Take Action

Click on the program area links to the left to see our legislative priorities.

Priority updates:

Stormwater

If you think it’s a boring subject, think again!  The new regulations from the 2007 Stormwater Management Act will finally come into effect in May, 2010. With that deadline looming, there are a lot of conversations around the impact of the new regulations – in particular, whether projects in the pipeline need to be grandfathered and whether the standards around redevelopment are flexible enough to still encourage infill.

Now is the time to voice your opinion on this issue!

Two bills we are opposing:

Stormwater Management - New Development and Redevelopment Projects (SB420).

• Resist any attempts to weaken regulations developed under the Stormwater Management Act!

Stormwater Management - Development Projects - Redevelopment and Preliminary Plan Approval (HB1125)

• Allowing developers to pay a fee in lieu of following stormwater management law is not protecting the environment and our communities!

Please contact your elected officials and ask them to OPPOSE the above bills.  They're bad for the environment and bad for Maryland!

If you need talking points or are interested in more information, contact Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, 1000 Friends of Maryland. 

Budget updates:

The bill number is SB140 for the Maryland budget, and SB141 for the BRFA and SB142 for the Capital Bond bill with the accompanying documents.  You can read the Governor’s press release and power point here.  Overall, the environment did remarkably well and we appreciate his continued commitment to open space preservation, cover crops, bay restoration, and community revitalization.

Specifically the budget includes:

• Record Funding for Bay 2010 Trust Fund - $20 M;
• Full Funding for Program Open Space -$22.7 M State/$15.3 M Local Projects;
• Rural Legacy -$17.6 M;
• Agricultural Land Preservation -$25.9 M;
• Cover Crops-$13.9 M;
• New Sustainable Communities Tax Credit – $50M over three years.
  

Estate Tax Relief for Farmers:

With the average age of Maryland farmers being about 60, Maryland’s farmland will be increasingly transitioning out of current farmers hands. The estate tax can drive farmers off the land completely, ending in the sale of land for development, or keep them from preserving their land, fearful that they may need to sell a portion of the property in the future to pay the estate tax bill. As a result, Maryland stands to lose a significant number of agricultural jobs over the next generation.

Supporting SB592/HB221 and SB155/HB160 will provide tax relief for our farmers -- click here to learn how you can help!

Want to get involved? 

Here are some basic tips for weighing in on the bills being heard:

Written testimony is always great.  For some of these bills someone might already have testimony you could sign onto, or you can write your own.  A template is available; keep your testimony to one page if possible.  Go to this website and click on the appropriate committee to find out how many copies you need to drop off and by what time. 

Verbal testimony – if you feel strongly enough to come down to Annapolis and talk, come on down!  The same website above says what time you have to be here by to sign up to speak.  Anyone can speak in Annapolis, but it might take all afternoon.

Call your legislator!  Find who they are here.