LOCAL ISSUES Over the past 20 years, Steve Rizzi has been working to make a difference in everything which he has been involved with professionally. This has included a broad range of topics including education, economic development, technology, and security. In this election, Steve is working to present ideas which work to solve the problems we are experiencing in our District, as well as our state. These ideas are not the sort of ideas that you are likely to hear from the Democratic Party establishment. These ideas are based on research and creative problem solving, which in many cases represent just the sort of stimulation that our state needs to get out of the “rut” of politics as usual. Education While the state and local boards of education have worked hard to improve our state’s schools, we must face the fact that our current public school system is no better than average. While Maryland spends over $7,000 per student per year on public K-12 education, our state scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests were in the middle of the 50 states. While states such as Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, and Massachusetts continued to improve their scores, Maryland has showed little forward progress. The National Center for Education Statistics has reported that Maryland’s scores in mathematics, science, reading, and writing all fell within the average range of US states for 4th and 8th graders. Similarly, Maryland students’ SAT scores were reported to be in the average range as well, and the percentage of graduating high school seniors that went on to further study was roughly four out of ten. We have to do better. Click here to read more. Economic Development Our state's businesses deserve a state government which is motivated the same way that they are – to serve the customer. As tax payers, we are both the “share holders” and customer of the state government, and the government must be prepared to quickly respond to our needs. The government must focus on legislation and programs which improve our quality of life while at the same time remaining dedicated to preserving what is unique and historically significant about our state. The state must develop a pro-business stance which fosters cooperation between government, industry, and academia. Collaborative ventures between these three parties will be a key theme in legislation which I sponsor. Such partnerships should be created in order to address challenges which our state economy faces in rural, suburban, and urban areas. Click here to read more. Law, Order & Security Anne Arundel County is fortunate to be in close proximity to Washington, Baltimore, and a number of key military installations (such as Fort Meade). This proximity provides our local workforce with exceptional job opportunities in professional and high tech areas. Additionally, a significant service and construction industry is fueled by the region’s business and government activities. In today’s post September 11th world, this proximity also makes our regional security much more complicated. Portions of our county are within 15 miles of significant potential terrorist targets (e.g., military installations, nuclear facilities, biological laboratories, airports, train stations, shipping ports, etc.). While the federal government is working diligently to address this problem from a national level, it will be our state’s “first responder” community which will be faced with addressing these disasters directly. Click here to read more. Seniors' Issues What are we doing to preserve independence for our seniors? Our legislature has worked on prescription drug benefits (the Senior Prescription Drug Relief Act), however, the benefits under that program are only temporary -- they expire in 2003. In addition, rising healthcare costs are threatening the Medicaid system and the most likely places to get hurt the most are nursing homes and prescription drug support to seniors. What's the plan here? Click here to read more. Social Issues We live at a time when we are constantly tested by circumstances that require us to evaluate what we believe in – what do our basic ethics teach us? All too often, Government finds itself in the middle of an ethical dilemma where it must balance an individual’s rights versus the state’s rights and responsibilities. It must evaluate the economic and social impact of its actions in the spirit of the federal and state constitution and our cultural heritage. Where does Steve Rizzi stand on gun control, abortion, privacy, human cloning, etc.? Click here to read more. Transportation & Growth Daily traffic on local streets is generally up 30% from 1996, and increases on the areas highways (e.g., Route 50 and Interstate 97) are up as much as 82%. While our highways are considerably wider than they were ten years ago, and they can support more cars – it is also true that commuting takes a considerable amount of our citizens’ daily lives. This reduces worker productivity and cuts into our coveted quality of life. In addition, increased vehicular traffic and higher speeds on the highway have led to increased highway accidents and traffic delays. More must be done to reduce regional traffic congestion. We have a state which is growing, with a considerable amount of new building. While Smart Growth programs provide incentives for state and local governments to focus growth in areas with existing or planned infrastructure, new growth does occur which impacts the capacity, maintenance, and support of roads, schools, and other county or city services. Under normal circumstances, counties levy impact fees on developers to help defray these costs. All too often, however, these funds do not seem to cover the effect of these developments. Click here to read more.