By Authority:
Jay Stearman
Treasurer,
People for
Pendergrass

An Issues Update - End of Session, May 2005 

See links at bottom of page for Past session updates.

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please send an email to shane.pendergrass@house.state.md.us

Legislative Wrap-up – What matters to you?

Medical Malpractice

Big Money for School Construction

Working Toward Lower Property Taxes

Identity Theft Prevention

Health Care Progress for Everyone

Making Health Care Safer: Hospital Infection Rates

The More You Know: Clinical Trials Database

Slots, Slots, Slots

Some Final Thoughts

Dear Friends,

Looking back on the 2005 Legislative Session, I find myself surprised that the time I have spent here in Annapolis has truly been just 90 days. This has been an exceptionally busy session for me and for my colleagues in the General Assembly, and much has been achieved. I’d like to share with you just a few of the accomplishments that I find most significant from this, my eleventh session in Annapolis.

Medical Malpractice back to top of page

For the first time in my many years in the Maryland House of Delegates, we were called into a Special Session to address the crisis of rising costs for medical malpractice insurance. The 33% increase in premiums in one year threatened to push some doctors out of their practices and drastically reduce access to health care throughout the state. In response, the Speaker of the House, Michael Busch, proposed a solution that provides doctors with immediate and long-term rate relief. The bill caps premium increase rates at 5% for the next several years and creates an Insurance Stabilization Fund. With an eye to the future, the bill also addresses tort and insurance reform. It improves patient safety by making it easier for the Board of Physicians to discipline doctors and by adding malpractice information to the data collected by the Maryland Patient Safety Center.

After intense debate, we passed HB 2 on December 30, 2004 at about 3:00 AM. Fifteen amendments were discussed in the House alone, and a Conference Committee convened to find a compromise between the Senate and House changes to the bill. Governor Ehrlich vetoed HB 2, but on January 11, 2005, the General Assembly voted to override his veto. Because the bill was emergency legislation, it took effect immediately. The very next day, we returned to the State House for the opening of this year’s regular session.

Big Money for School Construction back to top of page

As a former art teacher, I am a firm believer in the important role that education and the public schools play in our society and our communities. School facilities provide a crucial learning environment for our children and are the literal foundation of education. While there has been much debate over how best to fund school construction, there is agreement among legislators and citizens alike that a strong funding commitment to these projects is a vital investment in Maryland’s children. To follow through on this important contribution, the General Assembly allocated $250 million to build and renovate schools statewide. This sum reflects an increase of $100 million added by the House of Delegates to Governor Ehrlich’s proposed investment. Howard County will receive about $15 million to construct and enhance school facilities.

Working Toward Lower Property Taxes back to top of page

As the money available for school construction shows, the increasingly positive financial picture in the state has made many good things possible. But it has carried with it some negative side effects as well. I consider it my responsibility as a Delegate to try to provide relief from these burdens. In response to the escalating property values across the state, the House of Delegates proposed a measure that would have reduced property taxes by almost five cents per $100 of assessed value. If the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act had passed with this amendment, property taxes would have returned to the level in effect from 1981 until 2003, when Governor Ehrlich increased the rate to 13.2 cents.

Unfortunately, the property tax reduction did not pass. However, I am optimistic that we will revisit this issue in the 2006 session, and my disappointment is tempered by the many constructive outcomes these 90 days did produce. Two of my personal successes were HB 56: Consumer Protection - Privacy of Social Security Numbers and HB 719: Health Occupations - State Board of Examiners in Optometry - Scope of Practice.

Identity Theft Prevention back to top of page

Maryland ranks thirteenth in identity theft complaints, with both Laurel and Columbia among the top five victim locations in the state. The rates of this terrible crime are growing rapidly with help from the all-too-common use of Social Security numbers (SSN) as identification codes by insurance companies and a variety of other businesses. HB 56 was signed into law to put a stop to the widespread insecure transmission of Social Security numbers and to help prevent identity theft before it occurs. The new law prohibits public posting of any SSN, printing a SSN on an insurance card or other ID which must be shown for services, unencrypted Internet transmission of your SSN, and mailing of documents which have a SSN printed on them. I am very pleased with the passage of this bill after three years of hard work on this issue. When there are simple things we can do to protect ourselves from crimes like identity theft, it seems only logical that we take action. The legislature took this idea to heart this session, passing five bills aimed at eliminating this appalling crime.

Health Care Progress for Everyone back to top of page

It is always a great pleasure to see a bill pass after years of dedicated effort on an issue. Some solutions take longer than others, as is the case with HB 719: Health Occupations - State Board of Examiners in Optometry - Scope of Practice. This bill helps provide affordable, accessible vision care to Marylanders by allowing optometrists to administer topical steroids (eye drops) to their patients under certain circumstances. The favorable report on HB 719 also marks a major step in resolving the fifteen-year-old dispute between optometrists and ophthalmologists over the appropriate scope of practice in optometry. I am "OPTOMistic" that this advance will help to improve patient care across the state.

