Dear Friends and Neighbors,

April 8th marked the final day of the annual 90-day legislative session of the Maryland General
Assembly. It’s an honor for all four of us - Senator Jeff Waldstreicher and Delegates Al Carr,
Emily Shetty, and Jared Solomon – to represent you in the Maryland General Assembly. With
continued tumult in Washington, we worked hard in Annapolis this session to deliver progressive
results with competence and civility.

Investing in our Community Institutions

We are honored to support the institutions that define our community. Your District 18 team
fought hard to appropriate the following amounts to these pillars of Montgomery County:
✔ A Wider Circle (Silver Spring): $500,000
✔ Audubon Naturalist Society (Chevy Chase): $250,000
✔ Round House Theatre (Bethesda): $500,000
✔ Edison High School of Technology (Wheaton): $5.1 million

Cracking Down on Gun Violence

Last year, we outlawed bump stocks, passed a “red flag” law, and banned domestic abusers from
having guns. After the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, we have
committed to strengthening our gun laws even further:
✔ We cracked down on illegal gun transfers that threaten our communities.
✔ We voted for universal background checks to prevent illegal gun purchases.
✔ We abolished the handgun review board that was undermining our State Police.
✔ Delegate Solomon introduced the No Funding for Firearms Act, HB 367, which would
have prevented schools from using any money to arm or train their teachers. The bill
passed the House.

Investing in our Schools

We believe in great teachers, access to early learning, and dynamic schools. This was a historic
year when it comes to education policy in Maryland:
 ✔ Based on the Kirwan Commission, we established the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future,
which will dedicate over $1.1 billion (!) to education, including significant investments in
recruiting and retaining the best teachers, millions to ensure our schools have mental
health resources, and a strong commitment to special education.
✔ We created an Inspector General position to make sure these new resources are being
used efficiently and effectively.
✔ We returned control of our school calendar back to our local board of education.
✔ We increased investments in school construction to help bring all school buildings into
the 21st century. The House also passed the historic Build to Learn Act, HB 727, which
would have provided the county another $400 million for school construction.

Fighting for Economic Justice

We believe in an economy that works for working families. That’s why we were proud to fight
for the following:
✔ We voted for the Fight for Fifteen, increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by
2025. Every Marylander deserves to make a living wage.
✔ We empowered union workers to bring suit when they’re not being paid a prevailing
wage.
✔ We defeated each and every piece of anti-union legislation (so-called “right to work”
bills) because we believe that unions make our communities stronger.

Protecting our Environment

We are committed to protecting our environment, believe in science, and recognize that climate
change is the generational challenge of our time.
✔ We put Maryland on the map as the first state to ban polystyrene (Styrofoam) food and
beverage containers.
✔ We passed the Clean Energy Jobs Act, creating thousands of manufacturing jobs in both
the solar and wind energy industries.
✔ We dramatically bolstered our oyster conservation efforts by strengthening protections
and expanding sanctuaries.

Opposing the Beltway Widening

Recently, Governor Hogan announced plans for a project aimed at widening I-270 and I-495,
adding private toll lanes to these corridors. The homes of our constituents – your homes – abut
the current right-of-way. These are homes where folks raised children and created memories.
That is why your District 18 team worked together on legislation to oppose the beltway
widening, protect these homes, and promote public transit.
✔ Senator Waldstreicher introduced SB 781, which would have protected the homes of our
constituents from being unjustly taken to build toll roads on the beltway.
 ✔ Delegate Carr introduced HB 91, which would have required an environmental impact
study for all public-private partnerships.
✔ Delegate Solomon introduced HB 1091, which would have created better administrative
and environmental accountability for public-private partnerships. This bill, which was
amended to include elements of Delegate Carr’s HB 91, passed the House.
✔ Delegate Shetty introduced HB 763, which would have required MTA to work with
WMATA to improve our statewide public transportation network.

Standing with Our Federal Employees

For 35 days, approximately 800,000 federal workers were furloughed – over half forced to work
without pay – during the longest federal government shutdown in US history. A huge proportion
were Marylanders. These are our friends and neighbors who spent nearly two months in fear of
being unable to put food on the table, pay the electric bill, or cover the mortgage or rent. Senator
Waldstreicher and Delegate Carr are Chairmen of the Joint Committee on Federal Relations,
which held a hearing on the effects of the shutdown. As a result of the hearing, we moved
swiftly to help protect these federal workers:
✔ We passed the Federal Shutdown Paycheck Protection Act, emergency legislation to
guarantee unemployment insurance for furloughed workers, including those working
without pay.
✔ We passed legislation that will protect furloughed federal employees from utility
shutoffs, evictions, and foreclosures.

