GOP, Dems Announce Bipartisan Agenda In Annapolis

State Senate President Mike Miller said the joint news conference in the ornate Senate lounge was an effort to draw a contrast with the partisan gridlock in Congress.

“We’re not going to be able to agree on everything, but the things we can agree on we’re going to bring forward and pass and hope to solve some of our problems in the state.”

There was a bill to make sure courses in civics, government and history remain in the core curriculum of Maryland schools. Last year the state school board removed the social studies test from the list of those a student must pass to graduate from high school.

Other bills are aimed at protecting children from identity theft, extending the scholarship program for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and shielding family farms from estate taxes.

Senator David Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican, called that bill an important step toward preserving farm land.

“Anything that we can do to enable an orderly transition of the family farm to later generations is anything that’s going to improve farming.”

Those bills are assured of easy passage. For others, however, there is sure to be a struggle.

I’m Joel McCord, reporting in Annapolis, for 88.1, WYPR.