McCray Messenger: February 24, 2015
Join us for the next ‘Conversations with Cory’
Your voice matters. At bottom, that is why I reserve space in a local establishment every month; to hear your concerns and to learn from your perspective. This month’s ‘Conversations with Cory,’ will be held at the Rita Church Community Center on Saturday, February, 28, 2015. From noon until 2 p.m. you will have my time and attention, you will receive updates on my work in Annapolis, and you will hear about how this legislative session will affect the 45th district.
So, please join us.
Legislative Snapshot
House Bill 370
I am pleased to update you on the progress of House Bill 370, one of the bills I have sponsored in this legislative session. As you may know, the goal of this bill is to help workers. This bill requires contractors and sub-contractors, working on State funded prevailing wage projects, to fully fund the tuition costs for apprentices enrolled in apprenticeship training programs.
I have observed that when we invest in our workers, the return-on-investment is invaluable. Not only that, but the Office of Legislative Services has reviewed this bill and they have concluded that the impact on Small Business Owners will be minimal. This bill reflects my values as an electrician and a small business owner. Specifically, where labor and management can both benefit, we all win.
House Bill 980
As citizens in a representative democracy, we get better results when more of us engage in the conversation. That is one of the themes of my approach to this office. That is the goal of House Bill 980.
HB 980 extends the right to vote to Maryland citizens who were convicted of a crime, but have served their time and are released from their correctional institution. The bill requires the institution to inform the released citizen of their rights, including their right to vote.
To date, HB 980 has forty-eight co-sponsors and a companion bill has been submitted in the Senate. There is momentum behind this effort because in the State of Maryland when asked whether we choose more engagement or less, we choose more.
Updates from Last Week
This past week, I was visited by several students from some of this State’s great colleges and universities. Michael from McDaniel College, several students from the University of Maryland School of Nursing, and several students from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine each visited to voice their concerns over the proposed cuts to higher education.
I also met Jermaine from the Greenmount West community. He was advocating for the arts programming funding to be restored to its previous levels in the current budget.
On Friday, the Baltimore City Delegation was joined by Police Commissioner Anthony Batts. He informed us of the new deployment and patrol schedules for police officers, redistricting, which dialog with communities is slated to begin in the coming months, and implementation of the body camera pilot program.
Also on Friday, I met with Joe McNealy from the Central Baltimore Partnership. I learned about the great work taking place in the Greenmount West, Charles North, and Station North communities. Over $800 million in development has taken place over the years and, with hope, there will be more to come.
IN THE NEWS
On Monday, I visited the Marc Steiner Show to speak about my bills – HB 370 (workforce) and HB 980 (voting rights).
DELEGATE Scholarship
If you or someone you know is a high school senior or enrolled at an in state college or university, please check out my scholarship application that is now available on my website. You must live in the 45th district, which you can check by putting your address in at www.mdelect.net. Please call our office with any questions: 410-841-3486
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