Combating Maryland's Drug Epidemic
Serving on the Health & Government Operations Committee, I have spent a great deal of time this year focusing on combatting our state's drug epidemic by concentrating on prevention and treatment. Here are a few of the more substantive pieces of legislation we passed:
Justice Reinvestment Act
- Sweeping bipartisan legislation changes Maryland's criminal justice policies, including steering drug offenders toward treatment instead of prison and shortening mandatory minimums for many low-risk non-violent crimes,
while increasing penalties for egregious crimes.
This legislation, backed by Gov. Hogan, is expected to save millions of dollars and help heal many disrupted families and lives. In reforming our criminal justice system we:
1) Will reduce costly incarcerations of low-risk and nonviolent offenders. With these savings, the bill will increase funding for more effective diversion programs including drug treatment, mental health care, and mediation/dispute resolution programs.
2) Will reduce recidivism by funneling more resources into the development of robust re-entry resources, and amend our current punitive sentencing structure. A system of graduated sanctions will be adopted instead, reducing the penalties for technical parole/probation violations. Our goal is to curb the cycle of repeat offenders and thereby reduce the burden on our prisons and help our offenders create a place in our society that make them productive citizens.
3) Realigns our priorities to focus our resources on the most dangerous and violent criminals rather than petty offenders.
Public Health - Opioid-Associated Disease Prevention and Outreach Programs
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This step towards curbing Maryland's opioid epidemic enables local health departments or community organizations to establish opioid-associated disease prevention and outreach programs with approval from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. These programs help people access drug treatment, mental health services and more.
Hospital Substance Abuse Demonstration Treatment Program
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Allows up to five hospitals to participate in a substance use treatment demonstration program that would operate an inpatient and outpatient substance use treatment program or otherwise ensure that these services are available in the community. These programs would be evaluated on the effect on total cost of care and ensure that we have a more comprehensive behavioral health system in Maryland.
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program - Modifications
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Certain prescribers and all pharmacists will be required to register with the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). This will better enable our health care delivery system to monitor prescribing patterns for unethical or suspicious activity.
Other Noteworthy Legislation
Maryland Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Program
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This bill will provide families of individuals with disabilities some peace of mind by allowing them to save for their child's long-term disability expenses. The ABLE program will be modeled after 529 college savings plans, but instead promote saving for qualified disability expenses, such as medical and dental care, housing, and transportation, with the goal of maintaining health and independence without losing essential benefits provided through Medicaid or the SSI program.
End of Life Options Bill
- Not Passed
Formerly known as Physician-Assisted Suicide and Death with Dignity, once again, this legislation did not have the votes to make it out of our committee. Beyond the obvious moral issues this raises, concerns have been raised regarding the risks to our most vulnerable populations- the disadvantaged, the disabled, those suffering from mental illness or depression and the elderly. It is clear that everyone has the understandable desire to be compassionate and caring and the same "end of life" goals- to pass with loved ones nearby, preferably at home or in a homelike setting, painlessly and peacefully. Our focus should be on accomplishing that through natural means with access to hospice and palliative care.
Redistricting Reform
Gerrymandering is a form of political gamesmanship that stifles real political debate and deprives citizens of meaningful choices. Fair and competitive elections, keeping communities of interest together, recognizing political boundaries such as county lines, and the notion of one person - one vote, make for a more vibrant and responsive citizen republic.
Carroll County's Legislative and Congressional districts are representative of the gerrymandering of Governor O'Malley's 2010 redistricting plan.
To advance the discussion, last year, Governor Hogan executed an executive order that created a bipartisan commission to examine Maryland's redistricting process with the goal of fully reforming this process and giving the authority to an independent, nonpartisan commission with clear Constitutional guidelines. Governor Hogan proposed a Constitutional amendment that reflected the commission's recommendations to reform Maryland's re-districting process- unfortunately, that legislation has not had a vote in committee and the Senate President has declared it dead on arrival.
Part 4 coming soon,
