The O'Malley-Brown re-election efforts received an endorsement from The Professional Firefighters of Maryland (PFFMD) earlier today.
Governor O'Malley was honored to receive the endorsement of over 7,000 professional firefighters, fire officers and EMS employees:
"It is truly one of the great honors of my life to have the opportunity to stand beside and behind Maryland's bravest. You represent all that is great and heroic about our state - risking your own lives for fellow citizens you've never met, choosing to run to the front lines of danger so that the rest of us will be safe and secure."
PFFMD cited Gov. O'Malley's commitment to public safety as the primary reason for the endorsement. Firefighters State President Mike Rund said:
"Gov. O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Brown have shown that public safety is and will continue to be a top priority for their administration. This is clearly illustrated by their actions over the last four years, and we're proud to support them for re-election."
Governor Martin O'Malley spent two days in Iraq last week, visiting with deployed Maryland soldiers and the men and women of the Maryland National Guard as part of a Department of Defense-sponsored mission.
In an email to his supporters, Gov. O'Malley said,
"Some of our servicemembers [in Iraq] are on their third tour of duty. Their bravery and fortitude is inspiring - and I was grateful for the opportunity to tell them in person how much we all appreciate their service."
While in Iraq, the governor visited with members of Maryland-based Army Reserve A Company of the 323 Military Intelligence Battalion and the Maryland-based Army Reserve 392 Expeditionary Signal Battalion, Task Force Raven. Gov. O'Malley joined Gov. Chet Culver of Iowa for a barbecue dinner with service members from the governors' two states.
Earlier today, Governor O'Malley sent an email about the national foreclosure crisis and what we're doing in Maryland to end it.
Take a minute to read the email and then send a letter to your state legislator asking them to support Governor O'Malley's emergency bill to protect our families and communities from foreclosures:
Imagine having to look your children in the eyes and tell them you'll have to leave your home, maybe your whole community, for good.
Over the course of the national foreclosure crisis, thousands of Marylanders haven't had to imagine this ordeal. They've lived it. And every uprooted family, every boarded-up house, affects all of us -- our neighborhoods, our towns and cities, our state.
We can help more families stay in their homes -- by forcing mortgage companies to give homeowners facing foreclosure a chance to negotiate better terms on their loans. Yesterday, Rep. Elijah Cummings and I urged the General Assembly to pass an emergency bill to do just that.
Join us in taking action today. Urge your state legislators to support the bill, and help protect our families and communities from foreclosures:
Since 2007, we've helped thousands of families hold onto their homes through programs like the Homeowners Preserving Equity (HOPE) initiative.
But thousands more could be saved if we act together to stop huge, faceless mortgage companies from crushing homeowners under their heel because they're more concerned with profits than with helping families stay in their homes.
Writing your legislators will only take a few minutes, and your support of this emergency bill could have an immediate impact.
The emergency bill just needs three-fifths of the votes in the General Assembly to pass and be enacted immediately.
Help make today the beginning of the end of the foreclosure crisis in Maryland. Write your state legislators now:
On the heels of the College Board’s release of its annual report ranking Maryland #1 in the nation for Advance Placement scores for a second straight year and Education Week Magazine’s second straight #1 ranking for Maryland public schools, Governor Martin O’Malley today introduced legislation to further reform Maryland schools as State education leaders prepare to apply for federal “Race to the Top” funding.
The Governor’s Education Reform Act of 2010 includes reforms in the following major categories:
Teacher Tenure
Currently, a teacher is eligible for tenure after a two-year probationary period. If the teacher does not meet the requirements for tenure after two years, he or she is assigned a mentor during a third year of teaching and re-evaluated for tenure after that year.
This bill extends the period before a teacher is eligible for tenure from two years to three years. This is the same length of time required by at least 33 other states. To promote teacher effectiveness, the bill also provides for additional mentoring and professional development for non-tenured teachers who need additional support.
