Saqib Ali's Annapolis Report 2/26/2008
Dear Friends,
Maryland's annual 90-day legislative session in Annapolis has reached its midway point. I have been working very hard on numerous initiatives. I believe the remaining 45 days will be decisive in making progress for our state on numerous fronts.
Maryland's annual 90-day legislative session in Annapolis has reached its midway point. I have been working very hard on numerous initiatives. I believe the remaining 45 days will be decisive in making progress for our state on numerous fronts.
At the bottom of this email I have included an extensive list of legislation I am working on this session. Please browse through it and feel free to read the actual text of the bills by clicking on the bill number. Keep in mind that bills are simply proposed laws. Just because a bill is proposed doesn't mean that it will become law. In fact only about one third of all proposals become law.
As the second half of the 2008 session begins, I will have many challenging decisions to make as Delegate. To help me make wise decisions, I need to hear from you, my constituents, neighbors and friends. Please contact me about your stance on issues & legislation of concern to you, so that I can be the best representative possible.
It is a great honor to represent the people of District 39. Over the coming weeks, I will keep you up-to-date on my efforts here in Annapolis. Please read my blog which can be found at my website: www.SaqibAli.org. I'll try to update it as often as possible.
Sincerely,
-
(301) 685-3407
www.SaqibAli.org
Number | ||
| The Unattended Child Protection Act: Creating Maryland's first ever child neglect statute, covering crimes against children which do not rise to the level of child abuse. Read more here. | ||
| The No Nooses Act: Prohibiting the placement of a noose on someone's property for the purpose of racial intimidation. Read more here. | ||
| The Wireless Telephone Billing Change Notification Act: Forcing cell phone companies to send a written receipt to customers within 10 days after any change in monthly billing fee. Read more here. | ||
| The Malfunctioning Traffic Light Act: Requiring drivers to treat a broken or malfunctioning traffic light as a four-way stop sign. Read more here. | ||
| The Plastic Card Security Act: Forcing retailers to expunge data collected on credit-card swipe machines within 48 hours of the sales transaction. | ||
| The Consumer Loyalty Card Privacy Act: Preventing supermarkets from selling customers' detailed purchasing history (as recorded by supermarket "Club Cards" or "Bonus Cards") to marketers. Read more here. | ||
| Preventing the use of the Program Open Space environmental fund to replace natural grass fields with Astroturf. | ||
| The Special Legislative Session Campaign Finance Reform Act: Prohibiting state-level elected officials from accepting campaign contributions during Special Sessions of the legislature. Read more here. | ||
| Allocating $150,000 in matching funds to buy advanced medical equipment for the MCC Medical Clinic in Silver Spring. | ||
| Expanding the 6% sales tax to "medically unnecessary" cosmetic procedures hopefully to offset the repeal of the 2007 Computer Services Tax. | ||
| Preventing drivers from getting double-ticketed in a very short time by speed-cameras. | ||
| Creating new safety standards for vehicles using a trailer-hitch to pull another vehicle or a trailer. | ||
| The Radio Frequency Identification Chip Insertion Prevention Act: Preventing employers from implanting radio frequency identification (RFID) chips into employees' bodies. Read more here. | ||
| The Truth in Advertising Real-Estate Taxes Act: Requiring realtors to disclose the actual amount a buyer will pay in property taxes after purchasing a home. Read more here. | ||
| Patient Referrals for Radiation Therapy Services: Expanding access to cancer radiation therapy by allowing a larger set of medical facilities to administer the treatment. Read more here. | ||
| Preventing credit card companies from changing loan terms without having the borrowers signed consent. | ||
| Requiring that the public school system be notified when a nonpublic-school student is arrested. | ||
| Increasing the severity of punishment to providing a minor with alcohol from a fine to a misdemeanor crime (jail time). | ||
| Requiring the disclosure of large contributions to campaigns for state-wide ballot initiatives. | ||
| Requiring principals to report multiply suspended students to the county school superintendant for a remedial action plan. | ||
