelerate getting to $15 per hour minimum wage one year ahead of schedule. The General Assembly passed my bill to ensure that when the state recovers overpayments of unemployment benefits in cases that don’t involve fraud, the out-of-work Marylander still receives at least half of their weekly benefits. The General Assembly followed up on legislation passed last year creating a Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program by passing a bill to implement the program; workers will be able to get paid leave starting in 2026. We also took action to protect consumers against price gouging during states of emergency, expand prohibitions on non-compete agreements, and cut down on spam telemarketing calls.

Several bills passed on criminal justice. The Child Victims Act of 2023 removes the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits against sexual abusers, which is especially timely given the recent report revealing decades of abuse by Catholic clergy in Maryland. The Attorney General will be able to prosecute police-involved fatalities, ensuring that cases can still move forward when a local prosecutor elects not to prosecute. We protected victims by prohibiting an incarcerated person from contacting or harassing an alleged victim, providing civil remedies for hate crimes, and prohibiting a person from making prank or false 9-1-1 calls (aka “swatting”). And after multiple years of attempts, we finally repealed the crime of unnatural or perverted sexual practice, a law that has been used to criminalize consensual intimacy among LGBTQIA+ adults, and eliminated the spousal defense against charges of rape and other criminal sexual offenses.

I have the pleasure of serving on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees the state’s election laws. HB 192, my bill to limit campaign contributions to only U.S. currency, thereby banning untraceable cryptocurrency donations, is awaiting the Governor’s signature. Our District 17 Senator Cheryl Kagan’s legislation to allow mail-in ballots to be processed before Election Day also passed, making election results more timely. Among the other bills passed were a pay raise for election judges and a measure to require public input before a local board of elections changes a polling place.

Tax policy continues to be a major focus area for me, although it was a somewhat quiet year on that front, outside of the Moore/Miller Administration’s bills. Comptroller Brooke Lierman advocated for a new Taxpayer Advocate Division to assist taxpayers in resolving problems and complaints. We passed legislation to allow union dues to be deducted and to make it easier for low-income homeowners to reapply for the Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit. We also expanded the state’s tax credit for child adoption expenses and tax incentives for film production.

As Chair of the Montgomery County House Delegation, I’m proud of our successes with respect to the state budget. The county’s capital requests for public school construction were fully funded, including District 17’s Gaithersburg Middle, Meadow Hall Elementary, and Ritchie Park Elementary. Capital projects for Montgomery College, Shady Grove Medical Center, and the forthcoming Institute for Health Computing were among the many projects that received significant funding. Bus rapid transit in the county will benefit from additional one-time and ongoing funding, and money was allocated for the purchase of zero-emission buses. All of District 17’s local bond requests received funding: Crown Farm Historic Park in Gaithersburg, Twinbrook Community Recreation Center in Rockville, and capital projects for Montgomery History, Rockville Housing Enterprises, CaringMatters hospice, and So What Else food pantry.

Thank you to all of the residents of Gaithersburg and Rockville who contacted my office this session. Your visits, phone calls, letters, and emails are appreciated. Have questions about topics I didn’t address in this letter? Please reach out and ask! Even though the legislative session is over, my legislative office will continue to operate, albeit at a reduced capacity. Please reach out if there is anything I can do to assist you with state agencies or to share your opinion.

2021 End of Session Letter

Dear neighbor,

The 2021 legislation session of the Maryland General Assembly has concluded and it was an especially productive 90 days.  We passed major legislation to overhaul policing, improve the unemployment system, address public and mental health, continue education improvements, and much more.

It was a highly productive session for me personally, with one bill already enacted into law, seven bills awaiting the Governor’s signature, and three additional bills passing the House.  I also had the honor of being the floor leader for a high-profile bill to provide economic relief to immigrants.

I’m incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to represent Gaithersburg and Rockville in the House of Delegates and look forward to continuing to engage with you.

Economic Relief

Too many Marylanders and businesses are struggling because of the pandemic. Early in the session, we passed the RELIEF Act, which provided 422,531 Marylanders one-time stimulus payments, as well as significantly boosted an existing tax credit that benefits low-income workers. This law also exempted unemployment benefits from state income taxes. Small businesses benefited from deferred payment of unemployment insurance taxes and by allowing them to keep some of the sales tax they collect.

I had the honor of being the floor leader for a bill to provide economic relief to Maryland taxpayers who are immigrants or who live in a mixed-status family. This new law allows Marylanders who file their taxes using an ITIN number to qualify for a targeted tax credit for low-income workers. This provision was amended into a bill sponsored by Senator Nancy King and I to create a Maryland Child Tax Credit. This tax credit will help low-income families with a disabled child and who have been excluded from the federal Child Tax Credit because of their very low-income and/or immigration status.

Maryland received $3.9 billion in federal stimulus funds. The money will be spent to assist Marylanders struggling to pay their utility bills, to increase benefits for temporary cash assistance and temporary disability payments, to increase employment training and apprenticeships, and to bolster the state’s unemployment trust fund.

Our state’s tax code also contributes to economic hardships for some. A bill I sponsored with Senator Jim Rosapepe will allow counties to provide tax relief to working families by replacing the flat local income tax rate with a progressive tiered income tax. Another bill fixed the multi-year underpayment of property tax credits to low-income homeowners. Both bills are on the Governor’s desk for his consideration.

