Legislative Agenda, 2006

Continue the Committment to Investing in Our Children's Future
The state must fully fund the Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI) so that Prince George’s County receives all of the school aid to which it is entitled. The GCEI was a critical component of the Bridge to Excellence Law in 2002 and should not be held hostage to the creation of a new funding source.

It should be a collective priority between the County and the State to ensure that county school construction is funded at a level sufficient to complete the County’s program of building new schools as well as funding renovation and major repairs for older ones. For FY2007, Prince George’s County is requesting $99.7 million for new construction and $19.9 million for renovations and repairs. The County is planning to match these appropriations with $69.7 million of its own money.

Prince George's County is also requesting the State reimburse the County for $39.2 million in school construction projects the County has forward funded.

Prince George’s will also pursue and support funding for children’s initiatives that promote the welfare of children and enhance accountability in the administration of child welfare programs. Finally, the County will seek to endorse programs that address child and family needs in the areas

Strengthen the Commitment to Innovative Criminal Justice Initiatives
To enable Prince George’s County to meet the challenge of fighting violent crime, major changes in state law must be passed to give the County needed tools. Among these changes are:

• The state police aid formula must be changed to provide additional aid to our jurisdiction given its unique geographic situations. The joint border of Prince George’s County with the District of Columbia, a jurisdiction with some of the highest crime rates in the nation, creates “spillover” crimes that greatly add to the local police effort. This adjacent location to another federal jurisdiction and subsequent spillover responsibilities create a basis for entitlement to extra police aid.
• The State’s Drug-Free School Zone law must be expanded to include all violent felonies that occur within the same boundary. The success of the drug-free school zone suggests that a similar model will be effective for the establishment of a “Violence Free” school zone as well. Through enhanced penalties, criminals will be deterred from committing drug crimes on school property.
• The community, the County, and the State must collectively fight crime through support of the County Executive’s Apartment Complex “Clean-Up” Initiative. Options must include the use of incentives, such as tax credits and matching funds, for security enhancements in multiple dwelling units.
• Juveniles over the age of 16 charged with vehicle theft should be tried as an adult. Recent activity has shown that many vehicle thefts could be related to a small group of juveniles. Deterrence must be in place to make such actions have greater consequences.
• State support is being asked to allow the County to develop a more coordinated approach to preventing domestic violence or protecting the victims of domestic violence. Funds are needed for a central location to provide services such as legal aid, housing assistance, and public awareness. programs that co-locate staff for victims of domestic violence in one
• Funding must also be provided to target youth violence and gang activity. Over the past several years, Prince George’s County has witnessed a significant rise in youth violence, particularly gang related incidents. Youth violence must be addressed at its core with funding for prevention, early intervention and early parental involvement services and programs that target school truancy and dropout rates.
• Capital funding is needed for the county’s 18-year-old Detention Center. The site is in severe need of building renovations to convert from single to double occupancy cells and to address a surge in inmate population. The state should provide $711,847 to begin the construction phase of the Detention Center Housing Renovations Project, which will upgrade and refurbish fourteen (14) original housing units, replace existing ceilings with metal ceilings, refurbish seventy-five (75) shower units, paint the walls, and perform other necessary renovation tasks.

Provide a Helping Hand to County Families
Services to the County’s older population will continue to be a priority, including issues such as affordable and accessible prescription drug programs and the implementation of Medicare Part D. A funding formula for Title III Older American Act dollars that addresses the growing needs of an urban county will also be supported. Regulation of the cost and management of prescription drugs also remains a concern, particularly for those with limited or fixed incomes.

Adequacy of funding for health care for low-income families is also an important issue for the County. The State decision to reduce funding for health care to legal immigrants with less than five years residency must be changed to address adequacy of local health care systems to absorb these unfunded costs. Efforts that monitor the implementation of access to health care funding (HB 627), the Community Choice Medicaid waiver, regulation of pharmaceutical programs and minority health disparity issues will be addressed by the County as they impact our population.

Ensuring a healthy living environment for the County’s children and their families will also be of importance. So we will be in support of legislation initiatives that promote healthy air quality and address the removal of toxins in homes and neighborhoods. Adequate funding is also needed for youth strategies initiatives, maintenance of healthy families centers, intervention program for infants and toddlers and programs that strengthen families.

Continue to Encourage the Use of Mass Transit
Prince George’s County has a young and growing workforce. There is a critical need to transport workers to the County’s major employment centers. The State must continue to partner with Prince George’s County by investing $8 million in transit-oriented development, to enable the County to create additional Transit-Oriented Development Zones and their accompanying Transit Overlay Districts, assemble land within the districts, and develop transit-oriented development within the districts.

Transit demand in the County continues to increase. To meet the demand, the State should invest $5,630,000 ($3.13 in operating, $2.5 in capital) for new buses to expand the county’s community-based bus service, The Bus. This would enable the County bus system to create a new Branch Avenue to Upper Marlboro transit connection serving Marlton and Rosaryville, a new Oxon Hill/Glass Manor route, and a new route to serve the Senior Citizens Center on Fisher Road. In addition, this expansion would allow the County to provide greater reliability and less crowding on other routes.

Continue Revitalization of Older Established Communities and Encourage Accessibility to New Ones
Revitalization of established communities is an important component of the County Executive’s Livable Communities Initiative, and the completion of the County’s major revitalization projects is contingent on the state’s continued partnership with the county in funding these projects. The state should provide:

• $5 million for the Suitland Manor Redevelopment Project for acquisition, environmental remediation, and demolition of blighted properties as well as for relocation of tenants;
• $5 million for the Gateway Arts and Entertainment District, including the live/work artists’ housing project in Brentwood and the African-American Heritage and Cultural Center in North Brentwood, for design, construction, development, acquisition, tenant relocation, environmental remediation and demolition.
• $3 million for the demolition and redesign of the McGuire House Senior Public Housing Development in Oxon Hill to supplement federal funding; and
• $3 million for the International Corridor Multicultural Service Center Project to renovate the historic McCormick-Goodhart Mansion in Langley Park, to supplement County funding.

In addition to the state partnering with the County on these projects, the State’s heritage tax credit program needs to be revised so that World War II-era properties along the County’s Southern and Eastern Avenues border qualify. This would encourage redevelopment of these neighborhoods that would provide a convenient home for federal employees in the Nation’s Capital.