Issues

I. Cutting Costs for Marylanders

The cost of living is rising for Marylanders, and people are leaving the state to look for jobs and start lives elsewhere. Ryan will work to tackle the rising cost of living and cut costs for Marylanders by:

  • Voting To Eliminate Unnecessary Taxes and Spending & Fighting Any Gas Tax Hikes
  • Advocating For a One Time Tax Rebate of $600 for Joint Filers and $300 for Individuals in light of the Governor’s announced surplus
  • Ending Runaway Property Taxes by Requiring Voter Approval for Increases
  • Working To Cut Income Taxes by Doubling the Standard Deduction & Cutting Taxes on Veteran’s and other retirement income
  • Sponsoring legislation that requires a two thirds majority vote to enact any new taxes or fees on Maryland citizens

II. Enhancing Educational Opportunities

The education system in Baltimore County is continuously underperforming and failing our children. Not a single elementary, middle, or high school in District 7A had more than 74% of students achieve a passing score on the PARCC standardized tests in 2019. This means that nearly every school located in the district had a majority of students not receiving a passing grade on either their English or math test scores. This is a deeply troubling statistic and one which should be major cause of concern for parents in this area. There are chronic infrastructure issues at Baltimore County schools as well, particularly overcrowding issues. A drive past Perry Hall High School will reveal a school that is tremendously overcrowded with many trailers outside to educate our children. There is currently no plan to construct a new high school in this part of the county to alleviate the overcrowding. This is wholly unacceptable. In addition, parents have been removed almost entirely from the education process. Ryan believes parents should be in charge of their children’s education. Maryland’s students have fallen behind because of extended school closings, lower school standards, and political agendas. With four small school-aged children, Ryan understands the critical importance of having a strong school system. Ryan will work to help empower parents and restore excellence and commonsense in education by:

  • Fighting To Keep Schools Open Safely Five Days a week
  • Restoring High Expectations & Getting Every Student College or vocational Career Ready
  • Cutting Political Agendas from the Classroom by fighting to Ban Critical Race Theory and other highly controversial curricula that the majority of parents oppose
  • Rebuilding Crumbling Schools, Raising Teacher Pay, & Investing in Special Education Programs
  • Cutting mask mandates in schools and allowing parents to decide medical choices for their children
  • Directing the Maryland Department of Education to implement a plan for virtual learning that will still count as a day of school and not a paper-pushing daycare experience

III. Ensuring Public Safety

Failed leadership and dangerous policies have left Maryland less safe. When Ryan first became involved in his community, Middle River had recently experienced the murder of a child who was only 13 years old. Baltimore County police acknowledge the presence of many violent street gangs in the area including the dangerous MS-13 gang. Clearly, there needs to be a focus on ways to restore law and order in the district including more community policing in our neighborhoods. In communities where officers are able, we should encourage them to leave their patrol cars and interact with the community. Ryan will pursue the idea of creating more police substations in high crime areas, and we should encourage a great use of the Police Community Relations Councils to better interact with our communities. With rising violent crime and the Baltimore County murder rate at an all-time high, Ryan will keep our communities safe by:

  • Fully Funding Law Enforcement
  • Fighting for Tougher Sentences to Keep Violent Criminals Off Our Streets
  • Working To Fix Our Broken Mental Health System
  • Decreasing governmental intrusion in our daily lives and crippling the “Nanny State”

IV. Reinvigorating Job Growth

Maryland’s jobs machine is broken. One index currently ranks Maryland 40th in economic outlook. Ryan will work to promote policies that jumpstart our economy by:

  • Fighting To Keep Maryland Open and Protecting Lives & Livelihoods from arbitrary and unconstitutional mandates unconnected with reality
  • Working To Protect Marylanders from Forced Unionization & Promoting Laws that cut Job Killing Regulations
  • Working to Reinvigorate Small Business by fighting to Enact a Small Business Tax Holiday and tax incentives for new small business owners

V. Making Government Work for You, Not Against You

Maryland’s government is failing its fundamental mission – serving the people. Maryland currently allows too much Federal government interference in the lives of Marylanders, while at the same time disregarding the fundamental rights afforded to Marylanders in our State Constitution. Our system is broken as customer service at agencies such as the MVA and Department of Labor continues to fall short of consumer expectations. Ryan will make government work by:

  • Fighting to Fix the MVA & the Department of Labor
  • Protecting the State and U.S. Constitutional Rights of all Marylanders
  • Proposing a Statewide Transparency Audit to Root out Waste, Fraud & Abuse
  • Working to Create Photo ID Laws & Making it Easier to Vote and impossible to Cheat
  • Fighting To Invest More Money in Roads & Highways
  • Advocating for Completing Long-Delayed Chesapeake Bay Environmental Projects and restoring the Bay to the natural treasure that it is