News from Annapolis

Listening. Taking Action. Getting Results.

Developmentally Disabled Warrant
Quality Care, Inclusion in Communities

April 29, 2011

Dear Friends,

ARC of Carroll County Families and Employees

ARC of Carroll County families and employees join me at Maryland Association of Community Services awards dinner. With me in back row are Jim Smith (left) and Kevin Walla. In front are Shannon Smith (left) and Danielle Ogle. Don Rowe, Executive Director of the ARC of Carroll County, was also present for the award ceremony.

I was humbled this week to accept an award from the Maryland Association of Community Services (MACS), which labors tirelessly to ensure that people with developmental disabilities receive quality support services in Maryland communities.

Like MACS, I strive to be an outspoken advocate for those who most need it. I received the 2011 MACS Legislative Achievement Award recently during a ceremony in Columbia and will proudly hang it in my office.

. . . And, Speaking of Awards, One of Our Very Own Small Businesses Wins Big

Franchot Presents Award

Eldersburg resident Rich Rubinstein, President and CEO of America's Remote Help Desk, accepts "Better with Less" award from State Comptroller Peter Franchot as Del. Nancy Stocksdale, left, Josh Lippy, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer (standing next to me) and I look on.

Eldersburg's Richard Rubinstein garnered statewide recognition this week as State Comptroller Peter Franchot came to town to present his Better With Less award to the remote help desk and IT support company.

Delegate Nancy Stocksdale and I joined Franchot in praising Rubinstein's America's Remote Help Desk company, which he founded in 2000 with Josh Lippy.

I nominated Rich's company for the award. Many people think big businesses are the only key to the state's economic success. They don't really appreciate the impact that small businesses like America's Remote Help Desk have. These are the businesses that make our economy run.

Franchot has been traveling the state, presenting a Better with Less award to a business in each county that innovatively operates at lower cost and passes along its lessons in efficiency to the government. For more information on America's Remote Help Desk and why it won the award, see the Carroll County Times.

Hospice Charity Event To Be Bigger Than Ever

Savor our region's best food and wine, see friends, network and do a good deed, all at the same time May 9 at Carroll Hospice's bigger-than-ever Taste of Carroll fundraiser. As a member of the Hospice Board of Trustees, I always look forward to this premiere event.

I am thrilled that this year's Taste of Carroll is being moved to a larger location, the Gerstell Academy in Finksburg, to accommodate sell-out crowds.

To purchase a ticket or to see which restaurants and wineries will offer food and wine tastings, go to http://www.carrollhospice.org/content/Taste_of_Carroll.htm

See you there.

Electricity Bills To Drop Beginning June 1

The typical Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customer will see his residential electricity bill drop by $28 a month, beginning June 1, under new supply contracts approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission. The 14 percent projected decline for those who purchase their electricity from the utility follows a similar decrease in June 2010 and collectively results in a 24 percent drop in the commodity cost of power. It cost 12 cents per kilowatt hour in June 2009, and will fall to 9.2 cents per kWh beginning June 2011.

For further information, go to http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/CEG/1239536348x0x462032/00a18c62-bb4b0in-ba4f-edac80407b0e/SOS_FINAL_40indf

Note from Susan:

I am dedicated to being your voice in Annapolis as we work toward better roads, schools and jobs, and also a reduced tax burden.
Please feel free to contact me with any concerns or ideas you may have. My legislative aide, Linda Schmuck, and I are always happy to help.