Police Reform

One of the most important issues before the General Assembly was police reform. I heard from more constituents on this issue than any other in the past year. The good news is that we passed a comprehensive package of bills that limit the use of force, restrict the use of no-knock warrants, require use of body-worn cameras, and ban the procurement of certain military equipment. Maryland is now the first state in the nation to repeal the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights. The officer discipline process will also be overhauled through expanded civilian oversight, swifter and uniform penalties, expanded public access to police records, and a new independent unit in the Attorney General's office to investigate police-involved deaths. Although the Governor vetoed several of these bills, the legislature was successful in overriding these vetoes prior to adjournment.

Unemployment Reform

My office has heard from hundreds of constituents about problems with the state’s unemployment system. Consequently, I worked with some colleagues to research and propose a comprehensive set of recommendations on how to improve the system. House leadership agreed to the plan and the General Assembly subsequently passed a package of bills to ensure better customer service, faster response times, and essential fixes to prevent such failures from occurring again. The legislation also creates an easier process for applicants to track claims and to receive their benefits as either paper checks or through direct deposit. We also increased from $50 to $200 the weekly amount claimants can earn while still receiving unemployment benefits and made it easier for people who lose their jobs to sign up for health insurance. All of these unemployment reform bills were enacted without the Governor’s signature.

Public and Mental Health

Addressing the pandemic continued to be a major focus. The COVID-19 Testing, Contact Tracing, and Vaccination Act of 2021 will ensure that the Maryland Department of Health continues to respond to and plan for needed state action. To that end, the annual budget included $572 million for COVID testing, contact tracing, and vaccinations. A newly enacted law expands telehealth access under Medicaid and requires all private insurers to cover telehealth medical visits.

We also took action to address long-standing disparities in public health by targeting new resources to communities with documented health disparities and by requiring health equity and bias training as part of the licensing process for all health care providers.

The pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental health. A new law named for Thomas Bloom Raskin, Congressman Jamie Raskin’s son, creates an opt-in program for people who want to receive periodic mental health check-ins. I sponsored a bill to put life-saving information about Maryland’s crisis hotline on every college student id card. Other bills passed include a program to develop alternatives to the police for people experiencing a mental health crisis, allowing youth to seek mental health care, and making it easier for psychologists to practice across state lines.

Other bills awaiting the Governor’s signature include protections for essential workers during emergencies, stronger regulations on hospital debt collections, protections against lead in drinking water at schools, and requiring schools to provide free menstrual hygiene products in restrooms. Pharmacists will be required to notify consumers if lower-cost alternatives are available to fill their prescriptions. And I worked with a broad coalition of stakeholders to pass a bill to ban 12 toxic chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.

Housing

Many Marylanders fear losing their home because of the pandemic. Maryland may become the first state in the nation to grant tenants a right to counsel in specific eviction cases. Ninety-six percent of landlords come to court with a lawyer as opposed to only 1% of tenants. Another bill awaiting the Governor’s signature increases the amount of notice a landlord must give when they plan not to renew a lease. I sponsored a bill with Senator Shelly Hettleman to pave the way for use of reusable tenant screening reports, which will make apartment hunting less expensive.

The House passed other housing relief bills that unfortunately did not make it across the finish line, including to increase the eviction filing fee, to protect tenants in regards to utility billing and withheld security deposits, and to allow tenants who lost income due to COVID to use that as a defense in eviction proceedings.

Education

The legislature overrode the Governor’s veto of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, landmark reforms to ensure that every child receives a world-class education no matter their zip code. With this override, the Built to Learn Act also went into effect, which is the largest one-time investment in school construction in Maryland history. Montgomery County will receive an additional $55-$60 million a year as a result.

Additionally, we passed legislation to address student learning loss, support pregnant and parenting students, prohibit fees for K-12 summer classes, and protect educators with COVID-related medical concerns from being retaliated against.

Other notable education bills on the Governor’s desk include addressing hunger among college students and making it easier to transfer colleges.

Notably, education funding will increase. The General Assembly passed legislation to increase funding for Maryland’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities in order to level the playing field across Maryland institutions of higher education. We reversed the Governor’s proposed budget cuts for community colleges. K-12 public schools will benefit from a 3.5% increase in annual state aid and $600 million in federal stimulus funds for pandemic-related costs.

Environment & Animals

The House and Senate passed numerous bills to address climate change. Although the wide-ranging Climate Solutions Now Act didn’t make it across the finish line, several initiatives from the bill were included in other pieces of legislation that did pass. Bills to plant 5 million trees and to transition the state's fleet of buses to zero-emission vehicles were both sent to the Governor's desk.

We also passed bills to double the capacity for residential rooftop solar and community solar projects and to remove black liquor—a by-product of paper mills—from Maryland's Renewable Portfolio Standard. Montgomery County will also be allowed to proceed with a Community Choice Aggregation program to negotiate greener energy and lower electricity rates. Schools and businesses with cafeterias will be required to start composting food waste.

Several animal protection bills passed this year, including prohibiting organized wildlife killing contests, a ban on testing cosmetics on animals, and closing a loophole in the state’s prohibition on sales of animals from puppy and kitten mills.

Equity

The Speaker of the House championed a “Black agenda” of bills, several of which passed, to improve racial equity in homeownership, health, and economic opportunity.

My legislation to prohibit the use of the ‘panic defense’ passed. No longer can a defendant use a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity as an excuse for the defendant’s violent action. Another bill awaiting the Governor’s signature would strengthen the state’s hate crime law. We also passed a bill to waive the requirement for someone to publish in the newspaper that they seek to change their legal name, which will protect the privacy of transgender Marylanders.

We passed data privacy protections to ensure that the federal government is not accessing Maryland driver’s license data unless they have a warrant; this was a major concern for the immigrant community. We also created a new Office of Immigrant Affairs in the Governor’s Office.

