The
Maryland House of Delegates
Health and Government Operations Committee
________
Chair
Government Operations Subcommittee
________
House Chair
Joint Committee on Health Care Delivery and Financing
________
Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review
________
Minority Health Disparities Subcommittee
Dan K. Morhaim, M.D.
Deputy Majority Leader
11th Legislative District
Baltimore County
________
AnnapolisOffice
The Maryland House of Delegates
6 Bladen Street , room 362
Annapolis , Maryland 21401
410-841-3054
1-800-492-7122 Ext.3054
_________
District Office
8 Park Center Court #100
Owings Mills , Maryland 2117-5609
410-581-8712
_________
Emaildan.morhaim@house.state.md.us
|
|
Dear Friends,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to represent you in
the House of Delegates for the past sixteen years. I am
honored to serve the 11th District of northwest Baltimore
County with my teammates Bobby Zirkin, Jon Cardin, and Dana
Stein. I would also like to express my gratitude to those
of you who contacted me during this legislative session.
Your opinions shape my perspective and votes, and I truly
appreciate your involvement.
This was a difficult year for many members of our
community. The blizzard left most of us stranded in our
homes, many without access to power, food, and other
necessities. Then the water main break left thousands
without clean water for days. During both events, schools
and businesses were closed. Despite these difficulties, our
community rose to the challenge. We saw neighbors helping
one another and reaching out to total strangers as well.
Let's build on the positives and make it a routine part of
what we do on a daily basis.
There has been a great deal of discussion and concern
regarding the fate of the Rosewood property. Working
together, we have determined that Rosewood will become part
of Stevenson University. Stevenson brings academics,
sports, theater, movies, fine arts, as well as more
economic activity to our community. This will be
accomplished with the highest environmental standards.
Having a vibrant four-year university in Owings Mills is a
wonderful and defining asset that will distinguish
northwest Baltimore County for decades to come.
In addition to addressing important community issues, the
District 11 team won financial support for projects at the
Hopewell Community Center, Owings Mills High School
Stadium, Stevenson University, and Baltimore County Humane
Society. These provide support for cancer victims,
students, and animals while building and strengthening our
community in general. Further, these are shovel-ready
construction projects that bring jobs and business growth.
In the House of Delegates, I have two major roles. As
Deputy Majority Leader and Chair of the Government
Operations Subcommittee, I am responsible for evaluating
hundreds of bills, as well as being the House floor manager
for many of these. This involves coordinating and
communicating with constituents, advocacy groups, and other
legislators. It is a challenging, complex, and important
job that I take most seriously.
I also introduced important legislation that passed with
bi-partisan support. Information is available at
http://mlis.state.md.us/.
(KEY: HB=House Bill, SB=Senate Bill)
HB 147/SB 314
streamlines billing
procedures for physicians and hospitals.
HB 224
promotes “greywater”
recycling systems.
HB 250/SB 130
and HB 251/SB 131
help grow minority and
women-owned businesses.
HB 292
facilitates the development
of electronic medical records.
HB 323/SB 308
helps physician assistants
and their role on the health care team.
Legislation I introduced regarding the medical use of
marijuana (HB 712/SB
627) got a great deal
of attention. With these bills, I hoped to ensure that
those with serious debilitating medical conditions not
relieved by other treatments would have access to medical
marijuana in a safe, responsible, and supervised way
without increasing illegal use or compromising law
enforcement. Working with others, we wrote a narrow bill
that received overwhelming bi-partisan sponsorship from
across the political spectrum. Additionally, the Department
of Health, Board of Pharmacy, Maryland Nurses Association,
Maryland Pharmacist’s Association, EPIC Pharmacies, United
Seniors of Maryland, and the Baltimore Jewish Council
supported this legislation, and supportive editorials
appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Frederick Post, WBAL radio,
and the Jewish Times. The bill passed the Senate 35-12, but
stalled in the House and did not pass.
Several other important pieces of legislation were passed
by the General Assembly and will affect our community.
Health
HB
319/SB 484 clarifies
and supports the role of nurse practitioners.
HB 1034/SB 633
gives a small but long
overdue pay raise to those who care for the developmentally
disabled.
HB 929/SB 855
takes important steps to
establish patient centered medical homes.
HB 933/SB 328
protects people from
“medical” bankruptcy in paying hospital bills.
HB 1564/SB 1125
positions the state to
stabilize and grow its high-risk insurance program.
HB 1353/SB 1033
helps military health care
personnel transition into civilian health care fields.
Public Safety
Highway
Safety:
HB 461/SB
51 helps protect
bicyclists from accidents involving automobiles.
SB 321
outlaws the use of hand-held
cell phones while driving.
Gangs:
HB 756/SB
517 increases the
penalty for crimes committed by gang members.
Sex
Offenders: HB 60/SB 618, HB 254/SB
622, HB 289/SB 620, HB 473/SB 280, HB 599, HB 811, HB
931/SB 856, HB 936/SB 854, HB 1046, HB
1053, and
SB
559 are a package of
bills to protect the public from sexual predators. These
bills strengthen the registration requirements for sex
offenders, require lifetime supervision of serious and
repeat sex offenders, eliminate sentence-shortening
“diminution credits” for certain categories of sex
offenders, strengthen prohibitions against possessing or
promoting child pornography, and reconstitute the Sex
Offender Advisory Board.
HB 1322/SB 542
and HB 283/ SB 261
start the long process of
eliminating human trafficking and sex slavery.
Theft:
HB 1174/SB
99 requires better
record keeping by junk dealers and scrap metal processors
to help stop theft of catalytic converters, copper pipes,
gutters, etc.
Education
HB 243/SB 590
establishes a neutral public
school labor relations board to resolve labor disputes.
HB 467/SB 275
provides for keeping
longitudinal data on individual student performance.
HB 1160
is the Safe Schools Act that
increases schools’ knowledge of juvenile offenders in their
schools.
HB 1263/SB 899
is the Education Reform Act
that will make Maryland more effective in competing for
Race to the Top funds and also begin the third wave of
education reform.
Environment
Energy:
HB 464/SB
287 extends a tax
credit for clean energy.
HB 471/SB 277
improves solar energy
standards and encourages the use of solar energy.
Project
Funding: HB 474/SB 278
establishes the Maryland
Sustainable Growth Commission.
HB 943/SB 311
creates the Chesapeake
Conservation Corps to fund projects that preserve, protect,
and conserve the environment.
Hunting:
A controversial bill that
would allow deer hunting on certain Sundays in Baltimore
County failed this year. After hearing that many of you
were against Sunday hunting, I voted against this bill.
The
Budget This is
always one of the defining actions of every legislative
session, as balancing pressing needs with available funds
is a difficult process. Given the ongoing economic crisis,
this year’s budget saw many reductions. We were able to
maintain the necessary funding for spending on vital issues
such as health, education, and public safety.
I continue to focus on identifying efficiencies and
streamlining government, which saves money without raising
taxes/fees or cutting important programs.
This is an election year. I urge you to register and to
vote. For more information, please contact the Baltimore
County Board of Elections at 410-887-5700 and the State
Board of Elections at 1-800-222-8683.
My full-time, part-time, and volunteer staff did an
outstanding job. Mary Lou Cole, Jessica Stevens, Keshia
Pollack, Clarence Lam, Shannon Frattaroli, Eliza Little,
and Fang Fang Yin all worked hard to meet constituents’
needs.
Please stay in touch on any issue of concern to you.
Sincerely,
Delegate Dan
Morhaim