Delegate Eric Bromwell Supports Bipartisanship

In his fourth state of the state address to the Maryland General Assembly, Governor Larry Hogan emphasized that a bipartisan working relationship was the way to get things done to make Maryland and the lives of its citizens better.

Hogan credited the Assembly with helping him enact balanced budgets, cutting taxes for veterans, and police officers, and realize nearly all of the highest priority transportation projects in every jurisdiction.

The Governor described the state of the state as generally good. Although the state has added 110,000 jobs over the past four years, the rate of job growth - 4.24% - is behind the national average of 4.99%. He emphasized that Maryland is fourth among the 50 states for entrepreneurship business growth.

Hogan cited as one of his goals his desire to shield Marylanders from higher taxes under the new federal tax law. Governor Hogan vowed that every penny of the overage would be given back to the state's taxpayers. In order to do that, Maryland's state tax law has to be revised during this session. I, along with House and Senate leaders, support revamping the state tax code to accommodate a return of this money to the taxpayers.

And, of course as Chairman of the House Opioid Workgroup, I am committed to working with the Governor as we continue the battle against the opioid epidemic that claims more lives every year. Opioid overdose deaths affect all ages from pre-teens to senior citizens, all economic levels from the top to the bottom, and all geographical regions from urban to suburban to rural areas. In my opinion, this epidemic is a public health threat not seen since the influenza epidemic, nearly 100 years ago.

In the area of education, the Governor said he would invest a record $6.5 billion in K-12 education and $365 million in school construction. He urged passage of his education proposals: the Protect Our Students Act of 2018, which requires tougher educational accountability standards, and the Accountability Act of 2018, which establishes an independent Education Monitoring Unit to evaluate school accountability in various areas and report findings annually to the State Board of Education, the Governor, and the General Assembly.

Calling public safety one of the major duties of government, the Governor said he will introduce legislation to pass tougher minimum sentences against violent criminals who use guns as well as repeat violent offenders. In addition, he will propose a measure to strengthen the state's gang laws and the RICO statute to expand the list of gang crimes that can be prosecuted across jurisdictional boundary lines.

Like governor Hogan, I continue to push for more bipartisanship. By leaving our political parties at the door, we were able to pass model legislation, already being copied in other states, to help address the opioid crisis in Maryland. This was a 100% bipartisan effort that quite frankly, wouldn’t have happened had we made it a partisan fight. District 8 has the strongest history of bipartisanship in the State, something that is evident in the ability of your Delegates and Senator to work together to get things done.

As always, I look forward to working in the best interests of the 8th Legislative District and always welcome input from you on how best to reach that goal. With that in mind, please do not hesitate to contact me regarding these or any other issues of importance to you. I can be reached on my cellular phone at (443) 690-4044 or by e-mail at eric@ericbromwell.com