District 17’s own Senator Cheryl Kagan sponsored the bill that repeals our outdated state song, which sympathizes with Confederate motivations.

Voting

Maryland will soon have a new permanent mail-in ballot registry so that voters who always want a ballot mailed to them don’t need to make a request for each election. More than a dozen early voting centers will be added across the state in a newly enacted law and the hours of operation would be expanded to 7 am to 8 pm under another bill. We also passed improvements to voting access for college students, residents of retirement communities, and members of the military and ensured that individuals released from correctional facilities are notified of their restored voting rights. The state’s public financing system was also reformed.

Criminal Justice

After years of attempts, the Maryland Trust Act finally passed. This legislation prevents a police officer from asking about a person’s immigration status or transferring them to an ICE detention center. Part of this legislation was amended into the Dignity Not Detention Act, which bans new private immigration prisons in Maryland.

The House and Senate passed legislation to remove the Governor from parole decisions for those who are sentenced to life in prison; Maryland will now join the majority of states that follow this model. We also passed and overrode a veto to end juvenile life sentences without the possibility of parole and provided compensation for individuals who were erroneously convicted, sentenced, and jailed. Another veto override closes a loophole on background checks for long gun transfers.

Other criminal justice reforms that passed include automatic expungement of certain criminal records that did not result in a conviction after three years and decriminalization of possession of certain drug paraphernalia. The General Assembly passed privacy protections for DNA information (e.g. from ancestry testing services) against unreasonable searches. My legislation to reward whistleblowers who report high dollar tax fraud to the Comptroller’s Office also passed.

Transportation

After a multi-year effort, the General Assembly passed legislation to establish minimum funding levels to keep our public transit in a state of good repair. Maryland has a $2 billion backlog of maintenance projects for our public transportation systems. The House once again passed several bills to put guardrails on the I-270/495 widening project, but the Senate again failed to act on the bills.

Funding

After facing a billion dollar deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the legislature passed a FY 2022 budget that eliminates the structural deficit for the next two years, restores the Rainy Day Fund, and leaves a cash balance to account for unforeseen impacts from COVID.

In total $125 million is coming to our county for capital projects, including schools, parks, and nonprofits. The Montgomery County Delegation secured funds for the completion of Montgomery College’s Leggett Math and Science Building. All of District 17’s funding requests for Interfaith Works and the Cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg were funded, plus an extra $150,000 I was able to secure for Manna Food Center.

Thank You

Even though the legislative session is over, my legislative office will continue to operate, albeit at a reduced capacity. Please reach out if there is anything I can do to assist you with state agencies or to share your opinion. The best way to reach me is julie.palakovichcarr@house.state.md.us.

Julie Palakovich Carr
Delegate, District 17

Wrap Up of the 2020 Legislative Session

Dear resident of District 17,

Given the ongoing public health crisis, I know that the legislative outcomes of the 2020 session of the Maryland General Assembly is not at the forefront of people’s minds.  Consequently, I’ve debated about whether or not to write a traditional end of session letter. In the end, I feel that the need to share information about our state legislature’s deliberations and actions is still warranted.  I hope that my compilation of Maryland’s successes is a welcome distraction.

Public Health and Healthcare

The General Assembly passed emergency legislation that allows the Governor to transfer up to $50 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to address the COVID-19 outbreak.  An additional $100 million was included in the budget we passed to support small business and reopen hospitals.

Another bill we passed allows the Governor to expand healthcare coverage, unemployment benefits, and consumer protections during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  Co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs for COVID–19 testing and immunization will be eliminated. To prevent hospitals and doctors’ offices from becoming overwhelmed, certain telehealth protocols for COVID–19 will be waived to allow more patients to be diagnosed and treated over the phone and online.  In partnership with the federal government, the state is providing unemployment insurance benefits to workers who are temporarily out of work or quarantined due to COVID–19.

We also enshrined key provisions of the Affordable Care Act into state law, including allowing young adults to stay on their parents' plan until they turn 26, eliminating co-pays for certain preventive services, prohibiting health insurance companies from limiting how much they would pay for any individual’s medical bills over a lifetime, and expanding coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions.

Several other public health bills were passed this year, including actions to drive down the cost of prescription drugs, requiring hospitals to provide free medically necessary care to a broader group of Marylanders, providing coverage for in vitro fertilization for unmarried women, requiring schools to administer medical cannabis to students with a prescription, and requiring implicit bias training for medical professionals.

An effort to ban the sale of flavored cigarettes and vaping products passed the House but stalled in the Senate.

Improving Education

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a historic education reform effort based on the recommendations of a blue ribbon panel, passed both chambers.  This is a monumental win for Maryland’s children and future economic growth. It’s built on the principle that every child deserves the best education regardless of their zip code.  This legislation will transform the state’s early childhood, primary, and secondary education system into a world-class system. 

Investments are focused on: 

• Expanding full-day prekindergarten for low-income 3 and 4 year olds and providing more family support centers in high-poverty areas;

• Hiring and keeping high-quality, diverse teachers by paying teachers a salary comparable to other professions, providing more rigorous teacher preparation programs, and implementing career ladders to provide additional opportunities for career advancement;

• Raising the standards for college and career readiness to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow;

• Providing more resources for the students who need them most; and

• Implementing an accountability board to monitor progress and ensure tax-payer funds are being used effectively.

We also passed the largest one-time investment in school construction in Maryland history.  This bill invests an additional $2.2 billion into school construction, on top of current state funding ($400 million per year).  It will help counties across the state build new schools and jumpstart much needed maintenance projects. Montgomery County will receive an additional $55-$60 million in FY 2021 as a result.

