PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor

J.R. 7

WHEREAS, Those services should include financial assistance for capital
improvements to the homes of persons in need of long-term care, if the improvements
would enable them to remain in the community; and

WHEREAS, Persons in need of long-term care have an overwhelming interest in
the amount of choice and control they will have in their personal care services and should
be accommodated in their desire for "independent living"; and

WHEREAS, Persons in need of long-term care should be able to choose accessible
and affordable home or community-based home-, community-, or assisted living-based
long-term care as an option to institutional long-term care; and

WHEREAS, Maryland wants the ability to create a higher standard of financial
eligibility for community-based long-term care under the Medical Assistance Program,
thereby helping people remain in the community and avoiding the high costs of
institutionalized care; and

WHEREAS, Maryland has a rich array of programs and services available to meet
the needs of those persons who require long-term care in the State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the
United States Health Care Financing Administration should be less restrictive in the
conditions it sets on the receipt of federal funds by the State and should allow the State
greater flexibility in deciding how to best utilize the federal funds it receives for the
provision of long-term care; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded by the Department of
Legislative Reference to Bruce Vladek, Administrator, HCFA, 200 Independence
Avenue, S.W., Room 314G-HHH, Washington, D.C., 20201; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded by the Department of
Legislative Reference to the Honorable Parris N. Glendening, Governor of Maryland; the
Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., President of the Senate of Maryland; and the
Honorable Casper R. Taylor, Jr., Speaker of the House of Delegates.

Signed April 8, 1997.

Joint Resolution No. 7
(House Joint Resolution No. 22)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

Proposed Merger of Major Railroads Serving Maryland

FOR the purpose of expressing the will of the General Assembly that the preservation of
effective railroad competition in Maryland be ensured through the continuation of
rail service by at least two Class I carriers and regional and shortline railroads and
that rail employees, communities, and consumers in Maryland be protected from

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