This new session of conversations is with the members of the Frederick County Delegation. We extended an invitation to each of our representatives for a focused conversation on their passions and priorities with the hopes of providing valuable information and insight to the Frederick County community. The work of our Legislative Delegation during the annual 90-day Maryland General Assembly session impacts all of us, our lives, our families and our businesses. Hear firsthand from our legislators as they share their priorities and plans to deal with Maryland’s most pressing issues.
In this interview Delegate Karen Lewis Young discusses:
[2:17] Economic Forecast
[6:21] Covid-19 and Mental Health
[10:41] Opioid Use Prevention and Prescription Drug Accessibility
[14:57] Vulnerability of Senior Citizens
[19:08] Upcoming Policy Issues
Transcription edited for readability:
Rick Weldon: Good afternoon Chamber Members! Today’s Chamber Conversation is with Delegate Karen Lewis Young. Delegate Lewis Young started her career and grew to great heights. I personally got to know her when she was working her career in commercial banking and finance. She and I spent the year together in the Leadership Frederick County program-class of 1998.
Since then she has served as a member of the Board of Alderman for the City of Frederick from 2009 to 2013, and was elected a member of the House of Delegates where she has served since 2015 to the present time in that capacity. Karen serves on the Health and Government Operations Committee- which is THE best policy committee to serve on in Annapolis. She is also the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for her public service career and most importantly for her issue advocacy in some areas that are really important. These issues often speak to vulnerability-and to people who don’t really have a voice. When our elected officials serve as the voice of the voiceless, that is the highest and best use of the power of elected office. So it is in that context that I welcome and thank Delegate Karen Lewis Young for joining us today.
Delegate Lewis Young: Thank you for that splendid introduction!
Rick Weldon: So because I know you and I know the issues that really matter to you it’s easy to frame this conversation. I would like to dive right in and ask how the global pandemic has affected …… economies. It’s been deeply traumatic.
Delegate Lewis Young: Sure. So actually Maryland is doing better than most and better than we originally feared. We will end the FY 2020 on a positive note and even 2021 is looking very favorable. Now that’s largely for two reasons. One is using some money from the rainy day fund and the second is through some federal assistance.
2022 we have a challenge to face. Many people thought that revenues would be down because of the income taxes but actually, that is not where revenue is down. Revenues are down from sales taxes and I’m sure that’s something your members know all too well. So since we have 2022 on the horizon it gives us some time to plan ahead for that. Where we are going to be the most challenged is obviously transportation and education issues- those will be our greatest funding challenges.
Now, something I do want to point out is that I’ve gotten a lot of emails recently- largely from business entities- that says “Please use the entire 151 million of the state budget for business incentives.” So firstly- that isn’t the entire state budget- I think people are confusing that with the rainy day fund. Second, it is NEVER wise to use your entire rainy day fund. That would just bottom out our bond ratings for the state. Rainy day funds are for emergencies and while Covid-19 is certainly an emergency where we have used some funds, it would not be prudent to invest it all.
Rick Weldon: I think some of these springs from an organization called the NFIB (National Federation for Independent Business). So they have picked up on a call from Comptroller Franchot to make immediate investments in business through grants and low-interest loans and maybe they have tied that to rainy day funds? Frankly, the Chamber would never advocate for that because I think it would be catastrophically bad public policy
Delegate Lewis Young: It is a great educational opportunity.
Rick Weldon: Speaking of teachable moments. In the last several months the disruption in our lives has been profound- I would even describe it as generationally historic. Studies have shown that stress associated with Covid has significantly increased the need for mental health services. You have been a tireless fighter for expanding access to mental health services, can you talk about not just the Covid condition but the needs you know are out there?
Delegate Lewis Young: Absolutely, even before Covid we were very challenged in providing adequate mental health services and funding. Even when resources are available there is such a stigma that people are reluctant to ask questions to take advantage of them. The Covid pandemic has multiplied that- people are suffering from isolation, loneliness, fear and anxiety and that is even worse among some of our most vulnerable populations. Seniors, people suffering from unemployment, young people who don’t understand the magnitude of this and who are concerned about their social environments when it comes to learning and sports.
