House Republicans Respond to Signing of Radical Environmental Bills

Annapolis, MD – The House Republican Caucus today responded to Governor Wes Moore’s signing of several pieces of radical environmental legislation passed during the 2023 Legislative Session.

“The members of our Caucus fought tirelessly during the Legislative Session to defeat, or at least to improve these pieces of legislation,” said House Minority Leader Jason Buckel. “These bills drive up the costs for consumers and small businesses, making Maryland’s high cost-of-living even more unsustainable.”

House Bill 230/Senate Bill 224 – Clean Trucks Act of 2023 expands the California Gasoline-Powered Car Ban to include medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. The California Ban currently requires 40-75% of new mid- and heavy-duty vehicle sales to be electric vehicles by 2035. However, California is considering a full ban on gas and diesel-powered mid- and heavy-duty trucks by 2040. Under the Clean Trucks Act, Maryland will also adopt this full ban should California make that change.

“This bill, along with the enactment of the California Car Ban the Moore Administration pushed through in March, will further overtax our electrical grid here in Maryland and increase costs to consumers,” said Buckel. “Maryland is already a net importer of energy every year. We have no idea if our electrical grid will be able to handle these additional demands.”

Senate Bill 780 – POWER Act – aims to radically increase the number of offshore wind projects in Maryland, ignoring the growing concerns that both the construction and the operation of these facilities may have devastating impacts on marine mammals and the Atlantic ecosystem.

“We are very concerned not only about the increased costs to ratepayers as they subsidize these costly wind projects but also the environmental costs of these 800-foot-tall wind turbines off our coast,” said House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy.  “Additionally, there have been a record number of whale and dolphin deaths on our Atlantic shores that appear to correlate with an increase in the construction and operation of these giant wind turbines. It is irresponsible to push for such a profound increase in the number of offshore wind projects without fully understanding what impact they have on our fragile marine environments in Ocean City.”

Do You Know Where Your Tax Dollars are Going?

By Reardon Sullivan

Many of you are aware that the County Executive has proposed a 10%+ increase in our property taxes. This increase is being framed as solely to support our schools.  This is patently wrong.

I believe the County must carefully review each dollar in the budget to make sure we are maximizing the return on our investment. Let’s get rid of the “pork” and “ideological” spending and concentrate on funding for many of the critical needs that we have including basic STEAM education, support of the arts, and special-needs citizens before raising taxes in the $6.8 billion operating budget and/or the $17 billion capital budget.

Bike Lanes and Road Diets Are Not the Way to Go

By Amy Waychoff

Most of us have probably experienced — or at least heard about — the dramatically increased traffic along a .6 mile stretch of Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda and North Bethesda. This busy six-lane state highway (route 187) was reduced by one lane in each direction in the fall of 2022. The remaining lanes were narrowed, and a bike lane separated by flex posts was installed.

By Arthur Didinsky

On February 9, 2023, Congresswoman Angie Craig, a Democrat from Minnesota, was brutally attacked in her apartment elevator. Just two months later, a Senator Rand Paul staffer was also stabbed in broad daylight. These incidents have sparked concern among other congressional offices, some of which have reportedly instructed their staff to remove their badges when out of the building. It is disheartening to see that the nation's capital, which should be an example of order and beauty, now seems to represent disorder.

County Leader now Maryland YR Chair

Jackie Sackstein, Chair of the Montgomery County Young Republicans was elected Chair of the State of Maryland YRs.

Congratulations Jackie. She and the executive board were sworn in Saturday at the State Meeting right here in Montgomery County.

“The Myth of American Inequality”

 by Phil Gramm, Robert Ekelund and John Early

Rowman & Littlefield 2022

In the best Andy Rooney skeptical style of observation of “Have you ever noticed,” the book’s cover sheet introduction page begins with “Everything you know about income inequality, poverty and other measures of economic well-being in America is wrong…..”

By Ann Guthrie Hingston

Jeanne Allen

Founder & CEO, Center for Education Reform

Education choice is sweeping the nation. State legislatures in West Virginia, Arizona, Iowa, and Utah have passed universal education choice scholarships in recent years.  Similar legislation is in motion in other states.  Forty-seven states have charter schools.

This month we recognize Bethesda Republican, Jeanne Allen, for her tireless advocacy for school choice and we celebrate, with her, the success of her efforts -- tuition vouchers, private scholarships, and charter schools throughout the country.

In 1993, as a former US Department of Education official and young mother, Jeanne Allen founded the Center for Education Reform (CER) to promote education excellence and accountability for outcomes for all students regardless of zip code. 

There seems to be no end to the “historic” times we are living in--- record illegal immigration, rising food and energy prices, nationwide crime coupled with police force reductions, failing schools and the weaponization of our government agencies and the judicial system against citizens.

Here in Montgomery County, our population has decreased two years in a row and we face big problems with out-of-control spending, rising crime, underperforming schools, failing major highways and bridges, banning of natural gas usage in our homes, the dissolvement of single family home neighborhoods and much, much more.