Happening This Month:
There are a couple notable bills that were introduced this week for consideration in November.
MINIMUM WAGE (CB82-2021)
Over the past few years, stakeholders debated a new state-wide minimum wage, which discussion ended up with a compromise that the State legislature passed last year. But this is Howard County, and there’s always more room to hurt businesses, residents, and our economy. This month the Council will take action on a bill to increase the county minimum wage higher and faster than the rest of the state. If you own a business, be ready for yet another increase in costs. If you work a part time job at close to minimum wage, including teenagers and retirees, this is the type of thing that eliminates your job entirely. I will be opposing this bill.
POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY BOARD (CB83-2021)
I do not yet have all the details on this because the Administration has never discussed it with the Council. What I do know is that we already have a civilian board working with our law enforcement agencies. That board doesn't handle misconduct complaints because it's not appropriate for a civilian board. It appears that this new proposed board will consist of civilians with no particular legal or investigative expertise, all of whom will be appointed by a County Executive. This board will be reviewing misconduct complaints and appointing other civilian members to charging committees and trial boards affecting the careers and reputations of our law enforcement officers. After reviewing the bill, please contact our office with any information you would like to share.
All current legislation can be found on the Council Website, where you can also sign up to Testify virtually or in person. Click the button for the Legislative Public Hearing and then select the bill for which you would like to testify.
Highlights From This Week's Legislative Session:
AGRICULTURAL LAND PRESERVATION
The Council unanimously approved entry of two properties into the Agricultural Land Preservation Program (ALPP). The first property is 127 acres and is the largest eligible property that was not already in preservation. It is part of several hundred acres owned by the Dickey Family along Forsythe Rd. The property will be owned and farmed by the Sharp family which has 11 other properties in preservation. The second is a 24-acre farm on Jennings Chapel Rd.
APFO WAIVER AND TAX CREDIT FOR SUBSIDIZED HOUSING (ROSLYN RISE)
I voted against these requests. I do not support having a waiver system that allows subsidized housing to circumvent the mechanism that manages development against school and road capacity. When it comes to those variables, the county should not have different rules for market rate and subsidized housing projects.
BUILDING CODES AND ALL ELECTRIC HOMES
The effort to force all new home construction to be electric-only (no more natural gas or propane for heating, cooking, fireplaces or generators) failed. Your many emails and calls made a difference. Even though most of our electricity remains coal-generated, and heating your house with electric is inefficient and expensive, I expect this will come back sooner than we would like.
SCHOOL SYSTEM CAPITAL PROGRAM
I was the sole vote against the annual update of the HCPSS capital plan because another $90M in projects was inserted in front of the much-needed Turf Valley school. The entire region around Turf Valley has the highest utilization in the county and this school must get built without further delay.
