Dear Friend,
It was an absolute pleasure to see so many of you at District 20 Night in Annapolis. I appreciate all of your support for the work we are doing to build a more just and inclusive Maryland, and I was pleased to have a chance to speak with so many of you this past week.
The week continued with three of my bills being heard in committees and my first bill being passed out of the House. My bill to include the social cost of carbon in state building construction and vehicle purchases was heard by the Appropriations Committee.
My bill to decriminalize open containers of alcohol in public, replacing the misdemeanor with a civil fine, was heard by the Economic Matters Committee. I was honored to have Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich join me on my panel as I introduced the Community Choice Aggregation bill, which would allow local government to aggregate electricity to allow for greater renewable content and lower prices. I will be working with the Public Service Commission this week to address some technical amendments and hope to move this legislation forward soon.
And finally, my bill to mandate funding for the Farms and Families Act passed the House. This bill ensures access to healthy food for low income individuals, increases income for farmers, and supports the viability of farmers markets in food deserts. We are eagerly awaiting its passage in the Senate.
The House also passed an important bill to expand eligibility of delegate and senator scholarships to anyone who is eligible for in-state tuition. This ensure that we have the ability to provide these scholarships to Dreamers who live in our districts. The bill must now get through the Senate.
This week my committee also held a hearing on bills related to small cellular infrastructure. As I expressed during the hearing and to many of you who have reached out to me on this issue, I am fully committed to ensuring local government authority over siting, safety, and aesthetics, as it relates to the development of this infrastructure.
There is a lot going on. Please follow me on Twitter for regular updates and come visit in Annapolis any time. My Annapolis office is Room 226 in the House Office Building at 6 Bladen Street in Annapolis and my office email address is lorig.charkoudian@house.state.md.us. My office phone number is 410-841-3423 and 301-858-3423.
Onward, Lorig Charkoudian
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