I was recently appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Mental and Behavioral Health. In order to get up the curve, I did a lot of research on what’s happening and what’s projected. What I have discovered is a mental health pandemic that could be just as worse- if not worse than- Covid for all the reasons I just mentioned. Additionally, we all know that physical health is related to mental health because if you’re not feeling healthy and taking care of yourself your physical health is going to suffer. So it is going to be a great challenge to find the available resources and to make sure they are properly funded AND to make the connections of people who could really utilize those services. We also need to constantly be trying to break down the stigma that somehow it is a weakness to ask for help and guidance.
Rick Weldon: In the context of the budget discussion- what steps can you take to make sure the appropriate levels of priority are assigned to this? On some level, it is certainly a budget issue in terms of access to resources.
Delegate Lewis Young: It certainly is and our resources are all very strained because early in the pandemic they were not seeing business as usual, there are revenues were o they were not able to invest in some of the populations that most need the resources during a time of crisis.
Rick Weldon: Is it also a health insurance issue?
Delegate Lewis Young: Sometimes it is but that is improving quite a bit- not to say we don’t have a long way to go. But I think that insurance is starting to get that an investment upfront pays off further down the road.
Rick Weldon: You’ve been active since you were first elected to the house on the issue of prescription drug affordability and accessibility. Would you be willing to talk some about your policy achievements and what remains to be done in this area?
Delegate Lewis Young: I think more of my policy achievements have been with respect to opioid use and prevention and making sure people have proper information about the risks and opportunities. Prescription drug affordability has been a real challenge. I actually have a couple of bills that were in last session- I think they would have moved- but because of the shortened session they didn’t. One passed in the House not in the Senate that made it possible for more pharmacies to more effectively deliver some kinds of drugs and treatments that previously they were not going to be able to. Also looking at the ability of some cancer treatments to come directly to your local pharmacy or physician. So really that looks at prescription drug affordability more through the distribution train.
Other areas I have worked with are leading insurance companies on lyme disease treatment because there are a lot of mixed opinions on how long you should prescribe antibiotics for Lyme disease and…. Lyme is very prevalent in Frederick county. We have a Prescription Affordability Board that is looking at the best practices throughout the nation and that’s where we are trying to focus now- to utilize some of those best practices and pull all the stakeholders together to try to make some immediate impact.
Rick Weldon: There is a lot of understandable civic outrage when people see pharmaceutical companies with huge profit based on drugs they’ve brought to market. We know- because we have had access to hundreds of hours of briefings from both the industry and the regulators- that there certainly has to be an opportunity to produce a profit from research and investigation but when it crosses that line is when it’s also marketing…
Delegate Lewis Young: And there is no reason why a drug you can get in Canada for $100 is selling for $1000 in the United States! I know the large pharmaceutical companies have said that the reason drugs are so high is because they are investing in research and clinical trials however when you start digging deep into the numbers and listening to the presentations you realize the federal government is actually funding a good deal of that research. So we need to come to some reasonable compromises and we need to give Medicare more power to negotiate for pricing.
Rick Weldon: In evidence of what I know about you that a lot of the people may not- you are probably the deepest thinker, in terms of research, of anyone I’ve ever known in my time in Frederick County. I remember when you were producing statistical information being used nationally by the Financial Services Sector and it is great to see you apply that to these complex health debates. But you also really take in the personal and emotional side of these issues.
So let’s talk about another victim of Covid; these families of senior citizens who are in nursing homes during Covid who simply cannot do anything except touch fingertips to a window. This is the most vulnerable population and I know that’s a concern for you.
