Governor’s Workshops for Local Leaders

Introductions and Welcome:  Izzy Patoka, Office of the Governor

March  4, 2009

Thanks for coming to our second stimulus workshop.  And I bring you greetings on behalf of Governor Martin O'Malley and Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown. 

My name is Izzy Patoka and I'm the Director of the Governor's Inter-Governmental Affairs Office.

We have tonight a townhall meeting that's going to occur downstairs.  The Governor and the Lieutenant Governor -- in fact, the entire cabinet of the State of Maryland will be here in the auditorium of Douglass High. 

Let me just recognize some of our Congressional reps here.  Maryland did great in this stimulus package and I think it's largely due to the partnership between the Maryland Congressional Delegation, our two Senators, our Congressional reps, and Governor O'Malley.  And we really pushed hard to get a very large package of $3.8 billion. 

And representing Senator Mikulski's office, we have Sally Wingo and Val Twanmo and Bart Kennedy.  (Applause.)  

And from Congressman Cummings' office, we have Trudy Perkins and Fran McKenney.  (Applause.)

We were all just together in Howard County on Saturday talking about this.  So it's a very exciting time.  There's a substantial amount of the dollars that go to Health and Human Services, education, and that level is $2.7 billion of it are to those two areas, $610 million in transportation, $139 million in housing, $123 million for the environment, $54 million for workforce and $39 million in public safety.  Plus tax cuts. 

So it's a great package, it's going to move America forward and we have an excellent panel here to talk about the details of it, because it's an excellent package, but it's very complex.  And so we have -- and I think you have your agendas here, everyone has an agenda. 

And we have representing the Maryland State Department of Education, Debbie Greenberg Lichter is here.  Don Halligan from -- I keep giving him a promotion to Assistant Secretary at these hearings, but he heads up  Planning and Capital Programming for the Department of Transportation.  Jag Khuman from the Maryland Department of the Environment.  Malcolm Woolf -- I don't see Malcolm, we don't have Malcolm yet, he's been very busy with doing some really innovative energy programs and there's good -- good energy assistance programs in this package. 

We have Assistant Secretary Frank Coakley from the Department of Housing and Community Development.  Many people in Baltimore know Frank very well.  

And also, the Director of the Grants Office, Eric Brenner, is here.  And I also want to recognize the effervescent Ashley Vallas, who works in the Inter-Governmental Affairs Office as well. 

If we -- oh, sorry, and Assistant Secretary from the Department of Business and Economic Development Hannah Byron, sorry, and  many people in Baltimore know Hannah as well. 

Just to get an idea -- and we have a hand-out going around for you to sign up, our sign-up sheet, I should say.   But to get an idea of where the participants are from, if you could just raise your hand when I name the jurisdiction,  and we'll  kind of get an idea generally where folks are from.   And we'll start north.  Do we have anybody here from Harford County?  There's Harford County, good people of Harford.  Councilwoman from Harford.

And Baltimore County?   Baltimore City?  Harford -- I mean, Howard County?  And Carroll County?  And I saw somebody from Prince George's County right here from Bowie.  And Cecil.  And any other wonderful county in the State of Maryland.  (Laughter.)  And what county is that?  St. Mary's?  All the way from St. Mary's.

So, again, thank you for taking the time out tonight to join us, to try to understand what's going on.  

The hand-outs -- and I think I mentioned this, there's a Q and A on stimulus and then each of the presenters will talk about their specific -- their specific program. 

So let me not delay any further.  Again, I want to remind you to please stay for the townhall meeting.  Oh, and I see another councilman from Baltimore -- two councilmen from Baltimore County, Councilman Oliver and Bartenfelder. 

Are there any other elected officials that I didn't call out?  Okay.  Then we've got it covered.

 

WORKSHOP VIDEOS INDEX

[ Download Stimulus Workshop Handouts (.zip) ]