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Education

During his first term, Ken supported the Blueprint for Maryland's suture that will commit the funds necessary to give every Maryland Child a world-class education, attract and retain the best teachers, ensure first-class school buildings and instructional materials, and create graduates ready for a modern workforce or on-going studies. Ken continues to work on "Brynleigh's Act" which would make schools safer for kids who suffer from seizures. In his first session, Ken sponsored a bill to recognize Maryland School for the Deaf teachers and professional staff as full-time professionals rather than at-will employees creating a more stable learning environment for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

Healthcare and Prescription Medications

As a member of the Health and Government Operations Committee, Ken has been on the front lines of all legislation dealing with affordable healthcare, patient rights, access to care, telehealth, mental health, and providing COVID relief. He co-sponsored HB 127 in 2019 to establish a 90-day special enrollment period for uninsured women beginning on the date a pregnancy to get them access to healthcare after the pregnancy has occurred. In 2021, Ken was lead sponsor on a first-of-its-kind -in-the-nation bill that will provide healthcare insurance subsidies for Young Marylanders (age 19-34) who make up to $5,000 a year so that they can afford to purchase health insurance on the open exchanges. It is expected to reduce everyone's healthcare cost by 2.5%.

Ken was the lead sponsor for making the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program a permanent part of Maryland's healthcare system. This bill reduced Prescription Drug related overdose deaths for the first time since 2017 and resulted in 250,000 fewer prescriptions for opioids. In 2021, Ken was lead sponsor on a bill that keeps drug costs down by permitting the pharmacist to use the manufacturer's expiration date (usually much longer) rather than the previously required date of "one-year from the date of dispensing."

Our Environment

Ken has a 100% rating from the Sierra Club--the nation's leading environmental policy group.

Helping Families

In 2020, Ken sponsored a change to the Healthy Working Families' Act to make it easier for non-family members to take care of a disabled person who has no family and is unable to care for themselves. In 2021, Ken was lead sponsor on a bill that provides property tax relief to small businesses adversely affected by a declared state of emergency--such as COVID-19. This will help family-owned businesses survive an economic downturn resulting form an emergency.