5 Proposals From Comptroller Franchot's Perry Hall Visit

Met with applause and often audible approval from the crowd, spoke to the Thursday night.  

Read Patch's from the meeting .

Among Franchot's proposals for state and county government were the following:

• Stop the tax cuts for casinos and slots, while increasing taxes for businesses and individuals. Vote against Question 7: "It's an act of political corruption ... The current program doesn't work."
• Put a two-year freeze on all state taxes and fees: "My solution is to link arms and have a moratorium on tax increases and figure out how spending can be reduced and the product improved ... That's what we need and we've done it before. There's a common sense consensus for that."
• Air condition all Baltimore County schools: "For some reason ... one of the richest counties in the state ... almost half of all the classrooms don't have air conditioning ... these classrooms are as hot as ovens." He added, "You guys got to join the rest of the state ... I got a lot of gobbledygook from them about how expensive it is ... they could if they wanted to ... just like how they air condition the offices of every elected official in the state."
• Begin the school year after Labor Day: "[Summer vacation] is what makes life worth living ... spending time with kids and grandkids."
• Refocus state government on customer service, and serving private sector business: "You have to be responsive ... you have to be fair ... if we had more of that in state government and county government, the state would not have the disappointing business relationship we have." He added, "I'm not sure how Maryland got into this habit of treating the private sector like it's interrupting our lunch break."

Dennis M. Robinson, Jr., PHIA president, called the comptroller's statements a "breath of fresh air."

Do you agree or disagree with Franchot's proposals? Do you feel like his ideas are realistic? Tell us in the comments.