| Peter V. R. Franchot | |
|---|---|
| 34th Comptroller of Maryland | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 22, 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | William Donald Schaefer |
| Member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the 20th district |
|
| In office January 14, 1987 – January 22, 2007 |
|
| Succeeded by | Tom Hucker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 25, 1947 New Haven, Connecticut |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Maher |
| Children | Abigail Franchot Nicholas Franchot |
| Residence | Takoma Park, Maryland |
| Website | http://www.franchot.com |
Peter V. R. Franchot (born November 25, 1947) assumed office as the Comptroller of Maryland in January 2007. He was formerly a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing the 20th legislative district in Montgomery County, Maryland from 1987 to 2007.
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Franchot was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Phillips Academy of Andover, Massachusetts, obtained a B.A. in English from Amherst College in 1973 and graduated from Northeastern University School of Law with a J.D. in 1978. Franchot is married to Anne Maher and has two children. He resides in Takoma Park, Maryland. In his community, he served as treasurer of the Longbranch Sligo Citizens Association, and as a coach for the Takoma Park Youth Soccer League and the Montgomery County Youth Hockey League.
Peter Franchot served in the United States Army from 1968 to 1970. From 1980 to 1986, Franchot served as the staff director for Congressman Edward J. Markey. He also served as special counsel to chair of Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Power of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce (1985–1986), a member of the Sound Barrier Review Panel (1995–1996), as a member of the Committee on Building Public Trust and Confidence in the Justice System (1999), as a member of the State Information Technology Board (1999–2004), as a member of the Transit Policy Panel (2000), and as a member of the Virginia-Maryland-District of Columbia Joint Legislative Commission on Interstate Transportation (2000–2003). He has been a member of the District of Columbia Bar since 1989. In 1986, he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates representing the 20th district. He served as a member of the Appropriations Committee, and as the Chair of its Transportation & the Environment Subcommittee.
In 1988 Franchot was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee against U.S. Representative Connie Morella.[1]
Franchot campaigned against bringing slot machine gambling to Maryland. As a member of the House of Delegates, he led a coalition of lawmakers to oppose the legislation. The coalition succeeded in placing before the voters a Constitutional amendment to legalize slots. In 2008, Franchot, along with hundreds of grassroots leaders from around the state, launched Marylanders United to Stop Slots to encourage a 'no' vote on the referendum. Franchot argued that the high social costs of increased crime, broken families and bankruptcies would outweigh any revenue gains. [6] Some independent analysts suggest that Franchot's opposition to slots helped him politically, with one columnist writing, "Next year, Franchot will have a built-in network of supporters throughout Maryland, thanks to the comptroller's anti-gambling crusade and his activity as co-chair of the Obama for president campaign in Maryland." [7] Franchot endorsed Obama in early January 2008 [8] and actively campaigned for him across the state.
A candidate for Comptroller of Maryland, Franchot defeated incumbent William Donald Schaefer and fellow challenger Janet S. Owens in a close Democratic primary election[2] on September 12, 2006. He defeated the Republican nominee Anne McCarthy in the General Election on November 7, 2006. Franchot was sworn on January 22, 2007.[3]
Franchot is an active Comptroller who has spoken out on a number of his issues. Early in his term, he "issued statements about divesting state pension money from Darfur... railed against the possible implementation of slot machine gambling to mitigate a looming budget crisis... supported a doomed House of Delegates health care plan... led the successful charge against a Kent Island development that environmentalists argued would harm the Chesapeake Bay. And he has cast himself as a chief advocate for expanding Maryland's biotechnology industry." [4]
Early in his term, Franchot promoted the idea of investing state pension funds in the life sciences sector. Franchot believes that such an investment will spur growth for that industry in Maryland. Franchot says that the industry has tremendous potential to create high paying jobs in Maryland.[5]
In 2008, Franchot pushed Governor Martin O'Malley on a "Tax Fairness Initiative" to upgrade tax collection technology. The initiative called for putting more qualified auditors in the field to catch evaders. The initiative was passed in the 2008 legislative session and should bring in an additional $200 million in revenue during the first year and $80–100 million in subsequent years.[6]
Franchot is also a known advocate for minority businesses. He has pushed for state contracts to go to qualified minority and women owned businesses on the Board of Public Works. For his leadership, he was awarded "The Most Distinguished Person in Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Award" by the Maryland Washington Minority Contractors' Association.[7]
He has earned a reputation as an independent leader who is sometimes a thorn in the governor's side, but, commands respect from both Republicans and Democrats. In addition to opposing Governor O'Malley's slots initiative, he's also openly questioned some of O'Malley's spending proposals describing them as 'irresponsible.' Republican Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell noted, "Although Peter was at the opposite end of the political spectrum from myself, he was always very articulate and well-respected and very informed from his point of view." [9]
After spending much of 2008 campaigning against slots, Franchot turned his attention to promoting eFiling and unclaimed property in 2009. He produced a YouTube video promoting eFile at little cost to the taxpayers that went viral. [10] Franchot was quick to remind Marylanders that eFiling saved Maryland money and allowed Marylanders to get their tax refund much faster. Franchot also became an avid user of Twitter and became the first public official to Tweet from a Board of Public Works meeting.
Franchot declared his candidacy for re-election as Comptroller and was considered a favorite for reelection. As expected, he was re-elected in a landslide. [11]
Franchot has been an fiscally-conservative spokesman for the State of Maryland. He has spoken out against excessive spending in Maryland on many issues. One such is the excessive spending of over half a million dollars of state funds by Bowie State University on the purchase of new Grand Pianos. [12]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Donald Schaefer |
Comptroller of Maryland 2007–present |
Incumbent |
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