Delegate Kipke with Chesapeake High School Graduates Kelsey Sousa and Chris Casey, who played important roles in Annapolis this session.
Dear neighbor,
The 428th session of the Maryland General Assembly ended last night at midnight. Over the past 90 days we debated over 2,000 legislative proposals including the state budget. Unfortunately, there were several bills I had to vote against including in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, millions of dollars in tax increases, and what I believe to be a fiscally irresponsible state budget. However, I am extremely proud to have successfully advanced important public policies that will benefit our community.
The House of Delegates does most of its work in five standing committees; I am assigned to the Health and Government Operations Committee. Because of national healthcare reform Maryland is required by federal law to implement significant changes to our health insurance laws. I have been very active in this process to ensure that we follow the law of the land but also maintain a system that ensures high quality, accessible, and affordable health services. I am happy to report that we avoided a federal takeover of our health insurance market by establishing the ground work for a “Health Insurance Exchange.” This exchange rejects government run healthcare and maintains a highly competitive system in Maryland. HB166 titled the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange Act of 2011 will create an online website that enables consumers to purchase individual health insurance policies in a “one stop shop.” This consumer tool will be available online next year.
We also successfully passed HB1229 titled the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to create a stronger firewall between individuals addicted to prescription drugs and prescribing physicians. This legislation will create an online database that is available exclusively to physicians so they can see an individual’s prescription history, even if they are prescribed by another physician. HB1129 responds to staggering statistics about the proliferation of individuals addicted to prescribed drugs like percoset, oxycodone, and oxycontin. The abuse of these medications contribute to serious life threatening addictions and crime, this type of illegal drug use is one of the fastest growing types of street drug related crimes in Maryland. By providing access to this online database, physicians will have an important tool in the fight against illicit drug abuse resulting in less addiction and the painful side effects associates with this very dangerous, even deadly problem.
Last year I received complaints about a local towing company using “sketchy” tactics to overcharge individuals in our community. After investigating the problem I supported HB356 titled Motor Vehicles - Towing Practices and Procedures. When the governor signs this new law consumers will have a wide array of protections against the shady activity that sometimes takes place with unscrupulous towing companies. Specifically, a family in our community had a vehicle “held hostage” for days, accumulating hundreds of dollars in storage fees and delayed access to their car. HB356 creates basic standards that towing companies must follow and rights for consumers.
Another positive measure that passed is HB57 titled “Environment - Bay Restoration Fund - Authorized Uses.” This legislation allows Bay Restoration funds to be used to connect older communities with private septic systems to a municipal public sewage system or to a community system that utilizes nitrogen reducing technology. This will directly impact our community in a positive way because thousands of homes in our district, many of them waterfront communities, continue to rely on private septic systems. As private systems age they allow more and more nitrogen, even bacteria to leak into the groundwater which ultimately reaches our local waterways. It is important that we properly maintain the private systems, upgrade public sewage infrastructure, and wherever possible connect entire communities to public sewage systems. This bill will provide connections without directly passing on the cost to individual homeowners.
In regards to Maryland’s economy and the state budget, I believe our state government needs to maintain essential services but restrain government spending. With high unemployment, increasing cost of living (food, gasoline), and lower wages many thousands of families in Maryland are just barely getting by and the future is still uncertain. I believe optimistically that like the Civil War and the Great Depression, “this too shall pass” and America will be stronger for having endured this. This challenging time is an opportunity for all of us including the federal, state, and local governments to get our fiscal affairs in order. However, today we are at crossroads that will take serious leadership to ensure the strength of our nation. This is why I had to vote against the FY2012 state budget. This budget, even in these challenging times, grows by over $1.4 billion dollars which is a 10.6% increase over last year. Additionally, this budget continues the practice of “credit card” government spending replacing $191.3 million of operating expenses with debt. I will continue to vote against all tax increases and advocate for government spending that is focused on essential priorities.
Your assistance and concerns have made a tremendous impact on the votes I have cast and the issues I have worked to advance. Please stay in touch and feel free to contact me by email at or by calling (410) 841-3421. It is an amazing honor to represent our community and to be your voice in Annapolis. I am ever mindful that this office belongs to the voters of district 31 and I work every day to be the responsive leader that our community deserves.
Sincerely,
Nic Kipke