HB 719 was doubly rewarding for me because it was not only a bill that I sponsored, but also a bill assigned to my subcommittee. My new position as chair of the Health Occupations Subcommittee has allowed me to serve as mediator in the optometry-ophthalmology debate and in a number of other controversies as well. The successful and encouraging outcomes we produced in subcommittee have led my colleagues in the Health and Government Operations Committee (HGO) to joke that I should go to the Middle East to moderate peace negotiations.

Though we do joke in HGO, we also work very hard. This session our efforts paid off with many bills of which we can all be proud. Here are just a few examples:

• HB 324 became law to provide prescription drug assistance to the 30,000 Maryland senior citizens with household incomes at or below 300% of poverty level. This new law supplements often insufficient Medicare benefits by helping pay the premiums and deductibles on medicines our seniors need.
  
  
• The passage of HB 1143 expanded eligibility for the Maryland Pharmacy Discount Program to include about 37,000 Marylanders who do not qualify for Medicare and who do not have prescription drug coverage.
  
  
• With HB 627, we created a Health Care Safety Net to help provide uninsured Marylanders access to health care at community health centers. This bill passed the House by a large margin and then passed the Senate to become law with only one dissenting vote.
  
  
• Continuing to increase access to health care, we passed HB 1284: Fair Share Health Care Act to require big businesses to contribute to their employees’ health insurance, either directly or by helping to pay for the Maryland Medical Assistance Program. This important new law will benefit all Marylanders by leveling the playing field between employers who offer good health coverage and those who do not. Unfortunately, the governor vetoed this bill. The Legislature will have the opportunity to override this veto on the first day of the 2006 session.
  
  
• SB 796, the Medical Decision-Making Act will allow committed couples, regardless of sexual orientation, the same medical, funeral, and hospital visitation rights as couples who are married. This bill was passed by both chambers, but was also vetoed by Governor Ehrlich.
  
  
• Finally, we passed HB 1183 to create a Stem Cell Research Fund as well as cancer screening and treatment programs, all using Cigarette Restitution Fund money. This money would have funded embryonic stem cell studies only on cells derived from umbilical cord blood and in vitro fertilization. A threat of Senate filibuster prevented HB 1183 from becoming law, despite being passed by the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee.

As you can see, this was a very productive session. In Committee and in Subcommittee, we passed many important bills for Maryland. I am pleased to have been a part of these successes. I also learned valuable lessons from bills that did not pass. There are several issues I hope to revisit in 2006 to put this new knowledge to good use. Among these are two particular concerns: reporting of healthcare-associated infections and clinical drug trial disclosure. I introduced the following bills for the first time this session, understanding that many bills require several years of debate to become law. I am optimistic that continued discussion and effort will pay off in both of these cases to the benefit of all Marylanders.

Making Health Care Safer: Hospital Infection Rates back to top of page

You may not know that more people die every year as a result of infections they acquire while patients in healthcare facilities than from homicide and car accidents combined. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 90,000 people nationwide are killed annually by these deadly infections. However, hospitals are not required to report the rates of these infections to anyone - not to the licensing authority, not to the government, and most importantly, not to their patients. As it stands now, consumers like you cannot get this information, the crucial details you need to make safe healthcare decisions. I introduced HB 199: Hospital Infections Disclosure Act in response to requests from constituents concerned about improving patient outcomes in hospitals across the state. The bill was intended to ensure public access to data about Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) in the form of an annual report comparing Maryland hospitals’ rates in a fair and risk-adjusted way.
As I researched the issue and through the course of debate on this legislation, I learned that Maryland hospitals are working to solve the problem of HAI. I worked closely with the hospitals to cooperate with their approaches to the situation, and amended HB 199 to take their efforts into account. Maryland leads the nation in healthcare accountability as one of the first states to adopt a "Hospital Report Card," called the Maryland Hospital Performance Evaluation Guide (MPEG). HB 199 would have required this resource to include information on hospital infections. (You can access MPEG online at http://hospitalguide.mhcc.state.md.us/.)

HB 199 in its final form would have facilitated progress toward the goal shared by patients and hospitals alike: improved patient outcomes. It acknowledged the significant work of the hospitals to reduce infection rates without overlooking the importance of publicly reporting these measures. Furthermore, it had the full support of Maryland hospitals, the Consumers Union, and the Maryland Health Care Commission. The bill passed the House with almost unanimous approval. However, in spite of the lack of opposition, the Senate Finance Committee voted HB 199 unfavorable. But this is not the end of the story. With all of the progress made toward making HAI reporting a reality, I plan to reintroduce this bill in the 2006 session. I am confident that the Hospital Infections Disclosure Act will reinforce the efforts of Maryland hospitals, as well as make this crucial information available to consumers like you.

