Katie Fry Hester, candidate for Maryland Senate District 9 – Baltimore Sun

What is the most pressing issue in your district?

Thankfully, the pandemic stage of COVID-19 looks like it is behind us. However, fully recovering will take time, with implications for our economy and education – which are linked. Faster inflation and higher gas prices are adding additional strains to supply chain issues and labor shortages. We must continue to provide relief for small businesses, with a special focus on childcare providers, restaurants, and healthcare businesses. Part of this is ensuring widespread career and college readiness after high school. Families move to District 9 specifically for our world-class public schools. However, in recent years our community has dealt with overcrowding, controversial redistricting, unplanned virtual education and increased suicide rates. The recently passed Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is part of this recovery, with adequate school funding to keep class size low and increased focus on mental & behavioral health. We also secured $30M for Howard County schools in the 2023 Budget.

How will you help your constituents deal with inflation?

During the 2022 legislative session I was proud to work across party lines to provide nearly $2 billion in economic support across Maryland through targeted tax relief. In total, 80% of Maryland’s retirees will receive substantial income tax relief. Working families will benefit from recently passes sales tax exemptions for childcare and healthcare products. Employers and businesses will be able to receive a tax credit to hire and train workers from underserved communities.

What do you see as the top transportation priority in your district, and how would you address it?

Community Safety is one of my top priorities for Howard County. One example of this is that I’ve been working with the County Government and Maryland Department of Transportation to accelerate the necessary improvements at the junction of routes 70 and 29. Expanding rapid transit buses between the district and Baltimore and Washington, DC will provide more safe, efficient options for commuters. I have secured funding for the Route 32 alternate bike route project, bridge & pedestrian improvements for Sykesville Mainstreet, and sidewalks in Damascus to increase bike and pedestrian safety.

What should schools do differently during the next pandemic to help students, families and teachers?

Despite herculean efforts by teachers across Maryland to reach students through distance learning, prolonged disruptions to our public education system have resulted in immeasurable learning loss, particularly for our more vulnerable students. I believe it’s critical we make sure students, parents, and educators have the resources they need to make sure schools can be successful. The funding and framework in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future will be integral to providing that support, including funding for tutoring, behavioral health services, state-of-the-art curriculum, and after school programming.

How equitably do police officers treat people of color?

The police force in my district is critical to our community’s safety and quality of life. Across our nation, we have seen communities grapple with the difficult questions of how to keep our communities safe while ensuring equitable treatment. This term, I was proud to support increased transparency and accountability including body camera implementation. I also supported budgetary items that increased funding for local policing, with a focus on taking violent offenders off the streets, and providing nonviolent offenders with support, while addressing the long-term needs of the roots of crime.

What would you do to make sure Maryland’s voting system is secure and accurate?

I am proud that while other states are making it more difficult to vote, Maryland is leading the way to make voting more accessible. Voting should be both easily accessible to everyone that is eligible to vote and be as transparent as possible to ensure an accurate count that the electorate can be confident of. In 2020, I passed SB145, for vote-by-mail with prepaid return postage – making it safe to vote during the pandemic and in the future. I do believe we should be implementing more sophisticated ballot tracking measures, which would allow voters to get more detailed information while their ballot is being delivered and processed. We also must continue to invest in cybersecurity for the operation of our election system equipment.

What are the right goals and deadlines for Maryland to reduce carbon emissions and develop renewable energy sources?

I was proud to vote for the Climate Solutions Now Act that requires the state to achieve net-zero statewide GHG emissions by 2045. Climate change is already here, affecting communities in my district and across the state of Maryland. Ellicott City has faced two “1000-year” floods in the last decade alone. We must act urgently to increase our resilience to climate change, which is why I sponsored legislation to create the Office of Resilience and the Resilient Maryland Revolving Loan Fund to leverage federal support for climate-impacted communities across the state.

What’s Maryland’s best use of federal COVID relief money?

The best use of these funds is to provide relief for working families, retirees, and small businesses in Maryland. Whether it’s through direct payments or tax credits, retirees and families are struggling to get by, and these funds would provide support at a critical time. I voted for legislation to protect businesses from dramatic unemployment tax rate increases due to impacts from the pandemic. Federal money should also be directed to grants in the sectors impacted the most by COVID-19, such as childcare and hospitality. This session I sponsored legislation to leverage federal funds to help businesses with 10 or less employees, who have historically struggled to offer competitive health benefits. The Maryland Health Benefit Exchange is now exploring high-quality, affordable health insurance options for small businesses, non-profits, and their employees.