Governor Martin O’Malley will conduct a series of events highlighting Maryland’s efforts to improve government accountability, openness and transparency in government.  On July 8, Governor O’Malley will testify before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Maryland’s nationally recognized methods to monitor funding from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Governor O’Malley will join Governors Edward Rendell (PA) and Deval Patrick (MA) for the hearing, and will join Congressmen Chris Van Hollen and Elijah Cummings for a media availability immediately following the hearing. 

“Since taking office, we have operated under the very simple notion that a government that is paid for by the people of Maryland ought to work for the people of Maryland,” said Governor O’Malley.  “Whether responding to a national pandemic or a national recession, the basic principles of smart, efficient governing remain the same.  It is the rational application of human efforts to human problems that commands true accountability on all levels of government.” 

Thursday, July 9, Governor O’Malley will moderate a panel including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.  The panel will focus on preparedness and response efforts of the H1N1 influenza pandemic.  Finally, next week Governor O’Malley will accept the “President’s Award” from ESRI, the makers of the Geographic Information System (GIS) technology used in such Maryland accountability applications as GreenPrint, BayStat, and recovery.maryland.gov.  The award is the organization’s most prestigious annually.