Memo: 2017 Legislative Session Wrap-Up

To: Interested Parties
From: Maryland Democratic Party
Date: April 12, 2017
Re: 2017 Legislative Session Wrap-Up 

The 2017 Maryland General Assembly presented Marylanders with a stark contrast between Democrats’ efforts to care for all Marylanders and Governor Larry Hogan’s record of putting his own agenda first. 

While Democrats put jobs, benefits, health care and education for working Maryland families at the center of their priorities, Hogan’s record was marked by forceful veto threats and artfully dodging these critical issues.

When Larry Hogan wouldn’t stand up to President Donald Trump for Maryland, Democrats stepped up by passing legislation to fight back against the Trump administration’s mandates that are wrong for Maryland, by defending women’s health care, strengthening public education for children, and arming the state Attorney General with the power to defend Marylanders’ best interests.

Marylanders are taking notice. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released in late March showed that Hogan is already vulnerable ahead of 2018. Registered voters in Maryland prefer Hogan over a generic Democrat by a slim 41-37 margin, which significantly narrowed from a 46-30 match-up when the poll was last conducted in September.

As the legislative session wraps up, the Maryland Democratic Party will continue to hold Hogan’s rhetoric accountable to his real record of siding against working families and putting his own agenda ahead of Maryland:

Pushing DeVos/Trump School Privatization Agenda

It’s fitting that the first Trump official that Governor Larry Hogan hosted in Maryland was Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, as they are both passionate about weakening public schools.

To stop the Hogan/DeVos/Trump school privatization agenda and strengthen Maryland’s public schools, Democrats passed the Protect Our Schools Act with veto-proof majorities in both the Senate and House.

Marylanders see a clear contrast between the Democratic priority to strengthen Maryland’s public schools, and Hogan’s agenda to take taxpayer dollars out of neighborhood public schools and instead use the money to subsidize private and religious schools.

Veto Threats Against Earned Sick Leave

This session, Democrats passed earned sick leave legislation to make sure that 700,000 working families in Maryland don’t have to choose between a paycheck and taking care of a sick child or loved one at home.

To gauge Hogan’s own priority in helping working families, look no further than his Facebook page. He bragged more about his own popularity on Facebook than about earned paid sick leave.

When Democrats passed earned sick leave legislation, instead of working together with the other side, Hogan forcefully vowed to veto the measure calling it “dead on arrival.”

Refused to Oppose Republican Affordable Care Act Repeal

As Donald Trump and Washington Republicans schemed (and thankfully failed for now) to take away healthcare from hundreds of thousands of Marylanders, Maryland Democrats fought back – without the help of Governor Hogan.

In fact, when Maryland congressional leaders visited Annapolis last month to call on Hogan to join them in opposing the Republican healthcare plan, Hogan refused and said they were “grandstanding.”

And while other Republican governors – from red, blue and purple states – were standing up for their own constituents’ healthcare, Hogan put his loyalty to Trump and his own party ahead of Marylanders.

Failure to Stand Up for Planned Parenthood

When Maryland Democrats passed a bill to offset any federal-level cuts to Maryland Planned Parenthood, Hogan dismissed the legislation as not “even worth looking at because they didn’t really accomplish anything.”

Overall, Hogan declined to support 15 measures that help Maryland families and the state’s economy that were passed by the General Assembly, including exploring options for universal pre-K and strengthening consumer protections.

Opposed to Green Job Creation

Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive action that shifted focus away from creating green jobs and curtailed the expansion of renewable energy.

It turns out that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s record isn’t much different.

Earlier this year, Hogan vetoed the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which would boost the state’s booming renewable energy economy and help create thousands of good-paying jobs in Maryland. Democrats in the General Assembly successfully overrode his veto.