Student Growth in Evaluations
As set forth in the federal Race to the Top guidelines, the Education Reform Act of 2010 requires that student growth data be a significant factor in the evaluations of teachers and principals. However, because of the complex factors that affect student performance, the bill also requires that other factors be considered as well. The State Board of Education will establish a framework to help guide the implementation of these requirements at the local level. Schools systems that participate in the State’s Race to the Top application may be subject to additional requirements regarding student growth data.
Differentiated Pay
State law already authorizes differentiated pay programs to attract highly effective teachers and principals to low-performing schools or hard to staff subjects. Under the Education Reform Act of 2010, the State would provide additional stipends to teachers and principals in the lowest achieving five percent of Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring. Implementation of this stipend program is contingent upon Maryland’s receipt of Race to the Top funds.
Each school system that participates in the State’s Race to the Top application will be required to develop a plan that includes strategies to promote the equitable distribution of teachers and or principals across their districts, including their high-poverty and/or high-minority schools as well as hard to staff subjects and specialty areas.
Governor O'Malley just delivered the 2010 State of the State address to the Maryland General Assembly, urging legislators to take action on an agenda focused intently on creating jobs here in Maryland. We've posted the text of the speech as prepared here.
We'll be live-tweeting during Governor O'Malley's State of the State address today at noon on the campaign's Twitter account, @governoromalley. Follow along and join the conversation!
When most people think about Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay, Blue Crabs and the best public schools in the nation come to mind. Governor Martin O'Malley is committed to adding cyber security to that list.
In an opinion piece in Monday's Baltimore Sun, Governor O'Malley pledged to continue and strengthen Maryland's cyber security industry, thereby better securing networks, protecting crucial information, and creating thousands of new jobs.
O'Malley used the recent cyber attack on Google to highlight the seriousness of the issue - how consumer information, business records, and classified documents can be vulnerable if proper safeguards are not in place:
"In an era where our economy, our infrastructure and the well-being of our families are so interconnected and dependent upon computers and cyberspace, one of our top priorities must be cyber security. In Maryland, we are addressing this challenge head-on."
Our state certainly has a lot to protect: the tech industry is one of Maryland's greatest economic assets, with more than 250,000 Marylanders working in the technology field. In the midst of a recession, the Maryland tech sector saw 7.2 percent job growth in one year - the fastest in the nation. In addition, thanks to the Governor's leadership, the military's U.S. Cyber Command will be established in Maryland - creating 10,000 to 15,000 new jobs.
That makes this renewed commitment to cyber security evermore crucial. "We - government, the private sector and industry -- must work together at every level to ensure the security of our digital infrastructure now and in the future," wrote O'Malley.
However, it's not all about the technology itself - education is an essential component of the Governor's cyber security policy. "We must ensure that our citizens - the college student doing homework on a laptop computer in a dorm, the online shopper, the small business owner managing inventory online, or the CEO overseeing a multibillion-dollar corporation - are aware, informed and educated about the risks inherent in a global online community."
Says O'Malley: "Maryland is answering President Obama's call to action to not only ensure the security of our digital infrastructure now, and in the future, but to also ensure economic prosperity with thousands of new cyber security posts."
Conversion Van Media Program March 21 – March 22, 2005 Scottsdale, Arizona
Today, Governor O’Malley announced a series of legislative initiatives targeted at protecting Maryland families from sexual predators and strict enforcement of sex offender laws, including lifetime supervision for certain sex offenses.
The Governor also announced legislation to reconstitute the Sexual Offender Advisory Board, and has asked former Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran to serve as Chair.
Legislative initiatives aimed at protecting Maryland families:
Sexual Offenders – Lifetime Supervision
The bill requires that courts sentence certain serious sex offenders (convicted of first degree rape/attempt; second degree rape/attempt; first degree sexual offense/attempt; certain second and third degree sexual offenses; certain sexual abuse of a minor) and sexual offenders with multiple offenses to mandatory lifetime supervision. This lifetime supervision must be consecutive to any sentence or probationary term imposed for the underlying offense. The sentencing court must order a presentence investigation prior to imposing the conditions of this lifetime supervision, which may include GPS monitoring. The bill also provides for criminal penalties for violations and provides that any sentence imposed for a violation of lifetime supervision is not subject to dimunition credits.
