Elected Officials Outline Major Concerns for Lawmakers

For , issues surrounding a proposed gas tax increase, gay marriage and legislative redistricting are the "big three" that will be debated by lawmakers in upcoming legislative session beginning in January. Legislators will convene in Annapolis for the 90-day legislative session beginning Jan. 11. 

Frank and (D-Baltimore County), both representing the 42nd legislative district, attended the meeting in Cockeysville Wednesday night. 

Frank addressed council board members first. Lafferty added that cleaning the Chesapeake Bay and amending how the Baltimore County Board of Education is staffed were topics he would focus on. 

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Frank, who will be participating in his 10th legislative session, opened the discussion by pointing out Maryland's multi-billion dollar budget deficit. 

“It’s like Groundhog’s Day. It keeps coming up over and over again,” he said. 

Despite the deficit, Frank—like many of his Republican colleagues—will not support a gas tax increase. (If you don't support the gas tax, there is a in Towson on Jan. 3. Details here.) 

“I’ve yet to be convinced that we need that money or that it’s a wise expenditure of our dollars,” Frank said. 

Lafferty agreed, and said he would not support a gas tax increase.

On gay marriage, Frank acknowledge that  has ," which may make blocking passage more difficult for Republicans.

“It’s going to come down to one or two votes this time,” Frank said. “We’ll see what happens this year.”

When it came to Frank said, “We did a really lousy job of the congressional redistricting. I think the Democrats poorly served the citizens.

“I hope the legislative redistricting is not as egregious as the congressional redistricting map,” he continued. 

Lafferty, who spoke second, began by addressing Frank's opinion of the congressional redistricting. 

“There are some weird districts. There are no questions about it,” Lafferty said. The Baltimore County Democrat said the redistricting was done in a way that avoided pitting two current member of Congress against each other. He explained the process by which the state chose to draw the lines and added, “On the state level it’s not really too different … Baltimore County becomes the epicenter.”

Lafferty, who serves on the Environmental Matters committee, said he expects "a large agenda of calendar issues" when it comes to growth and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. 

He referenced a federal mandate which stipulates the state must hit certain environmental checkpoints between now and 2025 in order to improve the ecosystem sustaining the Bay. 

Lafferty also briefly added that making cellphone use while driving a primary offense and reporting child sexual abuse were priorities.

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