| Suspending minors' drivers licenses if convicted of graffiti. | ||
| Repealing the computer services tax which passed during the 2007 special legislative session as part of a larger compromise. | ||
| Establishing a fund in each county for a residential drug abuse treatment program. | ||
| Allowing the prosecution of drug traffickers for having drug-money up to $10,000. | ||
| Allocating $1,000,000 in matching funds for the Montgomery General Hospital Emergency Room. | ||
| Repealing the computer services tax which passed during the 2007 special legislative session as part of a larger compromise. | ||
| Allocating $1,000,000 in matching funds for an Up-county senior citizens center in Gaithersburg. | ||
| Allocating $1,000,000 in matching funds for the Bioscience Education Center in Germantown. | ||
| Allocating $250,000 in matching funds for the Plum Gar Neighborhood Recreation Center in Germantown. | ||
| Requiring that court orders circumscribing parental rights of a member of the US military deployed overseas apply only temporarily until that deployment is complete. | ||
| Prohibiting newspaper delivery to homes that have requested stoppage. | ||
| Creating a searchable website showing all state expenditures over $25,000. | ||
| Creating the Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Program to encourage the development of renewable energy sources. | ||
| Allowing for the collection of DNA from people who have been arrested for violent crime, burglary or auto-theft. | ||
| Providing mental health services for Maryland veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. | ||
| Establishing a state goal of increasing development near transit centers (bus stations, train stations, etc). | ||
| Establishing the state goal of reducing per capita electricity by 15% by 2015. | ||
| Increasing the percentages of electricity that has to be produced by renewable energy sources over the next few years. | ||
| Mandating that newly constructed state government buildings meet federal standards for being highly energy efficient. | ||
| Increasing the tax-credit for homes powered by solar or geo-thermal energy. | ||
| Increasing the penalties for abuse or neglect of animals and aggravated cruelty to animals. | ||
| Creating a registry for pharmacy benefit managers. | ||
| Allocating $300,000 in matching funds for historic preservation and rehabilitation of Button Farm. | ||
| Banning phosphorous from fertilizers intended for personal usage. | ||
| Denying paternity, visitation and custody rights to rapists for offspring produced by that crime. | ||
| Reviewing weather Towson State University is unnecessarily duplicating academic programs at Morgan State University. | ||
| Establishing a task-force to study recyclable beverage bottle/can deposit programs. | ||
| Establishing the Maryland Affordable Housing Investment Fund and its corresponding Board. | ||
| Including the homeless as a protected class in Maryland's hate-crime statute. | ||
| Forcing trailer-park owners pay relocation expenses of their residents when the trailer-park closes. | ||
| Creating a workgroup to establish a safe patient-lifting policy for nursing homes. | ||
| Establishing a commission on minority business enterprise. | ||
| Allowing college students to claim health insurance as an "educational cost" for the purposes of financial aid application. | ||
| Prohibiting the sale of cigars in packages of less than 5 (except in a cigar shop). | ||
| Establishing a task-force to study the preservation of heritage languages. | ||
| Establishing a fund to pay for higher education through excess remainder funds on gift cards. | ||
| Altering the definition of cigarettes to include cigars for taxation purposes. | ||
| Mandating that apartment buildings make reasonable religious accommodations for residents. | ||
| Preventing sex-offenders from having their imprisonment duration reduced due to good behavior. | ||
| Preventing witness intimidators from having their imprisonment duration reduced due to good behavior. | ||
| Making the use of state parks free of charge by eliminating the annual fee paid by the Park Reserve Fund to the counties. | ||
| Mandating that employees be given at least 15-minute breaks every six hours of work. | ||
| Allocating $250,000 in matching funds for capital improvements for the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes. | ||
| Preventing school bus drivers from using cell phones. | ||
