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DELEGATE SHANE ROBINSON

SENATE DELECATION CHAIR

HOUSE DELEGATION CHAIR

SENATOR ROGER MANNO

DELEGATE KlRILL REZNIK

SENATE DDLEGATION VICE CIIAIR

IIOUSE DELEGATION VICE CIIAIR

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THE MARYLAND

GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY DELEGATION

Governor Larry Hogan

State House
100 State Circle
Annapolis, MD 21401
February 5,2016
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Dear Govemor Hogan:

As you know, your unilateral decision to spend $480 million on a new jail will result in
unreasonable delays in funding for major projects at numerous universities. One of the projects
that will be delayed by your decision to redirect funding from higher education to the Baltimore
City jail is a long-planned expansion of the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) in Montgomery
County.

In case you are unfamiliar with the history of this project, your Administration's Fiscal 2016
Capital Budget included the USG expansion under "projects with pre-planned authorizations," and
$72 million was allocated to the project for Fiscal 2017. Montgomery County relied on this
provision in your 2016 Capital Budget and spent $26 million of county funds for a parking garage,
so that the planned expansion could move forward. This $26 million was an unprecedented county
funding match that no other county in the state has ever done. But, in your proposed 2017 Capital
Budget, the USG expansion project has been eliminated completely. As a result, an important
investment in our state's higher education has been eliminated to fund a new jail. Clearly, both
projects are impofiant and necessary. But, we believe true leadership requires balancing the needs
of all jurisdictions, higher education and other important shared goals for the citizens of Maryland.
Your proposed Capital Budget fails miserably in this regard.

Although we recognizethe dire need to build a jail facility in Baltimore City given that the existing
structure was built during the Civil War and provided deplorable conditions for detainees and those
sentenced to a term in that facility, we are extremely disappointed that you elected to completely
ignore and bypass the planning process for the Capital Budget. The fact that you and your staff
failed to even discuss excluding or delaying long standing capital projects for higher education
before announcing the plan to devote $480 million to a new jail is simply inexplicable.

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We would appreciate the opportunity to demonstrate how the programs at the Universities at Shady

Grove are intefiwined with Maryland's economic development opportunities. Many USG
programs service the projected needs of major local employers including The National Institutes
of Health, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Food and Drug Administration,
National Security Agency, MedlmmunelAstraZeneca, United Therapeutics and more. This is not
a coincidence. Business leaders help USG monitor workforce demands and expand degree
offerings through partnerships. Today these programs include an array of health, science and
technology fields ranging from biotech and cybersecurity, to laboratory science and health care
management. We welcome you to visit USG and our thriving businesses and employers in the
fields noted above that are located in Montgomery County
With all due respect, your decision to build a new $480 million jail by eliminating or delaying
approved, vetted capital projects for universities and colleges, including USG, without consulting
members of the General Assembly appears directly opposite to your comments in the State of the
State address where you said, "Let's reach across the aisle, and continue to do everything we can
to help our state compete in the region and throughout the nation. Maryland's business
community can and will be strong again."

It is a sad, unfofiunate and startling facfthat Maryland spends more on corrections than it does on
higher education. This is exacerbated by your decision to fund the Baltimore City jail over higher
education. Again, we understand there is a clear need for a new correctional facility in Baltimore.
However, there is a capital improvement plan already in place for such a new facility. Note that
many of us would support expediting the plan given the deplorable conditions of the facility. But,
expediting the entirety of the new jail facility at the expense of higher education is pure folly.
Respectfully, if Maryland is "open for business," then we must invest in higher education for many
reasons, including providing an educated workforce for current and future Maryland businesses.
You repeatedly state that your door is open for lawmakers who would like to engage in discussion.
We respectfully request that you and/or an administration official join us at a Montgomery County
Delegation meeting, held every Friday morning before the 11:00 am floor session, so that we can
discuss these matters.
Sincerelv.

Cc:

Hon. Speaker Michael E. Busch

Hon. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.
Hon. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett

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