In Annapolis, four Prince George's members of the Maryland House of Delegates have joined in sponsoring legislation, HB 1628, to raise taxes by instituting a sales tax on services. The four PG delegates are Ben Barnes, Derick David, Michael Jackson, and Alonzo Washington. The sponsors claim this 2.9 billion annual increase in taxes is needed to fund the Kirwan Commission, which has proposed a wide range of new functions and spending in public education that are vital to improve excellence and quality.
Opponents of this bill point out that while it lowers the sales tax to 5% it also extends it to a broad range of services which have never been taxed before, such as hair cuts, plumbers, oil changes, veterinarian bills, car washes, tax filing services, online subscriptions like Netflix, etc.! The Department of Legislative Services says that this will result in a $2.9 billion tax increase which would be the largest tax increase in Maryland history.
A large number of protesters have emerged to oppose this huge tax increase, which has been reported by PG Citizens before as being unnecessary and ineffective to improve public education, since jurisdictions with relatively low per-pupil spending have higher student achievement than do those like Baltimore City, where the per-pupil spending is much greater.
Governor Hogan also strongly opposes this tax increase as unwise and unnecessary. And Maryland citizens in large numbers all over the state have supported the Governor's position against higher taxes as well. One Prince George's citizen stated his support for the Governor's position this way: “I've recently retired and don't want to leave Maryland, but if they adopt Kirwan I'm concerned that it's going to eventually be too expensive to live here. I just wanted to say that the silent majority here in the state supports you. Having taxes on services will really hurt the small business owner and normal non-millionaire consumers like me.” —Erin, Laurel
Alternatives to Higher Taxes
Accountability in Education Act of 2020 Across the state, citizens have been outraged by reports of waste, fraud, and abuse within school systems. Recently, in Baltimore County, a whistleblower has come forward alleging that cabinets full of financial records were shredded by officials at a time when the county school system was undergoing a financial audit. The school system has acknowledged that documents were destroyed, but there are no records as to what was shredded or who authorized their destruction. Last year, Governor Hogan sought to curb this corruption in the public school system by urging accountability in public education. And, in this process, the office of Inspector General for Education was established to address this type of waste and fraud, which has also been reported in Prince George's County public schools as well.
The Accountability in Education Act of 2020 strengthens the authority of the inspector general. The legislation would expand the scope of what the Inspector General can investigate and also what types of documents and records that must be made available to the IG over the course of an investigation. The bill also establishes a hotline that teachers can use to report discipline issues ignored or not adequately addressed by school administrators. One former public school teacher, Del. Kathy Szeliga, states that she has had conversations with educators who feel powerless in their classrooms. She said, "They are not getting the support from their school administrators to deal with students who are chronically disruptive. But they are fearful of losing their jobs should they come forward. This hotline will provide them with direct access to the Inspector General’s office.”
Right to Learn Act of 2020
The Right to Learn Act of 2020 frees Maryland students who are trapped in chronically failing schools by giving them alternative options. The bill defines a Failing School as one that has received a 1-Star rating from the Maryland Department of Education for three consecutive years. The parent/guardian of a student attending a failing school must be offered the opportunity to move to another school within the jurisdiction that has a minimum of 2 stars or the opportunity of taking a Right to Learn Scholarship to attend a private school. Families may choose to stay in the 1-star school if they wish. For each student using the Right to Learn Scholarship, their local board of education must pay into the fund an amount equivalent to the state and local per pupil spending for that jurisdiction. Any excess dollars not expended are returned to the jurisdiction of origin. These are education dollars following the students who need them.