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1250 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 200Washington, DC 20004(202) 261-6592
Testimony of Andrew M. LangerPresident of the Institute for LibertyBefore the Maryland SenateCommittee on Education, Health and Environmental AffairsJanuary 15, 2009
Madam Chair and members of the Committee:Thank you for allowing me to appear before you today. My name is Andrew Langer, and I am President of theInstitute for Liberty (IFL). IFL is a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Washington, DC. We focus onsmall business and entrepreneurship, property rights, and reforming government operations to protect individualrights. I have testified before the Maryland legislature before on property rights issues, and helped write the book, “Property Rights: Understanding Government Takings and Environmental Regulation”. I am also aresident of Centreville, Maryland, out on the Eastern Shore.I am here today to speak in opposition to SB73, an act concerning the Maryland Agricultural Land PreservationFoundation and the Confidentiality of Records. While I believe that we need to take a serious look in general atour land purchase and land preservation programs, I will leave that discussion for another time. What concernsme greatly here today, however, is that this bill moves state policy in a decidedly wrong-headed direction.The “Transparency in Government” movement in America has been around for quite some time. It led theforefront in efforts to open up government meetings, and shine a bright light on the relationships betweengovernment officials and special interest groups. And like all movements, this movement has evolved, and isnow focusing on greater efforts to bring sunshine to government operations, especially fiscal operations.It couldn’t come at a more crucial time, either. With economic forecasts not improving, with state budgets(especially Maryland’s) facing record deficits, Maryland’s working families and small businesses are ever moreinterested in how their monies are being spent. Every dollar that a Maryland working family sends to
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