Other education bills that passed: a dedicated fund to put the state’s four historically black colleges and universities on the same par as other universities, expansion of Maryland’s promise of free community college, transparency for college students for which courses use free or low cost textbooks, creation of a state ombudsman for special education, and prohibiting lunch shaming of students for unpaid meal debt.

I am hopeful that other education bills that passed one chamber this year will get across the finish line next year, including prohibiting schools from charging fees for summer school, providing free menstrual products in school bathrooms, and giving the Montgomery County Inspector General oversight authority over public schools.

Blueprint Revenues

The first several years of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future are already fully paid for.  For future years, a sizable amount of funding is already committed to the Education Trust Fund because of required contributions by Maryland casinos and from a dedicated portion of taxes collected from online, out of state marketplace facilitators (e.g. Ebay and Amazon).

In addition, a package of revenue generating bills was considered this legislative session, including closing corporate tax loopholes, increasing the tobacco tax, legalizing sports betting, and taxing vaping products, digital products (e.g. music, videos, and apps), online advertising, and services.  Ultimately, we only passed taxes on tobacco, vaping, digital products, and online advertising.

One of my major focuses this session was cleaning up ineffective tax credits.  I was part of a select work group that reviewed business tax credits; our initial recommendations passed the House but not the Senate.  We will continue our work over the interim and come back next year with additional legislation. Meanwhile, my bill to clean up the Opportunity Zone Enhancement Tax Credits was passed; this measure will save the state $400,000 a year.  Another of my successful bills provides for an online database of state-funded economic incentives to ensure transparency.

Closing corporate tax loopholes was another focal point for me this session.  Although most bills did not get traction, a few passed just the House, including my bill to save $16 million a year by decoupling from federal tax breaks for wealthy investors in opportunity zones.  Another notable bill passed by the House would have ended two accounting tricks used by corporations that result in companies not paying their fair share of taxes.

Economic Growth

The General Assembly passed several bills to foster economic growth.  Of special interest to the biotech corridor are two bills to assist small businesses that engage in research or technology development with applying for and leveraging federal Small Business Innovation Research grants and Small Business Technology Transfer grants.

This November, voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on a ballot referendum to legalize sports betting, which could generate roughly $20 million a year for the state.

New protections for workers were passed, including a prohibition on an employer taking adverse actions against an employee for inquiring about their wages.  Several other bills passed only one chamber, including a prohibition on employers using past salary history to determine an employee’s wages, an extension of the time frame to file a discrimination complaint, and an expansion of paid leave to include bereavement.

Environment

Protecting the environment and making progress on climate change continue to be central goals of the General Assembly.  This year, we passed bills to ban the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos and the sale of mattresses and furniture that contain more than 0.1% flame-retardant chemicals; both of these bills will improve public health by preventing exposure to Marylanders to known dangerous substances.

Other environmental protection bills only passed one chamber and could return next session, including lowering the acceptable level of lead in drinking water at schools, banning plastic bags, creating a pilot program for renewable energy choice in Montgomery County, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from food, making state buildings less averse to birds, and banning wildlife killing contests.

Equity

Maryland is a diverse state and it’s important that our laws reflect our diversity.  This year, we repealed sodomy as a crime.  Police will be required to receive training to recognize and respond to a hate crime and another bill makes the display of hate symbols like a noose or swastika on another person’s property a hate crime.  Additionally, we expanded the definition of hate crime to include acts that were motivated in whole or in part because of bias.  We also passed a prohibition on discrimination based on natural hairstyles such as braids and afros.  New hotels will be required to have beds in their accessible rooms that accommodate a bed lift.

Among the bills that passed only one chamber was my bill to prohibit the use of the LGBTQ panic defense, a legal strategy that asks a jury to find the defendant not guilty of a violent crime because of the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.  The House amended the bill to include racial motivations as well. Other bills passed by the House but not the Senate include a prohibition on dicrimination by private schools that take public funding and the creation of a state LGBTQ+ Affairs Commission.

I continue to be an active affiliate member of the Latino Caucus and was named Vice Chair of its Legislative Review Committee.  It’s an honor to serve in this capacity given the diversity of my district.

Transportation

Access to reliable, affordable, and safe transportation continues to be a focal point for me as a member of the Public Transit Caucus.  The legislature passed three notable transportation bills: a pilot program for extending MARC commuter train service into Northern Virginia, requiring pedestrian safety planning for construction projects near a mass transit station, and allowing drivers to pass a bicyclist by driving on the left side of the road in a no-passing zone.

Among the bills that passed one chamber but didn’t become law is one of my bills, which would have required the state to study the expansion of commuter bus service from Frederick and Montgomery Counties into Northern Virginia.  Other bills passed by just the House include addressing the funding shortfall for the Maryland Transportation Authority, requiring a pedestrian safety plan for newly constructed schools, and requiring the state to transition to all electric buses.

Unfortunately none of the reforms proposed for the 270/495 highway widening project will become law this year.  Three bills passed the House, including legislation to codify the promises made by the Administration, reform public-private partnerships, and require the Board of Public Works to approve new tolls.

Elections and Ethics

Many pro-democracy bills were introduced in advance of this year’s elections.  My bill to rename ‘absentee ballots’ to ‘mail-in ballots’ was amended before final passage to include Senator Cheryl Kagan’s bill for postage paid mail-in voting.  These reforms will make it clearer to voters that anyone can vote through the mail and will remove the financial cost to the voter to do so.

