Jealous: Yes and yes. I have committed to fully funding our public schools and ensuring that the casino and lottery revenue goes directly towards supplementing not supplanting historic sources of funding. There are several revenue sources we can turn to including requiring combined reporting and closing other tax loopholes. However, we also need to be better managers of the money we do have before we look towards other revenue sources. I believe that we don’t so much have a funding problem as we have a priorities problem. My experience as a CEO and businessman has taught me how to optimize budgets, and I’ll also use these skills to direct more funds into education.

Jealous: When I’m governor, we will ensure that the Baltimore region has the 21st century transportation network it needs to be an engine of growth for the entire state. That means reviving the Red Line, expanding bus routes, and exploring a multimodal system that supports all types of transportation. Our current transportation spending is not appropriately balanced to meet the needs of all Marylanders and we need to think creatively about how to connect every worker to a job center and every student to their educational institution.

Jealous: Yes. We need to tax and regulate marijuana for adult use. I’ve released a criminal justice platform which outlines the principles of equity that we will follow so as not to travel in the footsteps of Larry Hogan who managed to launch the medical marijuana industry in our state without a thought to racial diversity. I will work with political leaders like the Legislative Black Caucus to build strong diversity requirements for licenses in the marijuana industry and bring in at least $120 million in revenue for our state.

Jealous: Donald Trump has made it exceptionally clear that he has no interest in maintaining the health of our environment, including the Chesapeake Bay. We need a governor who’s willing to make sure that Maryland becomes a leader again in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Because the Bay absorbs pollution from 64,000 square miles of the American northeast, no one state can tackle this problem alone. They key to restoring the Chesapeake in the absence of federal leadership is cooperation among the states that cause runoff into the watershed. By reforming agricultural practices, and replacing broken infrastructure, Maryland can make a difference. But, ultimately, we would have to work with other states on policies, join other states in lawsuits, and hold the Federal Government accountable to uphold its responsibilities to our state.

Jealous: The status quo is untenable. The only real solution is a Medicare-for-All system for which I have already laid out a plan for how we can get there and the intermediary steps we can take on my website, benjealous.com. We also need to directly negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug costs. When I was young, I suffered from juvenile epilepsy and I had to have my friend steal medication for me because I could have died without it. No family should have to choose between life-saving medication and poverty. The only way to get to universal access and cut costs is a Medicare-for-All system.

Jealous: I’m the only candidate to have released both a comprehensive criminal justice reform plan and a police department reform plan. The state should work closely to ensure the safety of all of Maryland’s jurisdictions. Here in Baltimore we need to provide funding to expand proven programs like Safe Streets and Roca as well as ensuring that civilians make up the majority of Hearing Boards for police misconduct.

Jealous: I’ve been a CEO or Partner in a business since I was 26 years old and now I work to grow startups and small businesses as a Partner at Kapor Capital. There are many regulations that we need to remove that hinder growth as well as ensuring that small businesses can access lines of credit. We also need to grow our economy from the bottom up, that means fully funding our schools and making sure we are investing in education from cradle to career. Implementing a Medicare-for-All system will ensure that small businesses don’t see the cost of healthcare harming their bottom line year after year as premiums rise by double digits.

Jealous: I believe that Maryland should lead the fight on redistricting reform in a fair and non-partisan manner that does not indefinitely hand control of the House of Representatives to Republicans. Redistricting compacts such as the one passed by the Maryland legislature and vetoed by Gov. Hogan are a fair and equitable solution to increase the accountability of Congress to the voters and reduce gerrymandering.

Jealous: Maryland’s Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights has become a recurring barrier to police reform, ultimately making it more difficult to identify and punish officer misconduct. As governor, I will support legislation that requires all allegations of police brutality be investigated no matter the filing date and that removes the 10- day window officers have before being interviewed by investigators following an incident.

Jealous: We need to start treating the opioid epidemic like the public health crisis it is. Last year, over 1,200 Marylanders died from overdoses related to heroin, twice the number that died in 2014, while over 1,100 died with fentanyl in their system. As the epidemic becomes more complex and costly, with deadlier drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil showing up on the streets, Maryland needs a bold approach to effectively combat the crisis. In the short term, my plan will save lives immediately by investing an additional $2 million in state funding to stock Naloxone, sufficient for 25,000 doses of the life-saving drug as well as funding overdose outreach teams in more jurisdictions around the state. I also seek to increase the number of ²⁴⁄₇ crisis centers in high-risk areas to ensure that anyone who needs it can receive help at any time. The plan ensures treatment on demand is available to those who seek it, free from the fear of criminal punishment, and expands treatment options available in correctional facilities. A core component of resolving the opioid crisis relies on treating addiction as the disease it is and shifting our collective attitude toward rehabilitation.

Jealous: We need to raise wages across the board. I have been endorsed by SEIU because I am committed to raising the minimum wage to $15 and tying to inflation so that working families can count on having a living wage. When I’m governor, we’ll invest in all our families starting by fully funding our schools, providing universal healthcare, and providing necessary supports to our small businesses. By investing in people we can build our economy from the bottom up.

Jealous: As governor, I will aim to increase transparency at every level. I’m a lifelong civil rights leader and community organizer and I’ve always said that you don’t elect politicians to make change happen, you elect politicians to make it a little easier for the people to make change happen. In regards to the operation of executive departments, I would implement more frequent releasing of reports from each department outlining the status of the permitting process and regulatory violations. These reports should be available free of cost and online so that the public can access them. I believe in greater transparency when it comes to public meetings as well, I would work individually with each department to determine how best to release relevant information to the public as well as create easy channels for the public to request information and make that information readily available whenever possible.