Delegate Lewis Young: Disclosure, im one of those families. My mother is in assisted living. She has been isolated now for six months. She is not healthy at all. So I really don’t know how much time she has. She doesn’t understand the complexities of these policies; she only understands that she can’t see her family and so lots of other people have moms and grandmothers and grandfathers suffering from depression and isolation and that has been affecting their physical health.
So I’ve been on a mission and I’ve written to all the committee chairs and I have written to the Lieutenant Governor and the Department of Health. Last Friday there was an announcement that we are going to start gradually opening up which is good news because if restaurants can be at 75% capacity and in some countries we can play high school sports- we ought to be able to say hello to Grandma someplace other than a porch visit or a window. However, once the Governor says ‘okay its time’ we need to get some guidance on best practices so that we can start implementing immediately.
From what I’m learning, each long term care facility is in the process of developing their own policies that look at CDC guidelines and take in their own individual concerns and constraints. Hopefully, as the weather gets cold, which is happening very quickly now, we will be able to see our seniors. Even when they are living in our homes we have to take an extra level of precaution because of their vulnerability.
Rick Weldon: That’s the reason I’ve been wearing a mask even though I don’t necessarily love wearing one. I have two elderly parents in their mid and late eighties and I love them- that’s why I wear a mask.
Delegate Lewis Young: You know people think I am a bit paranoid when I stop to chat and I choose to socially distance- but I have to take my 93-year-old mother to a doctor’s appointment next week and I don’t want to do anything to put her at risk.
Rick Weldon: And that is great and it’s human and it’s the right thing to do So we’ve talked a little bit about health policy and that’s your jam and that is great- we need you there doing what you do. Are there any other policy issues you see coming up on the radar? I know there was a veto on the Excellence in Education Act last session and there were some other policy vetoes that related to the budget as well as issues like police reform that I’m sure will come up for you.
Delegate Lewis Young: I mean absolutely police reform is going to be on our radar. As you know I don’t sit on the judiciary committee but I am certainly paying attention to that and I have a lot of questions to ask.
I think on an ongoing basis- the populations that are most affected by the Covid pandemic (those out of work, those who can’t pay their rent) will be a big focus. By the way-the statistics, I saw for Maryland just yesterday were detailing how those people who are in unemployment are the lowest wage earners- so those are the people that probably didn’t have savings to begin with The Governor made an announcement today about allocating more funds towards legal assistance for rent evictions- that is going to be a big topic.
Additionally, we will be focused on what we can do to help small businesses. I have a particular focus on small business during this pandemic- what we can do to make sure they have access to creative thinking, innovation and financial resources.
And of course, the way we started our conversation-relooking our budget. Before we vote on the veto for education I want to see a reforcast of the financial numbers because as you said I rely on data to make my decisions.
I will say particularly since we are speaking to a business audience- my business experience has just been Invaluable for me. Spending thirty years in financial services and always having the expectation of doing my homework, making sure my presentations were buttoned up and financially sensible- that is the lens I look at policy with too.
I once said to former speaker Michael Busch, after about six months of health and government operations ‘I always wondered why you put me on a policy committee and not one of the budget or finance committees…now I see that you have to have somebody on those kinds of committees asking what cost and what are we getting from that cost’. He just looked at me and said “Oh I knew exactly what I was doing”.
Rick Weldon: Coach always did know what he was doing- for all of us that served under his influence.
Well, Karen I really want to thank you, I appreciate you taking this time with us. If during the session it can be more hybrid we will definitely do an in-person follow-up.
Chamber members if you have a question please email Delegate Karen Lewis Young- she is incredibly responsive and she has a great team with her.
KAREN LEWIS YOUNG
Democrat, District 3A, Frederick County
House Office Building, Room 416
6 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 841-3436, (301) 858-3436
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3436 (toll free)
e-mail: karen.young@house.state.md.us
fax: (410) 841-3412, (301) 858-3412
253 East Church St., Suite 100, Frederick, MD 21701
Frederick Chamber Insights is a news outlet of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. For more information about membership, programs and initiatives, please visit our website.