We also strengthened the state’s ethics laws with a prohibition on former administration secretaries from lobbying their department for a year after leaving office.  This conforms to similar restrictions in place for elected officials.

Other notable bills that passed one chamber: extending the hours for early voting, my bill to expand paid time off for voting to include early voting and registering to vote at the polls, allowing a gubernatorial candidate to select a running mate after the primary, requiring correctional facilities to provide voter registration and absentee ballot forms to eligible voters, and prohibiting a candidate from using a family member as treasurer.

Unfortunately my bill to prohibit political contributions from foreign-owned companies did not advance.

Justice

Among the successful bills was my legislation to ensure that pretrial risk assessment tools, which assist judges in making bail decisions, are accurate and reliable.  We also passed automatic expungement of older marijuana possession charges.  Female inmates will finally have access to their own pre-release facility to help them transition to life outside of prison.

I also withdrew a bill I introduced that would have withheld state funding for law enforcement agencies that aren’t complying with state laws regarding reporting police use of force.  More than 30 departments were not in compliance as of January, but through outreach, that number was reduced to zero!  (A big thank you to Montgomery County Sheriff Popkin who was instrumental in this effort.)

Many other bills passed the House but not the Senate, including decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana; removing the governor from parole decisions; ending child marriages; limiting immigration enforcement in hospitals, court houses, and public schools; and altering the statute of limitations to file a civil suit for victims of child sexual abuse.

Gun Control

Maryland continues to take sensible steps regarding firearms.  Most notably, we passed a bill to ensure that all gun sales require a background check; currently private rifle and shotgun transfers are not subject to background checks.  Another bill passed by the legislature requires the Office of the Attorney General to collect information and conduct a study on gun crimes committed in the State in order to inform public policymaking.

Two other bills didn’t make it across the finish line, including a bill to increase the penalty for failing to report a lost or stolen gun and a prohibition on public schools from arming teachers.

Odds and Ends

Children will no longer have to pay late fees for overdue library materials.  The Motor Vehicle Administration will no longer be able to suspend a driver’s license because of failure to pay a traffic ticket.  And landlords will no longer be able to discriminate against a potential tenant because they use a housing voucher.

Many of you wrote to me about a bill to prohibit a dog from being kept outside in extreme weather without shelter; that bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate.

Local Funding

Local nonprofits and governments will receive $9.3 million in bond initiatives for capital projects.  Your District 17 delegation secured $150,000 for VisArts in Rockville and helped to retain $1 million for the Gaithersburg police station in the state budget.

Additionally, $20.7 million in school construction and maintenance projects in Montgomery County has been funded, a figure that doesn’t include the new additional funding.  The county will also have longer to repay the state for certain income tax refunds under the Supreme Court’s Wynne ruling.

Thank You

It is an honor to represent you in Annapolis.  Thank you to all of the residents of Gaithersburg and Rockville who contacted my office this session.  Your visits, phone calls, letters, and emails are appreciated. Have questions about topics I didn’t address in this letter?  Please reach out and ask!

Even though the legislative session is over, my legislative office will continue to operate, albeit at a reduced capacity.  Please reach out if there is anything I can do to assist you: julie.palakovichcarr@house.state.md.us and (301) 858-3037.

Best,

Julie Palakovich Carr

Delegate, District 17

Lawmakers Seek to Close Loophole to Stop Foreign-Influenced Corporations From Influencing Maryland Elections

ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 6, 2020) – Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr and Senator Clarence Lam prefiled a bill that would prohibit spending by foreign-influenced corporations in Maryland elections. The bill would require corporations that spend money in Maryland elections to certify that they are not owned in whole or in significant part by foreign entities. 

“At a time when our elections are under attack by foreign governments, Maryland needs to act to ensure that state and local political campaigns are free from foreign influence,” said Delegate Palakovich Carr, who represents District 17 in Montgomery County. “Federal law is clear that foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to political campaigns. This legislation would close a loophole that allows foreign-owned companies to influence elections in Maryland.”

“Marylanders have a right to elections free from the influence of foreign corporate interests. Last session, the General Assembly took the important step of protecting our voting system from foreign ownership. This bill is a natural follow up to that legislation and will ensure that Marylanders can have confidence in the outcome of our state’s elections” said Senator Clarence Lam, who represents District 12, which includes parts of Baltimore and Howard Counties.

The United States has witnessed foreign corporate money flowing into our elections as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which swept away longstanding precedent barring corporate money in our political process. In Seattle, for example, online retail giant Amazon spent $1.5 million in an effort to influence last month’s City Council elections, more than the combined total raised by candidates without Amazon’s backing. More than five percent of Amazon is owned by foreign stakeholders. Similarly, in May 2016, Uber teamed up with fellow ride-hailing service Lyft to drench Austin, Texas in $9 million worth of election spending in the hope of overturning a city law requiring drivers to submit to fingerprint-based criminal background checks. Then, just weeks later, Uber disclosed an unprecedented $3.5 billion investment from the Saudi Arabian government, meaning that the Saudi Kingdom owns more than five percent of the company, along with a seat on its board of directors.

Free Speech For People, a national non-profit public interest organization founded on the day of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, helped to draft the new bill now pending before the Maryland General Assembly. The organization also helped to draft the St. Petersburg, Florida ordinance, the first of its kind in the country, on which the Maryland bill is partially based. “With this key reform bill, Maryland can help lead the way in the fight to reclaim our democracy,” says John Bonifaz, the Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People. 

