It has been an incredibly busy week of hearings and deliberations! I really do miss seeing all of you and my colleagues in person! The virtual setting has been hard on morale, but we are still in the office and holding virtual office hours for you regularly. PLEASE visit us! You can sign up here………

Several pieces of legislation have started to move through their respective House committees. My bill to improve educational outcomes for foster youth in the educational system and the bill to require child care centers and family daycare centers to facilitate screenings for Developmental Disabilities in children under 3 years of age have both received favorable reports from subcommittees and will be on the House Floor very soon! Both of these bills are so important to the long-term success of our kids and I couldn’t be more grateful for the support of my colleagues to get them passed. We will begin meeting in-person on the Floor to move legislation on February 8th. As with everything else I do this session, you can follow along in real-time! ( Does this remind anyone else of Truman TV?) We have also been posting ALL of my hearings and many briefings and meetings on my Delegate Facebook page and Twitter page to make it super simple for everyone to keep up with the news in Annapolis. If you find this helpful, give us a thumbs up!

Please don’t hesitate to reach out. I miss talking to live people!
 
I do want to mention that the best way to let me know your thoughts is to attend virtual office hours. The second best is to write a personal email. Please do not send ONE CLICK POLITICS mass emails. We have discovered that the vast majority of those are not authentic. I even received one from myself on an issue that I don’t agree with! Because my office prides itself on replying to EVERY email and call that I get, we will not be reading ONE CLICK POLITICS emails any longer. Of the roughly 1,000 we replied to over the week, about 700 people replied back saying they had never sent that email or signed up to send that email. Poor Corey! If you really care about an issue please take a minute to email me personally. Thank you!  
Please Sign Up to Meet During my Office Hours
I had my first virtual office hour meeting on Tuesday and hope to continue seeing my constituents throughout session. Please sign up on this form by Monday at noon to be scheduled for a Tuesday meeting.

You are always invited to send my office an email or call about any issue, concern, or question you have.
Broadband Grant Project Update
In last week's newsletter, I was happy to announce that Baltimore County expanded their application for the Broadband Grant Project by 200 homes, bringing the total up to 828 in the Northwest area of the county. On Monday I was happy to submit a letter to the Governor's Office of Rural Broadband supporting this project. These grants will be awarded by the end of February.
Vaccine Update
This morning I was a part of a briefing by Baltimore County Health Director Dr. Gregory Branch. Baltimore County will continue to work through Tiers 1A and 1B as quickly as supply allows. Please make sure you register with the county to be contacted when you become eligible to set up an appointment for the vaccine. If you are unable to sign up on the form you can also call 311 or the Department of Aging at 410-887-3816.
Baltimore County's Re-Opening Plan for Youth Sports
Starting effective Monday, February 1 amateur sports events, including high school, youth, and/or recreational games, clinics, and skills sessions, scrimmage and practices may restart.

Outdoor Sports: Attendance at organized amateur sports events held outdoors is limited to players, referees and/or officials, trainers, coaches, staff, and ONE parent or guardian per participant. No additional spectators are allowed.

Indoor Sports: Attendance at organized amateur events held at any facility is limited to 50-percent of that facility's maximum occupancy with no more than 50 people permitted per activity area. Attendance is limited to players, referees and/or officials, trainers, coaches, staff and, one parent or guardian per participant.

Face coverings are required at all times for players who are not in the field of play, referees and/or officials, trainers, coaches, staff, and parents and guardians in attendance.

Face coverings are strongly recommended for all players engaged in the field of play. Social distancing is required for all participants not in the field of play.

Player and attendee logs are required to be maintained to assist with contact tracing.

Out of state sporting events and tournaments remain prohibited.