Lowering the Cost of Healthcare

We believe that healthcare is a right, not a privilege reserved for the few. We took decisive
action to lower healthcare costs and support the Affordable Care Act:
✔ We passed a bill to strengthen our prescription drug monitoring program – a positive step
toward potentially regulating the excessive costs of drugs.
✔ We passed the Protect Maryland Health Care Act of 2019, which will improve access to
care and reduce insurance costs for all Marylanders.
✔ Delegate Shetty introduced legislation that would require pharmacists to disclose to
patients at the pharmacy counter alternate lower cost options available to them.

Personal Priorities
Together, we are fighting for progressive, statewide priorities. Individually, we have also each
taken on legislation that can have a major impact on our constituents. We are proud to share
those with you, as well.
 Senator Jeff Waldstreicher. Senator Waldstreicher serves on
the Judicial Proceedings Committee. He spent much of the
session working on legislation to protect vulnerable
populations, including immigrants, crime victims, pedestrians,
and veterans:
✔ Senator Waldstreicher passed SB 777: Property Tax
Exemption for Dwelling House Owned by Disabled Active
Duty Service Member. Brought to him by a constituent who
was severely injured in the line of duty, this bill closes the
loophole that barred these heroes from accessing property tax
exemptions.
✔ He also passed SB 460: Pedestrian Safety Fund Act of
2019, which creates a dedicated fund for pedestrian safety
improvements.

Delegate Al Carr. Delegate Carr serves on the Health &

Government Operations Committee. He is proud to author
legislation to promote small businesses and protect working
Marylanders:
✔ Delegate Carr wrote and secured passage of HB 34:
Business Regulation - Trader's Licenses - License Fees. This
bill lets counties and municipalities reduce fees and paperwork
imposed on Maryland’s 55,000 “brick and mortar” retail
businesses.
✔ He successfully championed passage of a bill
(SB328/HB38) Labor and Employment - Noncompete and
Conflict of Interest Clauses banning the practice of subjecting
entry-level workers to noncompete clauses.

Delegate Emily Shetty. Delegate Shetty serves on the

Judiciary Committee, where she passed two key pieces of
legislation that will protect vulnerable children:
✔ Delegate Shetty introduced HB 659: Juvenile Law -
Continued Detention - Minimum Age, which would raise the
minimum age of detention for non-violent offenses from 7
years old to 12. It passed both chambers unanimously and is
heading to the Governor for his signature.
✔ She also passed HB1007: Child Advocacy Centers –
Expansion, which will support the expansion of Child
Advocacy Centers, like Treehouse in Montgomery County. It
has passed both the House and Senate unanimously and will
now go before the Governor for his signature.
 Delegate Jared Solomon. Delegate Solomon serves on the
Appropriations Committee and helped craft a historic budget that
invests in Maryland families and schools. As a former teacher,
he introduced numerous bills to ensure our schools are safe and
remain on the cutting edge, while also working to protect our
environment.
✔ Delegate Solomon passed HB 1115: Community Colleges
– Workforce Readiness Grant Program, which will provide
matching grants to community colleges to help improve their
technology.
✔ He also passed HB 1253: The Lead Remediation and
Reduction Act. This bill moves schools towards a lower level of
lead for drinking water and provides financial assistance to
schools to help make that possible.
* * *

In an unprecedented time, we were buoyed by the thousands of emails, letters, phone calls, and
office visits we received from you throughout the last 90 days. We were energized by the rallies
you attended in Washington, Annapolis, and across Montgomery County. We were strengthened
by your advice and counsel. Thank you.

If you have questions or comments about the 2019 legislative session or any other matters, feel
free to reach out to us at our individual email addresses or phone numbers below.

Senator Jeff Waldstreicher Delegate Al Carr

Jeff.Waldstreicher@senate.state.md.us Alfred.Carr@house.state.md.us
(301) 858-3137 (301) 858-3638

Delegate Emily Shetty Delegate Jared Solomon

Emily.Shetty@house.state.md.us Jared.Solomon@house.state.md.us
(301) 858-3181 (301) 858-3130