“Political spending by foreign-influenced corporations threatens American self-government and subverts efforts to prevent corruption and the appearance of corruption,” says Bonifaz. “It is time that we end foreign corporate spending in Maryland elections and that we provide a model for how other states can help safeguard their elections. We applaud the leadership of the state legislators who are sponsoring these bills and standing up for our democracy.”

“This bill will address a major loophole created by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, a loophole that the five Justices in the majority in that ruling never envisioned,” says Ron Fein, the Legal Director of Free Speech For People. “The people of Maryland understand that foreign influence, through any form, has no place in our elections. Concealing such influence via corporate spending presents serious harm to our democracy. We urge Maryland legislators to pass this landmark bill to help protect the integrity of our elections.”

2019 Session Summary

What an exciting year to be a freshman Delegate in the state legislature!  The 90-day session has just concluded with many notable outcomes.  From passing a once-in-a-generation funding increase for education to raising the minimum wage to taking action to address climate change, it’s been a productive legislative session in Annapolis.

Before I recap the legislative work of this session, let me first express my sorrow at the loss of Speaker Mike Busch.  He was the longest serving Speaker in Maryland’s history and espoused the view of “one Maryland”—looking out for the entire state’s interests.  He will be greatly missed.

And a note about the legislative process: any bills that were passed by both the House and Senate are awaiting signature—or possibly veto—by the Governor.  Any bills that only passed one chamber will not become law this year.

Education

This was a momentous year for Maryland’s students, teachers, and families.  The General Assembly passed the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, legislation that begins to implement the recommendations of the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (aka the Kirwan Commission).  The bill provides an additional investment of $255 million for next year.  This historic level of funding will be used to expand access to pre-Kindergarten for low-income families, to increase funding for special education programs and schools with concentrated poverty, and to begin to raise teacher salaries to be more in line with comparable professions.

We also overturned a veto to return control of school year calendars to local school boards.  I was proud to co-sponsor legislation passed by the General Assembly to provide an additional $100,000 for grants for student programs in robotics and another bill to address lead in drinking water in schools.  The House of Delegates passed legislation that would have doubled funding for school construction in Montgomery County; this would have been the largest one-time investment in school construction in Maryland’s history, but the Senate did not act upon the bill.

Transportation

The Governor’s proposed widening of I-270 and I-495 has been on the minds of many Montgomery County residents.  The Maryland Department of Transportation continues to rush the planning for a public-private partnership even though the environmental impact studies have not been completed.  The House took two actions to try to slow down the project, including a budget amendment that urges the withdrawal of the public-private partnership program pre-solicitation report until the completion of the federally-required environmental study.  The House also passed HB 1091, which would reform the process for the state to enter into a public-private partnership valued at more than $500 million.  The Senate did not pass either provision.

My bill to enact a statewide roadway safety program called Vision Zero was passed.  Vision Zero sets a goal of no traffic deaths or serious injuries by 2030; typically about 550 people die on Maryland’s roads each year.  The enactment of this bill is an important step in reducing pedestrian, bicyclist, and vehicle fatalities and will be accomplished by improving infrastructure.

I joined the new Public Transit Caucus to help advocate for public transportation.

Children and Families

To make quality childcare more accessible for all families, the General Assembly increased the child and dependent care tax credit so that more middle-class families can qualify; under the expanded program, single filers with incomes up to $92,000 and joint filers making up to $143,000 will qualify for a tax credit from the state.  We also passed legislation to increase childcare subsidy rates for low-income families.  As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I am so proud that these reforms passed.

A bill passed to provide extra SNAP benefits in summer months for low-income families with children.  I also co-sponsored a bill that passed that will require diaper-changing facilities in all restrooms in public buildings and places of public accommodation so that moms and dads are able to change their baby.  Lastly, I co-sponsored legislation to create paid family insurance in Maryland, but that bill did not advance.

To assist seniors, we established a new grant program to help seniors to age in place.  We also passed legislation that allows local governments to offer a property tax credit to elderly residents after a certain number of years of residency.

Fight for $15

Maryland became the 5th state to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025.  This means that 22% of Maryland’s workforce will get a pay raise.  The state’s minimum wage is currently $10.10 an hour, although it’s higher in Montgomery County.  I’ll readily admit that it wasn’t a perfect bill: no indexing for inflation, practically nothing to address tipped workers, and less-than-optimal reimbursement rates for caregivers.  But I’m glad that the General Assembly overcame the Governor’s veto to enact this important policy reform to help the lowest-income workers.

Health

In the wake of federal efforts to undermine Obamacare, the General Assembly took several actions to protect Marylanders’ health.  HB 697 protects Marylanders with pre-existing conditions in the event that the Supreme Court overturns the protections provided in the Affordable Care Act.  Another piece of legislation will ensure the continued stabilization of the health insurance market.  We’re also making it easier for uninsured residents to enroll in free or low-cost health insurance coverage by adding a checkbox on state income tax returns to determine eligibility.

Legislation was once again introduced to allow terminally ill patients to have the ability to make the choice of how and when they wish to end their life.  Although the aid in dying bill passed the House, it failed in a tied vote in the Senate.

The minimum age to buy cigarettes will be raised from 18 to 21 years of age.  By reducing teens’ access to smoking, we can reduce addiction rates, premature deaths, and associated healthcare costs.

To address the opioid crisis, we passed legislation to create a special fund for treatment and recovery programs for any money received from a legal judgement or settlement against an opioid manufacturer.  Maryland will also begin offering medication-assisted treatment to inmates in all local jails who are suffering from opiate use disorder; this population is 10 times more likely to overdose than the general public.

