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The
Krebs' family along with Senator Ready, Delegates Rose and Shoemaker welcome Governor Hogan to District 5 Night!
Republican Women
GOP
Delegates Aumann, Rey, Szeliga, Reilly, McComas, Simonaire, Kittleman, Carozza, Krebs, Afzali, and Rose.
Carroll County McDaniel and Hood College Students Visit Annapolis
Student advocates visited legislators in Annapolis to discuss policy issues concerning local schools. Among the visitors were Carroll County residents.
Pen
sion Plans For a New Generation
Maryland's pension system is no longer meeting the needs of our future teachers and state employees and unfunded liabilities are accruing, causing billions of dollars in unfunded expenses for the State. Taxpayers are currently expected to pay almost 20 billion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities for current State employees and retirees. This equates to $9,200 per Maryland household.This figure could rise as high as 64.6 billion dollars by 2045.
We must keep our promises to current retirees and employees while maintaining a financially viable retirement option for the future.
The new generation of employee's have new needs for their pension plans, and our current system does not meet those needs. New pension plans need to be portable, they need to give options to the retiree, and they need to stimulate recruitment. Currently, the state can not compete with private sector industries to attract new young workers because the pension plans are so antiquated.
To address these needs, I have introduced HB 1064, and Delegate Szeliga introduced HB 1072. Either plan will meet the needs of our employees and resolve the unfunded liability. HB 1064 models the current pension plans in Montgomery County. Their plan has worked for years with almost complete funding. HB 1072 would model a federal pension plan that has also been working well for many years. There are a number of other options being presented and they all should be a platform for discussion on how to move forward.
Pension reform needs to be addressed now! We cannot keep kicking the can down the road and burdening future generations with today's promises. The growing unfunded liability is crippling the State's finances for decades to come, and the workforce is no longer supporting the needs of our Maryland employees.
Our pension reform team hosted a press conference to discuss the different plans before they were introduced to their committees. Delegates Szeliga, Ghrist, Krebs and Senators Eckhardt, Serafini and Bates.
End of Life Options Act
I oppose the legislation this session that seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide (HB 370 - the "End of Life Options Act") The House Health and Government Operations Committee and the House Judiciary Committee jointly held the lengthy bill hearing on Feb. 16.
Supporters of this legislation argue that it would create a dignified death with people suffering from a terminal condition with less than six months to live. This argument overlooks a critical fact: Maryland residents already have near universal access to hospice and palliative care that can provide a pain-free, dignified end of life.
"Death with dignity" legislation is dangerous with a lack of safeguards to prevent coercion and abuse of Maryland's most vulnerable patients such as the disabled, poor, and minorities.
Even the supporters of the concept believe that there are flaws in the legislation.
"Death with dignity" prescriptions are given to patients at their local pharmacy, the patient must self-administer the lethal drugs without any health care providers present, and there is no requirement to tell family members ahead of time.
Delegate Scholarship Opportunity
The scholarship application for the 2017-2018 school year is
now available! If you are interested in applying, please visit our website
http://www.susankrebs.com/. You must be a High School Senior, living in District 5, and attending a Maryland College to be eligible. Check your district here to know which Legislators scholarships you may be eligible for
Enjoy this taste of spring while it lasts!
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