A push for legislation that Maryland’s governor believes will tackle child poverty in the state came to Prince George’s County.
Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller joined County Executive Angela Alsobrooks to encourage support of the ENOUGH Act of 2024, a bill aimed at creating partnerships and funding solutions in communities where poverty levels are high.
“In Prince George’s County, we know that some of our communities are still plagued with poverty, unable to easily access grocery stores, and sometimes forced to balance food against other competing finances,” Alsobrooks said.
ENOUGH stands for Engaging Neighborhoods, Organizations, Unions, Governments, and Households. If passed, it would kick in for the 2026 budget year. Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed budget would set aside $15 million for the fund.
“We live in one of the wealthiest states in the wealthiest nation on Earth. There is no reason why any Maryland child should be growing up at or below the poverty line,” Miller told a crowd Tuesday at the Latin American Youth Center in Riverdale.
The partnerships the legislation calls for can include small businesses or nonprofits and must also include other stakeholders, including local government, unions, schools, law enforcement and faith-based organizations. The partnership would then present data-driven ideas to the newly formed Governor’s Office for Children, which would decide whether the plans would be funded with state money.
“It can be from cradle to career; it can be to make their neighborhoods safer,” Miller said. “It could be to have more help in health care opportunities, available mental health services for children. I mean, the list is vast, but it’s up to the locals to tell us, to give us their vision.”
According to the legislation, once the state chooses to support a plan, the Governor’s Office of Children will, by 2027. evaluate the project and its impact.
“We’ll also be working with communities to help build the capacity at the community level to do this cross-sectoral work and build out over time, the infrastructure needed to do this kind of work,” said Secretary of Children Carmel Martin, special secretary for the Governor’s Office for Children.
Miller also joined local leaders and community organizations on a roundtable discussion on child poverty.
The act has been introduced in companion bills in both the Maryland House and Senate.
The Senate’s Education, Energy, and the Environment committee will discuss it on Friday, and the House’s Appropriations committee will take it up on Thursday.
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