Several bills were passed to address the skyrocketing price of prescription drugs, including the creation of a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to study how to limit prescription prices purchased by health plans that serve state and county employees, requiring insurers to accept prior authorizations for prescriptions, and prohibiting insurers from making formulary changes during a plan year.

Gun Control

The House and Senate passed commonsense legislation to require background checks during the private sale of rifles and shotguns; unfortunately the differences between the two versions were not worked out before the end of session.  Two other gun control bills were passed by the House, but not the Senate: to ban the creation, sale, or possession of a 3D-printed gun and to prohibit a school district from spending money to arm a teacher with a gun.

Environment

Maryland is the first state to ban polystyrene food containers and cups because of their negative impacts to human health and the environment.  Legislation to address climate change by setting a goal of 50% renewable energy use by 2030 passed on the final day of the session.  Another bill that we passed preserves important antibiotics for human use, instead of being overused in the livestock industry.  We also passed several bills—and overcame a veto by the Governor—to restore oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, whose populations are at an all-time low.  The House passed a ban on the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos—which has no safe level in food or drinking water—but the Senate did not pass the bill.  Another bill to provide more review of new fossil fuel pipelines into the state did not advance.

Justice

Several notable bills advanced to try to make Maryland a more equitable state.  We passed legislation that will allow a gender-neutral option on driver’s licenses; Maryland will become the 6th state with this option.  We also prohibited employers from asking a job applicant about their prior criminal record (“ban the box”).  The House passed a bill to prohibit a state or local government employee from asking about a person’s immigration status unless that information is required to be collected under federal law.

I was the floor leader for legislation that requires corporations and large non-profits to report the number of women serving on their boards; the bill passed both chambers.  We also addressed the backlog of rape kits that have been sitting on shelves for years in police stations around the state.  A new grant program will help to pay for the testing of rape kits and another bill requires the kits to be tested.

We created the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address the history of lynching in Maryland.  I joined the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus and was named part of the Legislative Review Committee.  A bill to remove the statute of limitations to file a civil suit for victims of child sexual abuse passed the House but did not advance in the Senate.

Election Reforms

Easy access to voting is at the heart of democracy.  This year, the General Assembly implemented the directive from voters to have same-day voter registration.  The bills I sponsored to create a permanent absentee ballot list and to change the name of “absentee ballots” to “vote-by-mail ballots” unfortunately did not advance.

Funding for Local Programs

Montgomery County will receive an additional 7% in state aid for transportation, education, libraries, and public safety.  The District 17 delegation was successful in securing $150,000 for Manna Food to expand their freezers so they can increase their capacity to distribute healthy foods to hungry families.  Sunflower Bakery received $75,000 so that they can grow their physical space and their capacity for employment training for people with developmental disabilities.  The City of Gaithersburg received $1 million toward its new police station.  Other Rockville and Gaithersburg non-profits that received funding include EveryMind and Montgomery County Humane Society.

My Initiatives

In addition to my Vision Zero bill (see Transportation), I had two other bills that passed.  HB 285 allows municipalities to assess a hotel tax on small hotels and short-term vacation rentals and will allow Gaithersburg and Rockville to generate additional revenues to pay for local services.  HB 809 fixes a tax issue faced by a local business that is unfairly being taxed by the Comptroller’s Office as a “telephone answering service” because they employ a receptionist.  My bill to establish an angel investor tax credit to leverage additional funding for startup companies did not advance this year.

Thank you!

Thank you to all of the residents of Gaithersburg and Rockville who contacted my office this session.  Your visits, phone calls, letters, and emails are appreciated.  Have questions about topics I didn’t address in this letter?  Please reach out and ask!

Even though the legislative session is over, my legislative office will continue to operate year-round.  Please do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything I can do to assist you.  You can reach me at julie.palakovichcarr@house.state.md.us and (301) 858-3037.

Best,

Julie Palakovich Carr

Delegate, District 17

P.S. I’m still accepting applications for my Delegate Scholarship until April 30.  Any District 17 student who is accepted to or currently attending a community college, undergraduate, or graduate program is eligible to apply.  Contact my office for details on how to apply.

Delegate Scholarship Funds Available

Applications are now being accepted for the Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr scholarship. The scholarship is open to residents of Maryland's 17th Legislative District (Gaithersburg and Rockville) who are full-time or part-time students at a community college, undergraduate, or graduate institution located in Maryland.

The scholarship will be awarded based on financial need.

Applications are due no later than April 30, 2019. Please see the application for more details.

We Did It!

I'm delighted to be joining Cheryl Kagan, Kumar Barve, and Jim Gilchrist as part of the state legislative team for District 17. Thank you to the residents of Gaithersburg and Rockville for the opportunity to serve!

I'm ready to hit the ground running. My legislative aide will be Cameron Rhode, who is a resident of Gaithersburg, a freshly minted biologist, a longtime participant of local politics, and fluent in Spanish. I also prepping my first bills for introduction come January, including bills to improve transportation safety, make childcare facilities safer, and increase transparency on lethal use of force by police.

This new opportunity means that I'll be leaving the Rockville City Council, but I plan to stay on the Council until I'm sworn in as a Delegate in the second week of January.  The timing of my departure means that my seat will be filled by an appointment process.  (I can hear the collective groans, but hear me out.)   According to the City Charter, a majority of the "remaining" members of the body need to vote in the affirmative for my replacement (i.e. three votes).  I won't get to vote on my replacement and the Mayor does not get to appoint the person.  I've authored code changes that would ensure that this process is open, transparent, and fair.  These amendments are currently working their way through the public process.  An official announcement will be issued by the City soon with more details about the application process.

