Gubernatorial debate short of details, vision for Frederick County

Sept. 25--Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ben Jealous squared off on Monday over job growth, health care and school funding in the only debate scheduled between the two candidates before the November election.

The one-hour debate, hosted by Maryland Public Television in Owings Mills, aired Monday night, and while Jealous touted his plans and Hogan his record, there was a noticeable lack of detail on how each would address problems outside Maryland's urban hubs, in places such as Frederick County.

"There's no question that they have issues and problems that are facing them that other areas of the state do not have," Hogan said. "I'm very familiar with it, and we're going to keep working and continue to invest in western Maryland and the Eastern Shore as well."

Hogan's statement came in response to a question from Tammy Baker, a longtime political reporter at The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown, who asked the candidates to explain what they would do in the next four years for people living outside Baltimore city and the Washington metropolitan area. These residents often have fewer opportunities for economic development, more kids on free and reduced-price lunch plans and higher unemployment rates, she said.

At the heart of the debate was conflicting views on job growth in the state.

Hogan pointed to a statewide unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in August -- published in the Local Area Unemployment Statistics report by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation -- as a positive for his administration. But he acknowledged that the unemployment rate was not constant across all 23 counties and the city of Baltimore.

"You take credit for our economy being slightly better years after the end of the recession -- in some places, not all -- is like taking credit for the sun rising, sir. Let's run on your record, not mythology," Jealous said.

The current administration has had four years and Marylanders are not better off than their neighbors, Jealous asserted. He would invest in vocational education, improve transportation so workers can get to their jobs, increase the minimum wage and stand up against President Donald Trump's attacks on the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare."

In Frederick County, the unemployment rate in July was 3.9 percent while the statewide rate was 4.4 percent.

Locally, business is rebounding with technology and biotech incubator space filling and commercial real estate parks filling vacancies as well, said Frederick County Chamber of Commerce President Rick Weldon.

"I don't think that's magic, but I wouldn't credit the government either," Weldon said in a phone interview with The News-Post.

Health care

Jealous cited increasing health care costs as a deterrent to new businesses coming to Maryland.

In his campaign, Jealous has supported a "Medicare-for-All" plan, but St. Mary's College of Maryland associate professor of political science Todd Eberly cautioned against it on his blog late in August.

"A lot of folks are talking about the need for a Medicare-for-All style health care reform in Maryland. I've said in the past that I support a Federal single-payer health care system. But I do not support such reform at the state level," Eberly wrote in the opening of his post.

Sticker-shock and funding uncertainty are the two major concerns. If Maryland offered a universal health care program, there is no guarantee the federal government would continue to contribute funding for the estimated 15.5 percent of the state population who already qualify for federal health programs or the additional 6 percent covered by Obamacare, he wrote. The losses could be in the billions, he said.

Other states have considered similar single-payer programs and not moved forward.

Weldon, who served two terms as a delegate on the Maryland House Health and Government Operations Committee, said it would be better if the chambers of commerce could offer associate health plans to its members, which would help small businesses access affordable health care without disrupting or increasing costs for others. The Frederick County Chamber of Commerce has over 800 member businesses, and 95 percent employ 50 people or less.

"My intuition tells me there are better solutions out there than single-payer health care," Weldon said.

On the other hand, Hogan touted his recent achievement reducing health insurance rates next year, after the Maryland Insurance Administration approved premiums sold in the state's exchange that insure about 200,000 residents. The decrease comes from a state levy passed by the General Assembly earlier this year to replace a tax on insurance zeroed-out at the federal level.

"Just a week ago we stopped 91 percent rate increases, and for the first time in 20 years, our largest insurance carrier is lowering rates," Hogan said in the debate. "And for the first time since Obamacare passed 10 years ago, every single insurance rate is going down in our state."

Jealous countered that rates may go down in 2019, but rates had gone up in the four years Hogan has been in office.

School funding

The candidates could not agree on funding for Maryland's public schools, either.

Hogan said several times in the debate that he provided more funding to schools than any other governor. Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Terry Alban said in a phone interview on Monday it's easy for governors to make this claim, because school funding is set by a state formula and is based on enrollment, which continues to climb.

"Every governor is going to tell you they've done more education funding than the other, but in Maryland the funding is required by law," Alban said.

She recalled Hogan initially withholding approximately $6 million from FCPS in his first year in office, which the governor had the option to allocate through the Geographic Cost of Education Index. He ultimately gave the school system half the money, $3 million, that year -- which helped fund operational costs such as instructional materials, salaries and positions -- and the legislator changed the law so that the funding became mandatory.

Jealous further countered Hogan's funding claims with, "If we have record funding, why don't we have record results?"

PARCC test results released in August show that African-American and Hispanic students continue to fall behind their white and Asian peers in Frederick County schools, The News-Post previously reported.

The candidates were asked to give three concrete actions to close the state's achievement gap.

Jealous proposed giving teachers a 29 percent raise, funding universal prekindergarten (by taxing adult medical and recreational marijuana) and providing career-ready training for students. Despite being given multiple chances, Hogan did not provide future action but listed his past achievements and called for more accountability from school systems.

Research shows the achievement gap can emerge as young as age 2 and one of the best ways to tackle it is through early childhood education, Alban said.

"We're very, very much in support of universal pre-K, but also to see that pre-K funded," Alban said.

Silent on agriculture

Noticeably absent from the debate was agriculture and the state's farming community.

The sole mention came as a passing remark from Jealous about bringing "big data" into agricultural hubs to help farmers get ahead of climate change.

"So that they can anticipate what crops, what livestock will flourish better as our climates change," Jealous said in the debate.

When reached for comment on Monday, the Frederick County Agriculture Business Council said that although it does not take political stances on debate issues, it hoped to gain support from the future governor on:

* Continuing the crop damage and cover crop financial support programs.

* Increasing funding for farmland preservation.

* Renewing an emphasis on "farmers' property rights and their right to farm absent of outside influences to the contrary and burdensome regulations."

* Supporting to offset the negative effect on commodity prices stemming from added federal trade programs.

Hogan currently has a commanding lead over Jealous, with 54 percent of voters saying they were likely to vote for him in November, according to a Goucher Poll released last week. Meanwhile, only 32 percent of Maryland voters said they were likely to cast a ballot for Jealous -- a 22-point gap.

Green Party candidate Ian Schlakman and Libertarian candidate Shawn Quinn received 1 percent of voter support each in the poll, while 9 percent of voters remain undecided nearly two months away from the election.

Of the voters set on a candidate, a quarter said they could change their minds.

Follow Samantha Hogan on Twitter: @SAHogan.

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