MarylandReporter.com (https://marylandreporter.com/)
Across Maryland, people struggle to pay for the prescription drugs they need to lead healthy lives or even stay alive. Prices keep going up, while drug companies spend more on marketing and reap enormous profits. That’s why we are sponsoring legislation to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board that will have the authority to review and set fair and affordable maximum drug costs in the state.
The bill is titled the Protection of Marylanders’ Rights Act of 2019, but it might also be dubbed the Attorney General’s Budget Protection Act, since it seeks to keep the governor from underfunding the AG’s budget. The legislation is part of the long-running skirmishes between Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and Democrat Attorney General Brian Frosh over what cases the AG should pursue.
Currently, 27% of the state’s schools carry the green school certification. A bill before the General Assembly would seek to increase that number to 50%.
Doctors and other health care providers in Maryland will be required to report every flu shot and vaccine they administer to a common state database under a bill that passed a public health subcommittee Tuesday. The bill requires health care providers to report all vaccines given to children and adults to the Maryland immunization registry, ImmuNet, beginning Oct. 1.
Maryland voters in November re-elected a Republican governor for only a second time in history, but they also elected a Democratic legislature that has moved further to the left. A new Goucher College taken earlier this month found broad support among Maryland adults for some of the top policy initiatives by Democrats that are not on Gov. Larry Hogan’s wish list.
The new driver’s license requirements demanded by federal law are not only producing long lines at Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration offices, but anger and frustration for many who are having their documents rejected to get a compliant REAL ID. The process seems to be worse for older citizens who are having their original birth certificates rejected, and for women of any age who have had their last names changed by marriage or divorce.
Republican Del. Michael Malone is hoping momentum is building for his anti-gerrymandering bill, now that 22 Democrats have joined all 42 Republicans in supporting his effort to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries.
In the college application process, one little box is worth thousands of dollars: the one linked to in-state tuition. Checking that box for the University of Maryland College Park, for example, saves you $24,600 — the difference between paying in-state tuition of $8,651 for the current academic year versus $33,272 for out-of-state students. Some students, however, may be getting an in-state tuition break who shouldn’t be.
House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch presented the annual Speaker’s Society Awards during Tuesday’s floor session. The Speaker’s Medallion and citations were awarded posthumously to victims of the shooting at the Capital-Gazette newspaper last June: Wendi Winters, Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, Gerald Fischman, and John McNamara.
Striped bass or rockfish, one of the most prized species in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic Coast, are being overfished according to a new assessment of the stock’s health — a finding that will likely trigger catch reductions for a species long touted as a fisheries management success.
Saying “73 is the new 50,” Del. Jon Cardin is pushing a bill to bump up the mandatory retirement age for judges in Maryland from 70 to 73. If passed, HB182 would require a constitutional amendment and have to be approved by voters in the 2020 general election.