And last but not least, I want to thank Delegate Andrew Platt for his service over the past four years.  He was a leader of the inaugural class of progressive delegates, a group whose work will continue in the coming years.

Thank you again for this opportunity!

It's National Voter Registration Day!

Today is National Voter Registration Day! Double check that you are registered to vote and that your address is up-to-date.

Maryland residents can check their status at https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/votersearch.

If you live elsewhere in the U.S., you can check your status at https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/.

Immigrants and Seniors Aren't the 'Trouble' in MoCo

Julie submitted a letter to the editor of the Washington Post in response to a recent editorial that characterized the "economic trouble" facing Montgomery County, including "A burgeoning population of retirees, immigrants and other less affluent residents has strained local resources and budgets."

Seniors and immigrants aren't a 'trouble' in MoCo; they are part of the reason why this is a great place to live. Our community is stronger and more vibrant for being the diverse place that it is.

The County government doesn’t get to choose who lives here. Every government’s job is to provide the best opportunities it can for the people who have chosen to call that place home, regardless of their age, nationality, or income.

Four More Endorsements

Four more organizations have endorsed Julie: the Latino Democratic Club, the Montgomery County National Organization for Women, the Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO, and Progressive Maryland.

“We in Montgomery County are blessed to have so many qualified residents running for elected office — truly an embarrassment of riches. The Latino Democratic Club believes it is crucial that candidates vying to represent our diverse County understand the issues facing the Latino community. From the continuation of our high-quality public education to the sustained support of small business owners and defense of our immigrant communities, it is important that we understand where the candidates stand,” says Luisa Arevalo, president of the Latino Democratic Club.

Montgomery County National Organization for Women advocates for reproductive rights, protections for violence against women, ending racism, and other issues affecting women.

The Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO is comprised of over 700 affiliated local unions.

Progressive Maryland works to advance economic, racial, and environmental equity, especially for traditionally marginalized groups: low- and moderate-income residents, people of color, women, and LGBTQ+.

Baltimore Sun Releases Voter Guide

As part of its coverage of the 2018 elections, the Baltimore Sun has released a voter guide that covers the races for Congress, statewide offices, and the General Assembly. The guide asked each candidate 12 in depth policy questions on issues ranging from education to the opioid crisis to gerrymandering.

Read Julie's responses.

News Coverage of Campaign Announcement

"Rockville City Council Member To Run for Delegate"

Bethesda Magazine

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2017/Rockville-City-Council-Member-To-Run-for-Delegate/

"Palakovich Carr Running for House of Delegates"

My MC Media

http://www.mymcmedia.org/palakovich-carr-running-for-house-of-delegates/

Rockville Directs Its Police Officers to Steer Clear of Immigration Enforcement

The Rockville City Council approved an ordinance restricting police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities or asking residents about citizenship status.

The “Fostering Community Trust” ordinance codifies existing Rockville police force practices that are designed to keep local law enforcement at arms length from deportation and other federal actions that spawn fear in immigrant communities.

The ordinance was sponsored by Julie Palakovich Carr.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/rockville-directs-its-police-officers-to-steer-clear-of-immigration-enforcement/2017/06/21/410eb664-568d-11e7-a204-ad706461fa4f_story.html?utm_term=.7c7406035422

Rockville Bans Smoking in Outdoor Restaurants

Legislation to ban smoking in outdoor dining areas in Rockville was passed the City Council.  The bill was sponsored by Julie Palakovich Carr.

Rockville became the second city in Maryland to pass such legislation and is the first jurisdiction in the DC-metropolitan area to ban smoking in outdoor seating areas at restaurants.

"I think this is an important step for public health in Rockville," said Palakovich Carr.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-news/rockville-council-votes-to-make-outdoor-dining-and-drinking-smoke-free/2017/05/22/c04bb0be-3f07-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html?utm_term=.938c1665638d

Mayor and Council Host Town Hall on Diversity

Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr called for a town hall meeting on diversity.  The public event is intended to be a forum to discuss ways for the city to be even more welcoming of its diverse population.

“This is our community; these are our neighbors and coworkers and children’s classmates,” she said of the city’s diverse population. “It’s in our best interest if we can all be working together and hearing each other out respectfully and trying to make Rockville an even better place to live and work.”

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2017/Rockville-To-Host-Town-Hall-on-Diversity/

http://www.rockvilleview.com/mayor-and-council-host-town-hall-on-diversity/

City Council Passes Resolution on Diversity

Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr authored a resolution celebrating Rockville's diversity.  The resolution was adopted at the November 14, 2016 Mayor and Council meeting.

An excerpt of the resolution follows:

Whereas, all Americans—regardless of gender, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and disability—deserve equal protection under the law;

Now, therefore the Mayor and Council of Rockville hereby recognize and celebrate our city’s vibrant diversity and call upon elected officials at all levels of government to recognize that our nation is stronger because of this diversity and call upon them to strive for policies and laws that promote equality and inclusion.

http://www.rockvilleview.com/mayor-and-council-take-strong-action-for-inclusion/

Julie Recognized as Leading Woman in Maryland

The Annapolis Daily Record recognized Julie Palakovich Carr as one of its 2016 Leading Women.

“The Daily Record’s 2016 Leading Women are truly inspirational. Their professional accomplishments, community involvement and commitment to inspiring change exemplifies why they are being singled out for this statewide award,” said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, publisher of The Daily Record. “They excel to high levels professionally and personally, and The Daily Record congratulates them on this award.”

http://thedailyrecord.com/2016/10/06/the-daily-record-announces-its-2016-leading-women/