Had a great meeting with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in Americaand will cosponsor the bill to ban 3D guns in Maryland. Thank you to the dedicated @MomsDemandAction - MD #working4MD #hocomd #MomsDemandAction #GunSense #HoCoMD #GunViolence #Maryland #MDPolitics #HowardCounty #CourtneyWatson

Really happy to be with these advocates of the Howard County Public School System in Annapolis including Christina Delmont-Small - Board of Education and Vicky Cutroneo and Colleen Morris where we worked to get my bill to give Howard County BOE the right to set the start date for students approved by the state delegation today. Next step , a hearing in front of the Ways and Means committee. Stay tuned... #hocomd #mdga19 #HoCoMD #working4md #HowardCounty #Education

Today was the State of the State address. The senate and house of delegates heard from the Governor and then a reception was held afterward at the Governor’s mansion. While there will be some disagreements on policy, a great number of things we all agree on and there is always a desire to work together for the citizens of Maryland. #hocomd #mdga19 #HoCoMD #MDPolitics #working4md #Maryland

Thank you to the 100+ people from District 9 in Howard County who made the trip to Annapolis tonight for “District 9 Night in Annapolis”. A busy reception, followed by a tour of the House Chamber, followed by watching the legislative session from the gallery. Howard County was in the House! Katie Fry Hester, Maryland Senate D9 #hocomd #mdga19 #ECStrong #HoCoMD #Stronger9B #CourtneyWatson #working4md

Throughout the campaign for the Delegate 9B seat, I said I believed the the state could, and should, do more to help historic Ellicott City recover from the two catastrophic floods in 2016 and 2018. I identified a dormant program established by law many years ago called the “Comprehensive Flood Mitigation Grant Program”. This program was set up to do exactly what we needed, provide local governments with funds to reduce risk of loss of life and property from flooding. Intended uses of funds cover acquisition of flood-prone properties, installation of flood warning systems, and construction of flood control projects. Unfortunately, the last time this program was funded was 2002, so while the

It was the first full week in the General Assembly. I have cosponsored several bills written by my colleagues including one that restores certain medical benefits for state retirees. In the drafting process, and one that Delegate Eric Ebersole and I will present to our Howard County Delegation, is a bill that would give our HC Board of Education the right to set our school calendar. Did you know Labor Day falls on Sept 7 in 2020? The BOE should have the ability to start school earlier than the day after Labor Day if they deem it in our students' best interests. Stay tuned for updates from my Annapolis office this week. As always, thank you for the opportunity to serve you. #hocomd #mdga19 #w

Thank you to the County Council and Board of Education for attending a work session with the state delegation today. The topics were APFO, school capacities, and how to fund the capital needs of our schools - both deferred maintenance and new schools. I sense the three elected bodies are on the same page and look forward to working together on these issues. #hocomd #mdga19 #working4md

Moved into office - check. State ID secured - check. Parking spot received - check. Hired Terry Chaconas as Legislative Aide - check. Grateful to the voters for giving me this opportunity to represent district 9B - check. I am ready for this week's swearing in on in the MD House of Delegates! It was a day filled with pomp and circumstance. I was thrilled to share it with my family, volunteers on the campaign, interns on the campaign, friends, and fellow delegates. It’s official. Time to get to work for the citizens of Howard County and Maryland. #mdga19 #working4md #hocomd