PublicPolicy

Department of Public Policy Chair and Professor Donald Norris was quoted in an article last week in Bethesda Magazine about recent controversies surrounding Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler’s gubernatorial campaign. A photo surfaced last week of Gansler at a teenage beach week party in Delaware late last spring where he went to talk to his son, and Gansler was also in the news recently for controversy surrounding driving allegations in which he ordered state troopers who drive him to ignore traffic regulations. “He’s got to get beyond this, and get beyond it quickly – [with] no new revelations,” Norris said about… Continue Reading Donald Norris, Public Policy, in The Baltimore Sun, Capital Gazette, and Bethesda Magazine

Childhood obesity has doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 17% of children and adolescents age 2-19 are obese. The Department of Public Policy, Hilltop Institute, Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, and The Annie E. Casey Foundation sponsored “The Public Policy Implications of Reducing Childhood Obesity”, a conference that was held in downtown Baltimore Friday morning. Several panelists took part in a discussion about the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and possible solutions for the problem. Public Policy Professor Adele Kirk laid… Continue Reading Public Policy Forum Addresses Childhood Obesity Epidemic

The Baltimore Sun reports that Texas Gov. Rick Perry will hold private meetings with companies during a visit to Maryland next week as part of his “mission to rustle up business for the Lone Star State.” Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of public policy at UMBC, suggests it’s not just about jobs for Texas, saying, “It’s an effort by Perry to get his name out there.” Perry is viewed as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016. Read the full story in The Baltimore Sun.

In advance of last Saturday’s announcement that Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, public policy professor John Rennie Short offered a fresh take on how to make the games more sustainable: keep them in the same place. Short suggested to writer Nate Berg, in an article for The Atlantic Cities, that instead of asking cities to invest billions of dollars in new Olympic venues the OIC should create a single site that would function more or less as an international city-state, overseen by the United Nations, to host the Olympics and its training in perpetuity. “There would be maybe… Continue Reading John Rennie Short, Public Policy, in The Atlantic Cities

The Baltimore Sun reports that support is building among lawmakers to raise Maryland’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to at least $10 an hour. Why now? Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of public policy at UMBC, says, “People are running in a primary election for governor, that’s what’s different.” In addition to citing the support some candidates hope to get from labor, Norris says he also senses a legitimate concern among politicians about the growing number of workers who have been struggling, since the recession, to survive on $7.25 an hour. Whether or not this support translates into the… Continue Reading Donald Norris, Public Policy, in The Baltimore Sun

“Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler came under fire Tuesday for comments that his top rival in the Democratic primary for governor is running on little besides his African-American heritage,” write Erin Cox and Michael Dresser in The Baltimore Sun. What impact could Gansler’s statement have? Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of public policy at UMBC, tells the Sun that Gansler “has just offended a whole lot of voters he cannot afford to offend.” Read the full Baltimore Sun article here. Norris commented further about the situation in an August 13 interview on WTOP radio.

UMBC public policy PhD student Del. John A. Olszewski Jr. has announced that he is running for Maryland Senate in what the Baltimore Sun calls “a generational shift in Baltimore County politics.” The Dundalk-area seat he will seek is currently held by Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr., who, at the age of 77, will retire after almost 50 years in office. Olszewski said, “I’m running so I can be an even more aggressive advocate for the residents of District 6.” He noted, “My experience is that people are looking for common sense solutions to everyday problems. I’m not opposed to… Continue Reading Del. John A. Olszewski Jr., Public Policy PhD Student, Running for Maryland Senate