As we prepare to celebrate the holidays with our families and loved ones, we wanted to take a minute to say thank you once again for your hard work and dedication during this last year. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends committed to moving our state forward over these next four years.

During the last few weeks, our Transition Team has been hard at work preparing for the challenges and opportunities that await us after the New Year.

We have an opportunity to make historic investments in public education and school construction, make college education more affordable, improve health care in the State of Maryland, and make critical investments in transportation projects while preserving our open spaces.

Yet, at the same time, our state faces a significant budget deficit of approximately $6 billion over the next four years. To tackle this difficult challenge we’ll work together to make tough choices and structural reforms so our state government will become more efficient and accountable.

To help us make our government work again for the people of our state we are creating a professional and highly competent state government. This week we announced the nominations of John D. Porcari for Secretary of Transportation and T. Eloise Foster for Secretary of the Maryland Department of Budget and Management. John and Eloise are highly respected professionals who bring a wealth of knowledge to state government, and we are grateful that they will serve in the O’Malley-Brown Administration.

Eloise has over three decades of experience in Maryland state government, higher education, and fiscal management, and she is already serving as Chair of the budget work group for the transition.

John is one of the most competent public administrators in the nation and will help us develop a statewide vision for transportation to improve our quality of life in Maryland.

In just under a month, on January 17th, we will come together again for the Inaugural Celebration to begin moving our state forward. And during this holiday season, we wanted to say thank you for the blessings you’ve bestowed on us during the last year. We are grateful for your support and friendship, and we are looking forward to serving all the people of Maryland over the next four years.

Happy Holidays,

Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown