For Immediate Release

Statement of Prince George’s County Councilman Mel Franklin on the Adoption of the Prince George’s County Budget

Councilman Praises Infrastructure Investments and Assistance for the Developmentally Disabled, Expresses Concerns About Poor Enforcement of Local Hiring and Small, Minority and Woman Owned Business Laws

Contact: Mel@melfranklin.net

Upper Marlboro, MD – Today, the Prince George’s County Council adopted a $3.876 billion operating budget and six-year capital budget plan with minor adjustments from County Executive Rushern Baker’s proposed budget transmitted in March.  Today’s adopted budget adds $3.5 million to alleviate wage pressures for developmentally disabled non-profit providers, increases funding for road infrastructure improvements by over $20 million over three years, includes $5 million in added funds for major school repairs, adds $20 million to repair and expand the Tucker Road Ice Rink, which was recently damaged and closed by fire, and increases the Prince George’s Community College’s budget by nearly $2.5 million for academic support and to fully fund the proposed promise scholarship program.  Today’s budget also supports the County Executive’s requests for additional public safety personnel, investments in housing and economic development, and a $51 million increase in county funding for the public schools over fiscal year 2017.  Today, Councilman Mel Franklin (D-District 9) issued the following statement:

“Today’s budget makes key investments in public infrastructure, like roads and school repairs, adds critical staffing and resources for public safety, and significantly increases funding for pre-K through 14 education.  The budget also provides essential emergency assistance to our non-profits who care for the developmentally disabled so that they can meet our higher, local minimum wage.  Today’s adopted budget is balanced and fiscally responsible, supported by a AAA credit rating, a sign of the good fiscal stewardship that our County has maintained for the last several years, even through the Great Recession.”

Councilman Franklin also expressed concern about poor enforcement and unreliable data in the implementation of local hiring and public contracting laws that require opportunities for qualified small, minority and woman owned businesses in the county.  Public contracts comprise a significant portion of the county’s annual budget.

“Our county agencies spend hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars annually on county contracts, but only a small fraction of those opportunities go to minority and woman owned businesses that call Prince George’s County home.  Small businesses create jobs and when we leverage our public dollars to grow our local businesses, we will increase our ability to invest in the critical needs of our community and create generational wealth.  A county as diverse as our own must do better by the small, minority and woman owned businesses that want to grow and thrive here.”

In March, the County’s Office of Central Services released a Local Business Participation Procurement Report that reported that only 11% of county contracting opportunities were spent with minority and woman owned businesses based in Prince George’s County in fiscal year 2016.  The report also included contradictory data about the overall utilization of county-based businesses for that same fiscal year.  No data was available in the report for local hiring performance due to inconsistent enforcement of vendor reporting requirements.

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