Ed Priola for Delegate

I was recently asked what will be my top three priorities once elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. Here’s a snapshot of what I think we need to focus on first:

1. Enact term limits on the Maryland General Assembly—to replace entrenched career politicians with citizen legislators.

The first piece of legislation I will introduce will be term limits. Our state government, designed for a long gone agrarian society, has become dysfunctional. It has been monopolized by entrenched career politicians who have never worked elsewhere. It needs complete retooling. We need periodic turnover of legislators, so that new ideas and fresh approaches might be applied to governing. My proposed legislation will require that legislators sit out one term after two consecutive terms in the same office. They may return to run for public office again only after living under the laws they pass for everyone else.

2. Restore Maryland to a business friendly state where private enterprises create jobs and attract investment.

I will fight to reduce the excessive tax and regulatory burdens on businesses. Under my proposed legislation, small businesses in particular will be given substantial support. Start-up companies will be given an incubation period during which they will be encouraged to internally invest, innovate and hire staff. My legislation will facilitate their growth with a flat tax. That way, entrepreneurs will be able to focus on building their business as opposed to managing mountains of paperwork.

3. End the Legislature’s “tax and spend” mantra.

“Doing more with less” must be the motto for Maryland government. We need to implement management practices that measure the performance of government employees based upon their productivity and not how many hours they sat at their desks. This means zero-based budgeting, which requires each governmental unit to justify the existence of every budget line item, every budget cycle. It means adopting innovations like the four-day work week for civil servants. Working ten hours for four days a week is popular with government workers in Nebraska. Employees now have more quality time with their families, while citizens have access to government offices like the Motor Vehicle Administration during extended hours. Moreover, public servants use less transportation fuel commuting and the roads are less congested as a result.