The More You Know: Clinical Trials Database back to top of page

Lack of access to health care information can be deadly both inside a hospital and outside of it. While hospital patients are denied data about infections, prescription drug consumers are also being kept in the dark, and the failure to report on clinical drug trials can have serious results. Countless doctors prescribed Paxil to children and adolescents because they were not informed that this antidepressant actually increases the risk of suicidal thoughts in young patients. The studies that revealed this danger were never released to the public. Meanwhile, patients who are searching for new treatment alternatives do not have the information they need to seek out trials that could help them. Publicizing these trials just makes sense.

In 1997 the Federal Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 established a Federal database called ClinicalTrials.gov and required companies to register trials, but many companies have not complied with this law. According to FDA officials, there has been no enforcement of violations. The Journal of the American Medical Association, supported by an independent FDA study, asserts that more than half of all clinical trials are not registered.

To reinforce the Federal efforts to remedy this alarming situation, this session I introduced HB 54 entitled Health - Clinical Trials Data Bank. The bill would have required all clinical trials that occur in Maryland to be registered with the Federal Clinical Trials Data Bank. It also contained monetary penalties for failure to register, and authorized the Attorney General to enforce this law. Unfortunately, although the bill passed both the House and the Senate, it did so without the monetary penalties.
The Senate equivalent of this bill, SB 681 entitled Health - Clinical Trials - Data Bank Information and Publication of Results, also passed both houses. While on the same topic, these two bills differed slightly. Both had positive aspects that strengthened the Federal law, including annual reporting of violations and increased accountability. This issue went to a Conference Committee that unfortunately was not able to come to agreement. The result was that HB 54 / SB 681 did not pass this session; however, I am planning on introducing HB 54 again next year.

Slots, Slots, Slots back to top of page

As you probably know, the House passed a slots bill this session. HB 1361 would have allowed as many as 9,500 slot machines in four Maryland counties. There has been much debate and controversy over the ever-present issue of slots. Legislators on both sides of the question insist that their position is the right one for Maryland. However, I believe that it is often those who are most affected by a policy, practice, or problem who are best qualified to change or solve it. This is why, when HB 1361 came to the floor for a vote this session, I cosponsored an amendment with District 13 Delegates Neil Quinter and Frank Turner. This amendment would have allowed voters within a 3-mile radius of any proposed slot facility location to call for a local special election on the facility. If a majority of local citizens voted against the facility, it would not have been permitted at that site. Unfortunately, the House of Delegates rejected the amendment and the bill in its final form did not provide for community voter input into the slots decision. For this reason and others, I voted against this bill. While it did pass the House, HB 1361 was amended by the Senate and did not become law.

To ensure that citizens will have a say in the question of slots, I have introduced my own slots bill for three years in a row. This session, that bill was HB 722: Video Lottery Terminals - Constitutional Amendment Subject to Voter Approval. This legislation establishes a two-tier process that would place the decision of whether to legalize slots in your hands as a voter. The bill stipulates that Maryland voters would decide this issue with a question on the general election ballot. Then, in order for a video terminal license to be granted to a facility in a particular county, the majority of the voters in that county must have voted in favor of slot machines in the general referendum. In this process, every vote would be counted twice: first as a vote on slots in Maryland, and second as a vote on slots in the voter’s county. Though it came closest in 2004, the bill has never passed out of committee. Unfortunately, it received an unfavorable report from the Ways and Means Committee this session. Governor Ehrlich has called slots a second-term issue and plans not to work on this problem next session. I would like to see this time-, money- and energy-consuming question answered once and for all. For this reason, I plan to reintroduce the "slots referendum" next year. Perhaps the fourth time will be the charm, and you will see the slots question on your ballot next fall.

Some Final Thoughts back to top of page

Edmund Burke, in his Speech on the Conciliation of America, reminded us: "All government, - indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act, - is founded on compromise and barter." This quote is truly representative of the legislative process, as I have experienced it. As I prepare for the 2006 Legislative Session, I anticipate 90 days of hard work, aided by the lessons I have taken from this year and my experience with the give-and-take of the legislative process. Next year’s session will be intense. It will also be productive for us in Annapolis, and more importantly, for you as a Maryland citizen.

Thank you for your continued interest in the problems I address as your Delegate. As always, I welcome your comments and concerns about all issues. Knowing what citizens think helps me do a better job in Annapolis.

Sincerely,

2006 Legislative Session Update

2004 Legislative Session Update

 

Delegate Shane Pendergrass, District 13
Maryland House of Delegates
6 Bladen Street, Room 262
Annapolis, MD 21401
(301) 858-3139, (410) 841-3139
Toll Free: 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3139
FAX: (410) 841-3178  -  (301) 858-3178
e-mail: shane.pendergrass@house.state.md.us