Baltimore County Recreation and Parks' Spring Sports Season is set to begin on schedule on March 1, 2021.
The Hearings Keep Coming!
My schedule of bill hearings is not going to lighten up any time soon. In fact, I have four more bills to be heard this coming week. Keep an eye out for live-stream links on my Facebook and Twitter Pages to watch the meetings I participate in.
To sign up for written or oral testimony on any bills create a MyMGA account on the Maryland General Assembly website. Two business days before the bill's hearing you can sign up between 10 am and 3 pm. Please contact my office if you are planning to provide testimony for any of my bills or have any questions.
HB 418 - County Board of Education - Symbols of Hate - Policy
This bill will be heard Friday, February 5 in Ways and Means
I am very excited that our push had resulted in Baltimore County Public School adopting a policy banning hate symbols, but the work is not complete. We need this ban state-wide.
HB 458 - Program Open Space - Local Projects - Visitor Behavior Policies
This bill will be heard Wednesday, February 3 in Environment and Transportation
This bill would add the requirement to any Program Open Space application that jurisdictions include a local policy of best practices for stewardship of our natural park areas and a plan to educate members of the public and park/trail users of this policy. The bill stemmed from local concerns regarding litter and damage to natural areas along the NCR Trail. This bill would require counties to create policies to share with visitors explaining sustainable and ethical behavior in parks.
HB 493 - Election Law - Voting Locations - Accessibility by Public Transportation and Voters with Disabilities
This bill will be heard Tuesday, February 2 in Ways and Means
This bill would require that ballot box locations, early voting centers, and voting centers located within a certain distance of public transportation be prioritized over those without access whenever possible. Additionally, ballot drop boxes must be accessible for all voters and from a wheelchair.
HB 439 - Institute for Innovation and Implementation - Pregnant, Expecting, and Parenting Students - Data Collection and Report
This bill will be heard Wednesday, February 3 in Ways and Means
This is another companion bill to HB 401, which was heard on Wednesday, January 27. This bill would help create a model study for data collection by the Maryland Institute for Innovation and Implementation.
Four More Hearings and Updates on my Bills
I now have 18 bills filed with two more still in drafting! Needless to say, my office has had a very busy start to the 2021 session. This past week's agenda included four more bill hearings along with updates on bills that have already been introduced to committees.
HB 401 - Public Schools - Pregnant and Parenting Students - Policies and Reports
HB 359 - Maryland Longitudinal Data System - Student Data - Pregnant and Parenting Students
I had tremendous support for HB 401 and am so thankful for these great groups that submitted testimony and signed on in support: NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland; the Maryland Women's Legislative Caucus; Maryland Coalition to Reform School Discipline; ACLU Maryland; Advocates for Children and Youth; The ARC Maryland; Attendance Works; Bmore Awesome, Inc.; The Choice Program at UMBC; Community Law in Action; Disability Rights Maryland; Family League of Baltimore; Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council; Maryland Office of the Public Defender; Open Society Institute Baltimore; Positive Schools Center; Project HEAL at Kennedy Krieger Institute; Public Justice Center; Restorative Counseling Service; Schools Not Jails; Strong Schools Maryland; University of Baltimore School of Law Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts; Youth, Education and Justice Clinic at University of Maryland Carey School of Law; Maryland Family Network; Women's Law Center of Maryland; Women's Democratic Club of Montgomery County; Associated Catholic Charities; and dozens more!
HB 392 - Child Care Centers - Early Childhood Screening and Assistance
I am thrilled to let you know that this bill had its hearing on Wednesday and on Thursday the Early Childhood Subcommittee already voted to move the bill to the full committee for a vote!

This was another bill with tremendous support and I'd like to thank The ARC Maryland; Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council; Disability Rights Maryland; Advocates for Children and Youth; Maryland Association for the Education of Young Children; Kennedy Krieger Institute; Kid's Campus Early Learning Center in Calvert County; Brookes Publishing; the Baltimore Jewish Council; and more for their testimony in support of this bill.
HB 474 - Income Tax Credit - Wineries and Vineyards - Sunset Extension
I am happy to support legislation that will help Maryland's Winery and Vineyard Industry continue to grow and thrive. Since this tax credit was put in place in 2012 the Maryland Wine Industry has nearly doubled with more wineries being developed. The return on investment of this tax credit is 130% annually for the state of Maryland, not even including the benefit of the jobs created by the wineries and related economic impacts of tourism.