Q&A: Six Questions for Dana Beyer

Leading up to the September 14th primary in Montgomery County, Patch will ask local candidates in contested races questions about their positions and their priorities

Dana Beyer is a candidate for state delegate in the 18th District. She is a eye surgeon by training and lives in Chevy Chase. She previously ran in 2006 for the delegate position.

Patch: What are the two issues you think are most pressing in District 18?

Dana Beyer: As we remain mired in economic crisis, never having rebounded from the Great Recession and now sliding more deeply back into the trough, my priority will be supporting the local economy, maintaining as many jobs as possible while helping to jump-start growth. This will include revising the tax system to ensure that large, highly profitable corporations pay their Maryland state tax, and that those who can afford to pay their fair share in taxes do so once again, as they did during the 90's when the country and state had record sustained economic growth. Yet even during those years the inequality in wealth and income continued to grow, leaving us in a crippling state of inequality.

I will also work to pass an increase in the gas tax to fund construction of the Purple Line, which will benefit the state by creating construction jobs, reducing auto travel, and therefore, pollution and rebalance the tax-supported transportation priorities towards mass transit.

Finally, I will introduce a public option for the state modeled on Connecticut's Susti-Net plan, to replace the national public option, that which was, unfortunately, jettisoned by the president and Congress last year. I will work to limit environmental pollution, deal with the growing obesity epidemic, and stand ready to assist on other issues that require a background in science and medicine.

Patch: What's the greatest transportation priority in District 18?

DB: As mentioned above, funding and building the Purple Line. It will take leadership, continued grassroots organization (Purple Line Now, Action Committee for Transit), media messaging, and most importantly, support for a four cent increase in the gas tax to fund the project.

I would lobby the FTA [Federal Transit Administation] to provide its share of the costs, not lobby them to oppose the project as one of the incumbents has done here in the district, supported by two of his colleagues.

Patch: What is your assessment of education in District 18? What can the state do?

DB: We are pretty fortunate in D-18, as our students attend some of the best schools in the county. Curriculum issues are outside the purview of the state legislature, so I would focus on making sure the County maintains its funding as best as possible during this Great Recession without the inflexible constraints of the state's Maintenance of Effort demands, that we increase the state contribution to MCPS, which today stands at 17 cents on the dollar, and that we keep teacher pension liabilities as a state obligation, and not transfer them to the county.

Patch: What are your thoughts on addressing the budget crisis in Montgomery County? How does it affect constituents in the district?

DB: The budget crisis is severe, both in the county and state, and will get worse before it gets better, as federal funding expires soon and the economy has stalled. We are crippled by fear, fear of taxing those who can afford to pay more and should pay more for the common good, because taxes are the price we pay for our civilization.  We allow corporations to avoid taxes, for fear that they will leave the state or the country, getting into multiple games of chicken with our neighboring states. We get enmeshed in petty jurisdictional debates over who should be responsible for teacher pensions, the state or the counties, making little effort and no headway in grappling with the actual problem.

I have long pushed for a major exercise in zero-based budgeting for the county (and state) whereby we start from the beginning, getting resident input into our broad priorities, then bringing in the experts to determine which programs the public wants funded actually work, and then make sure they are working as efficiently as possible. We often don't know, other than anecdotally, whether any given program is successful, and we must have that information. Cutting programs is always difficult; it is much easier to build up, and it should be done every five-ten years, removing much of the political hostility from the process.

Patch: How would you assess the job done by current Dist. 18 delegates? 

DB: Fair at best. From opposing progressive taxation, allowing large corporations to avoid taxes, giving tax breaks to corporate giants such as Lockheed, our incumbents have sided with big business rather than the people and their small businesses. By opposing the Purple Line, in particular lobbying the federal government to deprive us of nearly $1 billion in funding to build the light rail, they are promoting gridlock, damaging the environment, and opposing the will of the large majority of district and county residents. They are tepid supporters of civil rights and do little to make gender equity a reality. They are a cog in the old boys' network, helping keep Maryland locked into a conservative state of governance when the people want progressive change.

Patch: Any parting words to voters in your District?

DB: Being new to politics, after a hiatus of nearly forty years, I don't carry the baggage of more experienced politicians. I haven't been beaten down by the incessant anti-government rhetoric and actions of the Republicans, and I have certainly never been cowed by the "traditional moral values" crowd. When I decided to leave my profession as a surgeon and change my life, I grew a spine – it is unbending, and I am fearless. I have suffered personally and politically from ignorance and prejudice, and have worked to change our society. I believe, in my gut, that, "Yes, we can," because I can. And if I can, we all can.

I don't believe in blind loyalty, rewarding incompetence or bare competence. I believe we deserve better as a people, and we deserve better government. We lack real leaders, though that is beginning to change. Being a leader is not claiming the mantle of leadership; it is acting like one, inspiring others to become leaders in their own right, and getting the job done.

As Robert Kennedy said: "Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality of those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change."