The work doesn’t end when the bill is signed.
No question about that with the slots bill because it’s on referendum. Regardless of the outcome in November, many provisions of the bill took effect on October 1.
Money will now be provided for economic and community development in the Park Heights neighborhoods north and south of Pimlico race track through Fiscal Year 2032. The end date was FY 2027, before Delegate Nathaniel Oaks and I, along with our 40th and 41st District colleagues, had the law amended at the special session.
That means an additional $90 million for these communities, estimates the General Assembly’s Department of Legislative Services.
Expansion of early childhood education is now a permitted use of the Education Trust Fund. Senator Bill Ferguson and I have proposed a “Race to the Tots,” a competitive grant program for local school districts to submit a voluntary pre-kindergarten expansion plan.
The justification is in the numbers. In 2011, Maryland children who entered kindergarten from public pre-K were better prepared for school than those who remained at home with a parent/relative. Eighty- three percent (83%) from public pre-K were assessed as fully ready versus 72% fully ready from home-only settings.
The Task Force to Study the Renovation and Repair Needs of Senior Homeowners was created by House Bill 991. This summer, we’ve been hearing from providers about the problems seniors face in maintaining their homes and accessing needed assistance.
Last week, Ken Gelula, Executive Director of CHAI: Comprehensive Housing Assistance Inc., and I met with Housing Secretary Ray Skinner to discuss legislation and capital programs that would further the work of the Task Force.
Finally, the Maryland Department of Transportation has recommended that the U.S. subsidiary of SNCF, the French national railroad, not be awarded a MARC commuter railroad contract because another company made a superior bid.
Under the bill that I introduced, SNCF was required to submit documents to the Maryland Archivist about its role in transporting Jews and others to the German border, en route to the Nazi concentration camps.
A crucial question remains unanswered. What contribution will these documents make to our knowledge and understanding of what took place in Vichy France during World War II?
I am working on finding an independent historian to make that assessment.
