Issue Position: Government Accountability

Issue Position

It is reasonable to expect your hard-earned tax dollars to be thoughtfully spent, but this is not always the case in Maryland. The fact is the entrenched majority in Annapolis is often too complacent to have those inconvenient conversations about what is truly good for the State, leaving difficult questions unasked and unanswered. As we saw in the previous administration, serious problems can be ignored, aided by a lack of government transparency. This cannot be allowed to continue unchecked.

We need common sense, fiscally responsible solutions more than ever before. While this year's budget held spending increases below revenue growth, the entrenched majority has mandated spending to grow faster than both the cost of living and the State's population, sustaining a large structural deficit and creating very real debt problems. How can we put Maryland on an unsustainable path and not expect every dollar to be accounted for?

I am proud to have made my career opposing and exposing government waste, fraud and abuse. On the Joint Audit Committee, I pursued State agency accountability by introducing legislation that would cut funding for agencies that failed to comply with repeat audit problems. Also, as Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, I led my party on drafting fiscally responsible budgets to present meaningful alternatives to Maryland's dangerous overspending.

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