The bill further provides that, following the original sentence and an additional three years of lifetime supervision, a person may petition the sentencing court for discharge from this supervision. In order to file a petition, a person must have a recommendation from their supervising agent and a risk assessment conducted by a sexual offender treatment provider. A sentencing court may not discharge a person from lifetime supervision unless there is a finding that the person no longer poses an unacceptable risk to community safety.
Sexual Offender Advisory Board
This bill reconstitutes the Sexual Offender Advisory Board to be compromised of persons with specialized knowledge of sex offenders so that the Board can effectively make policy recommendations on how to best manage sex offenders and protect the public. The bill also alters the charge of the Board, directing the Board to: review the laws and practices in Maryland, including our registration requirements; work with the Judiciary to develop risk-assessment criteria for the lifetime supervision offenders; make recommendations for the treatment and management of sex offenders; develop standards for a statewide certification process for sexual offender treatment providers; and make recommendations regarding the training of sexual offender management teams.
Criminal Procedure - Sex Offenders - Notification and Registration
This proposal would bring the State into compliance with the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) (also known as the Adam Walsh Act), which creates minimum standards for sex offender registration. States have been given until July 2010 to come into “substantial” compliance or risk the loss of Byrne grant funds. The most significant changes include: making the registration requirements retroactive; re-classifying the sex offense categories; and requiring juvenile offenders to register publicly if convicted in adult court or if adjudicated delinquent for serious sexual offenses and at least 14 years of age.
Sexual Offender Registration – Indecent Exposure and Possession of Child Pornography
This bill would allow a judge to order a person convicted of (1) possession of child pornography; or (2) indecent exposure in the presence of a minor to register as a sexual offender. Currently, these crimes are not included on the Maryland registry and judges have no authority to order an offender to register for these offenses.
Registration of Sexual Offenders – Continuing Course of Conduct
This bill adds the crime of Continuing Course of Conduct with Child to the category of offenses for which a sexual offender, under certain circumstances, must register for life. The elements of the crime of “Continuing Course of Conduct” are: the commission of one or more of the following crimes at least three times over the course of 90 days to a child under the age of 14: first degree Rape; second degree Rape; first degree Sex Offense; second degree Sex Offense; third degree Sex Offense. Under current law, a conviction for any of the offenses, against a child under the age of 15, requires lifetime registration as a Child Sexual Offender. However, a conviction for Continuing Course of Conduct (three of these acts) gives a judge the discretion to order registration, but only 10 years as an Offender. This bill would remedy the inconsistency in the law and require similar registration guidelines for individuals who commit equally violent sex offenses.
Criminal Background Investigations – Employees of Facilities and Other Individuals that Care for or Supervise Children
This bill expands the categories of individuals who will be required to have a State and Federal background check. It requires background checks for employees of private entities running recreation centers as well as for employees of home health or residential service agencies licensed to provide home or community based health services for minors.
The effects of the nation's economic hardship are hitting Maryland hard. We're fighting every day to protect Maryland’s families during these tough economic times. We’re also working every day to make sure that government and its programs work for people.
http://www.twitter.com/governoromalley
Heading to the Louis Goldstein dinner in Calvert County.
16 hours, 43 minutes ago from GovernorOMalley
Congratulations to Coach Gary Williams and Greivis Vasquez for their ACC honors. Go Terps!
2 days, 20 hours, 24 minutes ago from GovernorOMalley
I am honored to have just received the endorsement of the Maryland Professional Firefighters.
3 days, 23 hours, 46 minutes ago from GovernorOMalley
Along with Twitter, become a Facebook Fan of Governor O’Malley for campaign updates. http://www.facebook.com/MartinOMalley
1 week, 3 hours, 41 minutes ago from GovernorOMalley
The effects of the nation's economic hardship are hitting Maryland hard. We're fighting every day to protect Maryland’s families during these tough economic times. We’re also working every day to make sure that government and its programs work for people.
