Remarks as prepared
Delivered on Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Welcome to the Maryland State House for our first Bill Signing Ceremony of 2025.
This has been an historic legislative session. Over the last ninety days, we watched chaos unfold in Washington, D.C.
But in Annapolis, we answered crisis with courage.
At a time when the White House has issued the largest tax hike on Americans in history through their tariff policy, we made sure that 94% of Marylanders will either get a tax cut or see no changes in their taxes.
At a time when the federal government is trying to eliminate the Department of Education and gut funding for schools from Mountain Maryland to the Eastern Shore – including schools that teach students with special needs – we delivered the largest single investment in K-12 education in the history of our state.
At a time when Elon Musk is laying off thousands of public servants through his DOGE project – including people charged with keeping our communities safe, we have preserved record funding for local law enforcement agencies and have passed policies to uplift the dignity of service.
Our administration laid out three core objectives in January:
Reform the tax code by giving middle-class families tax relief;
Grow our economy and diversify our economy off Washington, D.C.;
And invest in our people.
Meeting these goals required all of us working together, and I want to thank our partners inside the work:
House Speaker Adrienne Jones;
Senate President Bill Ferguson;
Committee leaders in the House and Senate;
My Legislative Office, run by Jeremy Baker;
Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller and our cabinet;
And most importantly: All of the Marylanders who traveled to Annapolis over these last ninety days to make their voices heard.
This session is yours too.
And while it is my signature that will enact these bills into law, it is your hands that hold the pen.
Over the course of the next few bill signings, you will hear from us about what we’ve accomplished together – and how our work helps Marylanders.
The legislation we sign today is centered on strengthening Maryland’s workforce.
At a time when we are watching thousands of federal workers being laid off because of an ideology;
At a time when lives and livelihoods are put at risk in the name of so-called efficiency;
At a time when the White House seems more interested in carving out space for billionaire tax cuts than helping regular people;
Maryland is mobilizing in support of our workers and middle-class families.
And last month, we announced five actions to ensure we protected our federal workers.
First: We are building out our online resources.
Second: We are connecting federal workers with opportunities in education.
Third: We are moving in partnership with local and county leaders to meet people where they are.
Fourth: We are recruiting federal workers into state jobs.
And fifth: We are updating processes in state government to expedite hiring.
Today, I will sign legislation that marks a continuation of that work.
HB 723 will help fast-track license approval for health care workers who’ve been licensed in other states – and fired from their job in the federal government.
We’re talking about highly-qualified, highly-skilled workers who have built careers saving lives, and they are now being told by the federal government that their service doesn’t matter.
Well in Maryland, we believe their service does matter. This legislation will help ensure essential workers can continue to make our state better.
And Maryland: We are going to continue to mobilize, because we refuse to bend when it comes to protecting our people.
Today, I will also sign the RAISE Act into law.
This legislation will strengthen the apprenticeship pipeline in the State of Maryland.
Because while we are proud of the fact that Maryland has some of the best four-year institutions of higher education in the country, we will end the myth that every Marylander must attend one to be successful.
The RAISE Act creates a financial incentive for employers working in industries of the future – like cyber – to adopt an apprenticeship model.
Maryland already has a strong model for apprenticeship in the building trades.
With the RAISE Act, we are expanding this model to sectors that don’t yet have a tradition of apprenticeship – like healthcare and life sciences.
With this bill signing today, we will make it possible for more Marylanders to see their future in these critical industries.
And we are also standing up a new Maryland Office of Registered Apprenticeship Development through this legislation.
It will help all kinds of employers navigate the start-up phase of their apprenticeship programs – including our small businesses.
Finally, I will sign the Model Employer Act.
This bill extends a hand to a community that has been left behind for too long when it comes to employment: Marylanders with disabilities.
One-in-two Marylanders with a disability face financial hardships. Marylanders with disabilities make up just five percent of the workforce.
If we want to unleash Maryland’s potential, we need pathways to work, wages, and wealth that uplift all – not just some.
That’s what the Model Employer Act is about.
Our bill orders the Department of Disabilities to implement new policies that support employment and job training for Marylanders with disabilities.
Under the leadership of Secretary Carol Beatty, the department will create a new Office of Disability Employment Advancement and Policy.
It’s among the first-of-its-kind in the nation.
This new office will be a laboratory for innovative policies designed to connect more Marylanders with disabilities with good-paying jobs.
And the reason we are fighting so hard on this issue is because we know the people it’s going to help.
People like Bong Delrosario.
In 2019, Bong was working at a nonprofit, serving his community. He knew he wanted to find ways to do more, but wasn’t certain about his next chapter.
He was recruited by the Department of Disabilities to serve the state as part of the agency’s transportation policy program.
When he was first approached with the job opening, Bong didn’t realize anyone who looked like him could actually serve in government.
But his lived experience ended up being one of his greatest gifts.
Bong uses a wheelchair and depends on public transportation and paratransit wherever he goes.
His deep, personal experience with our transportation systems helps him make informed decisions on behalf of all Marylanders.
And today, he serves as Director of Transportation Policy and Programs at the Department of Disabilities.
Bong came to Annapolis and testified on the Model Employer Act earlier this year, because he knows how critical this bill is to our collective success.
He is with us today, and I would like to offer Bong the first ceremonial pen of today’s bill signing.
I will now turn the program to Lieutenant Governor Miller.