What’s the most urgent problem in your district?

Some of the urgent points in my district is the opioid epidemic. It is a main drawback throughout the state in addition to in Frederick County. In response to the Maryland Division of Well being, we misplaced 2,799 Marylanders to overdoses in 2020, with 64 of them occurring in Frederick County. This has confirmed to be a tricky problem to resolve throughout the nation. I imagine that two of the issues we should deal with are cracking down on opioid sellers whereas additionally offering alternate options to restrict the quantity of addictive opioids prescribed to sufferers within the first place.

How will you assist your constituents take care of inflation?

Inflation has been led to by many causes, one of many contributing components was the fast injection of money into the economic system by way of the COVID stimulus packages. Whereas this cash was desperately wanted by many to get by, it got here with the unlucky aspect impact of stoking inflation. To me, the most effective stimulus is a tax break, and I imagine that tax breaks are one of the simplest ways that we are able to take care of inflation within the current tense. These tax breaks will assist Marylanders’ stretch their {dollars} additional when costs are rising throughout the board. The State of Maryland has a surplus of just about $5 billion, which provides us loads of flexibility in terms of giving our residents a break. I’ll struggle on daily basis to not solely present tax breaks for my constituents, however to completely decrease or remove sure taxes all collectively.

What do you see as the highest transportation precedence in your district, and the way would you deal with it?

The highest transportation precedence right here in Frederick is assuaging the crippling site visitors alongside the US-15/I-270 hall. It doesn’t matter what you do in Frederick, you’re on the mercy of the site visitors alongside this route. This is applicable to those that commute from Frederick down I-270, those that commute into Frederick alongside I-270 and I-70, and people who commute from one finish of Frederick to a different. I imagine that increasing I-270 and US-15 the place possible, with out using toll lanes, would go a good distance in direction of correcting the difficulty. I additionally imagine that increasing our community of arterial roadways to supply secondary/bypass routes could be helpful.

What ought to faculties do otherwise in the course of the subsequent pandemic to assist college students, households and academics?

In an ideal world, there could be no “subsequent pandemic.” Nevertheless, I do imagine that COVID was capable of present us a glimpse into the way forward for schooling and what to anticipate as we proceed to progress technologically. Let me be clear, there isn’t any substitute for in-person studying. Our kids, particularly our youngest college students, their households, and academics all struggled with adapting to an internet surroundings. Nevertheless, we should strengthen our infrastructure and processes for on-line studying as it may be a useful gizmo to maintain college students, households and academics related, particularly in conditions the place faculties are closed on account of inclement climate, summer time, and different causes.

How equitably do law enforcement officials deal with individuals of colour?

General, law enforcement officials deal with all residents equitably. There are unhealthy apples in each career, nevertheless the results are a lot larger after we are coping with a foul police officer. No sheriff or chief of police needs to have a foul deputy or officer of their division. A technique that we are able to construct a relationship of belief between officers and the communities they serve is to supply outreach by way of group occasions and fundraising. When officers make investments time again into their communities, I imagine that each one events concerned achieve respect and a deeper understanding of one another.

What would you do to verify Maryland’s voting system is safe and correct?

Maryland must have a greater system for eradicating ineligible voters from voting rolls. With a development in direction of absentee/mail-in voting beginning in 2020, we have to have absolute confidence in our processes. With outdated voter rolls, absentee purposes and ballots may probably find yourself within the palms of somebody apart from the supposed recipient, which opens the door to fraud. Presently, the county Boards of Elections throughout the state usually depend on the voter or a third-part to inform them of up to date addresses and/or deaths. Discovering a extra hermetic technique to replace this data would significantly cut back the possibilities of a poll falling into the fallacious palms. I additionally imagine that instituting Voter ID and enhancing signature verification processes would assist enhance the safety of our elections. Moreover, we have to prioritize attracting election judges because it appears our polling locations are routinely understaffed, which is rarely a very good factor.

What are the correct objectives and deadlines for Maryland to scale back carbon emissions and develop renewable vitality sources?

I’m not certain what the proper deadlines could be for Maryland to scale back carbon emissions and develop renewable vitality sources. Nevertheless, I imagine that probably the most environment friendly methods to take action could be to develop nuclear vitality within the state. The Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Energy Plant in Calvert County supplies sufficient clear, zero-emission vitality to energy a million houses. In response to Maryland Issues, roughly 35% of electrical energy generated in Maryland comes from the plant, accounting for 83% of Maryland’s carbon-free energy. With latest advances in know-how, nuclear vitality has change into a safer and more and more viable choice in terms of renewable vitality.

What’s Maryland’s finest use of federal COVID reduction cash?

What higher reduction to our residents than tax cuts? It’s reduction cash, in any case. The State of Maryland has a surplus of just about $5 billion. We will afford to chop taxes throughout the board, permitting paychecks to stretch a bit of additional so our households can breathe a bit of simpler. We will use the reduction cash to replenish accounts which might be funded by the taxes that we reduce. I used to be very upset when democrats in Annapolis refused to increase the gas tax vacation. We may have simply afforded to take a little bit of stress off our residents’ plates, however now gasoline costs have soared properly above $4.00/gallon with no reduction in sight.