Jim Mathias

By Brian Gilliland, Associate Editor

(March 1, 2018) Cementing his candidacy for reelection to another term in the Maryland Senate, Jim Mathias has filed paperwork ensuring his spot on the ballot in November.

“My constituents can expect the same level of full commitment, and the same level of accomplishment” during another term, he said. “My most valuable assets are the relationships I’ve built and my record of service. I don’t have to say I’m bipartisan or nonpartisan because it’s all right there.”

Included among the accomplishments he lists in his formal filing announcement are a law forcing insurance companies to provide the best pill-form chemotherapy to cancer patients, tax exclusions for family farms and helping to defeat the phosphorus management tool, championing the school after Labor Day movement, helping to dismantle Worcester’s liquor dispensary system, requiring most state buildings to fly the POW/MIA flag, helping to defeat the National Aquarium’s sanctuary proposal off the coast and securing funding for the final three phases of Route 113 dualization.

“What’s not on there are the thousands of constituent issues” he said he’s worked to resolve since beginning his political career in 1987.

As a parent and new grandparent, Mathias said his goal is to make the future better for children and grandchildren, which he believes he’s done as a city councilman, mayor, state delegate and senator.

“I didn’t have to go out of the state or region to find an opportunity once I was educated here,” he said. “Once you decide to come here, you should have the opportunity to stay here.”

Expanding opportunities at Wallops Island and at local colleges and universities will help bolster growth that locals will need to capitalize on, he said.

“All the pieces are put into place for the area to realize,” he said. “From education to economics, to the work on the everyday tourism, poultry and other industries we have to make certain we have the workforce and obstacle-free pathway to capital investment.”

Moving onward, Mathias said he is focused on the findings of the Kirwan Commission, the state board tasked to adjust state funding for public schools.

The initial findings of the commission, provided by a hired consultant, recommended zeroing out state funding for Worcester County.

Mathias said he was able to use his relationship with Senate President Mike Miller to block that recommendation from becoming reality.

“I want to protect and enhance the best education that we’ve been able to deliver here in the past,” he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, Mathias said he is working to ensure pensions are secured.

“I want to make sure people who have worked their whole lives in Maryland have their pensions protected,” he said. “It’s highly unlikely we’ll be able to take away the sales tax, like Delaware, but we can make sure pensions are protected.”

By doing so, Mathias said he hopes to keep people here, rather than losing them to places like Delaware or Florida.

“Look, I can’t pass a law to make every day 75 degrees and sunny,” but he could keep leveraging the relationships he’s fostered through years of service to benefit District 38 as a whole, he said.