GOVERNOR
MARTIN
O’MALLEY
PREPARED
OPENING
REMARKS
SPECIAL
SESSION
October 29,
2007
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, thank you for inviting me to join you
here
tonight. And
thank you
also for the
extraordinary
amount of
work,
dialogue,
and
collaboration
of these
last several
months.
This joint
session and
the joint
hearings
that will
follow are
further
evidence of
the goodwill
and
statesmanship
that you
have both
shown in
meeting this
challenge.
Thank you
for your
counsel and
for your
trust.
The leadership of your respective bodies – Senator Currie along with
Delegate
Conway and
Delegate
Hixson;
Senator
Middleton
along with
Delegate
Hammen;
Senator
DeGrange
along with
Delegate
Branch;
Senator
Kasemeyer
along with
Delegate
Barve and
President
Pro Tem
Nathaniel
McFadden,
Speaker Pro
Tem Jones
and others –
have
contributed
greatly to
the creation
of a
consensus
plan for Maryland’s future. And I thank you both for
surrounding
yourselves
with such
able and
principled
leaders.
To the members of the Maryland General Assembly, of both parties, you
have my
sincere
thanks – and
more
importantly
that of your
neighbors –
for setting
aside the
many
responsibilities
of your
family and
business
lives to
return here
for the
urgent work
of this
special
session.
My fellow Marylanders, as you are no doubt aware, 5 years ago – and
in
bipartisan
fashion – we
made a
historic and
necessary
investment
in improving
public
education.
Sadly, at
the same
time we
voted in
similar
bi-partisan
fashion to
reduce the
very
revenues
needed to
sustain such
an important
investment
and to
defend our
quality of
life. We now
face one of
the toughest
fiscal
challenges
in our
State’s 373
year
history.
As prior generations might have warned us – there is no progress
without
sacrifice,
no shared
return
without
shared
investment,
and no
future
better than
this
present,
unless we
are willing
to work for
it.
This inherited structural deficit – a deficit which has now cast its
shadow over
the progress
of our
people for
the last
five years –
can no
longer be
deferred.
The storm is
upon us; and
this looming
shortfall
threatens to
do grave
damage to
the very
quality of
life that
our
neighbors
have elected
us to
defend…
The stakes are high; the potential damage too harmful to accept.
Further
delay will
only
compound the
difficulty
of
correcting
the
half-actions
and
inactions of
our recent
past.
“The occasion is piled high with difficulty,” but the goals of this
special
session are
straightforward:
-
To
restore
fiscal
responsibility
to the
government
of our
people.
-
To
protect
our
investments
in
education,
health
and
public
safety
so very
critical
to
future
of the
state we
leave
our
children.
-
And
to do so
in a way
that not
only
protects
our
competitive
advantage
with
surrounding
states,
but is
also
fairer
to the
working
people
of Maryland.
In one sense, our challenge is as timeless as the human condition
itself: will
the
circumstances
we’ve
inherited
change us,
or will we
change our
circumstances?
It’s time
for us to
correct our
course. It
is time for
us to pass a
long-term
budget
solution
that’s
fairer to
middle class
families –
and ensures Maryland’s progress for the future.
By now you have had the opportunity to receive our
proposals
for
restoring
fiscal
responsibility
and
returning to
the path of
progress.
Many of the
components
of this plan
have been
considered
by members
of this
Assembly
many times
before. Many
have been
proposed and
passed
before by
one house or
the other.
And in the
important
days ahead,
you will, no
doubt, have
the
opportunity
to study,
debate and
improve upon
the fairness
of the
framework
proposed.
Although we are blessed with the distinction of being the
wealthiest
State in the
nation
according to
the US
Census, our
tax burden
is below
average. We
rank 31st
among the 50
states in
spending on
a per capita
basis; and
50th
out of 50
states in
terms of
what we
spend
through our
local and
state
governments
to defend
our quality
of life, as
a percentage
of our
wealth.
Our challenge is not capacity; our challenge is consensus.
And I have faith in the abilities of the men and women of
this
Assembly to
forge that
consensus.
In your
hearts and
regardless
of party,
each of you
knows there
is more that
unites us
than divides
us…
We, here, are united in our belief in the dignity of
every
individual.
We, here,
are united
in our
belief in
our own
responsibility
to advance
the common
good.
For this is not merely about correcting the flawed math of the past.
Everything
we do to
restore
fiscal
responsibility
to our State
is really
about making
progress for
the future…
progress for
the
education of
our
children…
progress for
affordable
college…
progress for
the
healthcare
of our
workforce…
progress on
transportation…
progress for
the health
and
sustainability
of the
Chesapeake
Bay.
Yes, everything we do to restore fiscal responsibility to
our State is
really about
making
progress for
the future.
Perhaps that
is why Maryland’s teachers have declared: “A vote for
the plan is
a vote for
public
schools...”
And so, men and women of Maryland, let us fulfill
this
responsibility
together.
On the
common
ground that
exists
between us,
cooled by
the clear
waters of
civil
discourse,
and
breathing
the honest
air of
mutual
understanding,
let us forge
a consensus
for the One
Maryland we
carry in our
hearts and
that all of
our children
deserve.
As we begin our work, remember, if you will, the words of
a great
American
uttered to
another
representative
assembly of
his own
time:
“… Fellow citizens,” he said, “We cannot escape history.
We... will
be
remembered
in spite of
ourselves.
No personal
significance,
or
insignificance,
can spare
one or
another of
us. The
fiery trial
through
which we
pass, will
light us
down, in
honor or
dishonor, to
the latest
generation...
We – even we
here – hold
the power
and bear the
responsibility…”
Thank you for your service, your resolve, and your
dedication
to the best
interests of
our people
in the face
of this
challenge.
May God lead
the
deliberations
of this
important
session.
Let’s get to work.