| Reducing 25% of green-house gas emissions by 2020 and 90% by 2050. | ||
| Making it a felony to knowingly watch a dog-fight. | ||
| Establishing a 12-member joint Senate/House committee on information technology and Biotechnology. | ||
| Requiring the DNA collection from people arrested for kidnapping and sexual offenses. | ||
| Allowing the legal practice of Ayurvedic & Homeopathic medicine. | ||
| Giving gas-station owners right-of-first-refusal when big oil companies sell the business to regional gasoline wholesalers or "jobbers". | ||
| Converting the troubled Rosewood Center to a state a recreational facility if/when it is closed. | ||
| Establishing a program to provide medical services specifically to children who have been abused. | ||
| Allowing State Athletic Commission to issue licenses for mixed martial arts competitions. | ||
| Mandating that the labels of all fur clothing identify the country of origin and the animal used. | ||
| Mandating that mercury switches be removed from older automobiles to the Chesapeake Bay from contamination. | ||
| Giving municipalities the right to annex lots that straddle their municipal borders. | ||
| Raising the alcoholic beverage tax rate. | ||
| Requiring private universities to issue annual reports regarding their cultural diversity programs. | ||
| Creating a publicly financed state legislative election campaign program. | ||
| Establishing a mental health pilot program for Maryland veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at Montgomery County General Hospital. | ||
| Forcing internet broadband providers report to the Public Service Commission maps of where service has and hasn't been deployed. | ||
| Forcing universities professors and book stores reduce the cost text-books required for courses by and prevent unneccessary "bundling". | ||
| Ensuring that foods sold as "Halal" aren't fraudulently labeled. | ||
| Requiring a law enforcement officer to take specified actions if an arrest is made. | ||
| Allowing the issuance of protective orders in response to a police arrest even if the court is closed (on the weekends). | ||
| Forcing retailers to expunge data collected on credit-card swipe machines within 48 hours of the sales transaction. | ||
| Allocating $1,000,000 in matching funds for Mansfield Kaseman Health Center (Community Ministries of Rockville). | ||
| Establishing the Maryland Universal Health Care Plan. | ||
| Prohibiting the production or sale of "foie gras" (duck liver induced with disease by force-feeding). | ||
| Establishing a $2,000 fine for behavior designated as "road-rage". | ||
| Establishing a task-force on quiet vehicles and pedestrian safety for the benefit of blind pedestrians. | ||
| Establishing a task-force on childhood obesity. | ||
| Requiring off-road vehicles to be titled by the MVA. | ||
| Prohibiting the bundling of state procurement to limit participation from certain bidders. | ||
| Exempting specified employers from the requirement to pay a specified wage for overtime. | ||
| Allowing all graduates of Maryland public schools to be eligible for in-state tuition. | ||
| Forcing home improvement contractor to comply with environmental rules to protect the Chesapeake Bay. | ||
| Allowing wine to be directly shipped to Maryland to a consumers. | ||
| Preventing housing discrimination based on the source of one's income. | ||
| Increasing the use of minority-owned brokerage and investment services for state funds. | ||
| Establishing the Parren J. Mitchell Public Service Summer Internship Scholarship Program at Morgan State University. | ||
| Establishing the Jane E. Lawton Conservation Loan Program to promote and invest in energy efficiency and other forms of conservation. | ||
| Raising the alcohol tax to fund addiction treatment and prevention. | ||
| Raising the age from 5 to 7 for children required to use a booster seat in automobiles. | ||
| Reducing the amount awarded by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board if the victim was involved or complicit in their own injuries. | ||
| Abolishing the death penalty. | ||
| Prohibiting convicted felons from possessing ammunition. | ||
| Establishing a grant program for nano-biotechnology research projects. | ||
| Prohibiting the placement of a lien on a condominium while a dispute over the lien amount is pending. | ||
| Creating the a state board to license and oversee tax-preparers. |
posted by Saqib Ali at 3:01 AM
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