I am running to attempt to put a stop to the increase of fees and taxes. I also want to make sure the state is fiscally responsible in spending taxpayers money. I am also running to attempt to make Maryland affordable to keep residents from leaving due to the high costs.

At this time, I do not admire any one political leader. What I admire is someone who is truthful, hard working and who doesn't make promises he/she cannot keep. Going back a few years, I would say I very much admired William Donald Schaefer. He knew how to lead the state to prosperity and he genuinely cared about Maryland as governor and as comptroller. He always did what he promised and made Maryland a great place to live and to raise a family.

I do not support any decision Gov. Moore makes when it comes to money. I don't believe he has the leadership abilities to lead this state out of the structural deficit he and his administration have caused. This is a loaded question and is not an either/or issue. There are about 23 state agencies that have little to no oversight and no one to monitor where or how the money is spent. The first thing I would like to do is introduce legislation to create a state Office of the Inspector General to audit every agency in the state that does not have its own inspector general. This would be a big first step in reducing the deficit by reducing the fraud and waste in each agency. The inspector general would then present the findings to the governor with recommendations where budget cuts can be made without harming vital services.

This question only presents part of the problem. The state moved from coal burning power plants to green energy with no plan on how to make up the difference in power supply. Green energy is a good backup for the state, but it cannot power the whole state. The state should work with the owners of the closed power plants and the U.S. Department of Energy to convert the coal plants to natural gas or nuclear power. This would make the state an energy producer and not an energy consumer. As for the data centers, the state should ban any new construction on data centers.

The General Assembly should work with home builders and offer tax breaks and incentives to build starter single family homes. On the local level, county executives and commissioners have tried to solve this problem by changing zoning laws to accommodate apartment complexes, multi-family homes and condominiums. The residents in those areas, especially in Southern Maryland, do not want them and fight to keep them out. The builders in this state are not building anything that resembles affordable. When homes in Maryland are being advertised as luxury single-family homes starting at $1.4 million, that is not affordable to most people and keeps middle and lower income people from moving to Maryland. And it forces some Maryland residents to sell their home and move to an affordable state.

The DECADE Act is a good start but will not do enough to boost real job growth in Maryland. The DECADE Act provides minor financing and grant changes, extends tax credits and provides some tax exemptions for new IT and data services. The state needs to have a business-friendly approach to attract new business such as manufacturing, small business and the trades. Right now, there is a shortage of employees working in the trades. The state should expand and help fund teaching the trades in high school and assist in funding trade schools.

I do not support this ban at all. I do believe it compromises public safety by removing a tool for local law enforcement. This is one of my four priority issues. This ban ties the hands of state and local law enforcement and sheriff offices by not allowing them to honor ICE detainers. This decision, and we have seen it throughout the country, puts citizens and law enforcement at risk. This is why we see the increase of large ICE raids and people getting killed. When local law enforcement is allowed to work with ICE it is safer for everyone. I am not suggesting local law enforcement do the job of ICE, I am only suggesting local law enforcement honor the ICE detainers. It only take two ICE agents to pick someone up from a local jail, and takes hundreds to arrest someone when local law enforcement is not authorized to work with ICE in honoring the detainers.

We need to make Maryland a business and family friendly state. We need to make it affordable to live here or else everyone who can afford to move will.