As Mayor, it is my job to make sure the City Government is doing everything it can to spur growth and reinvestment in Baltimore. That is why this morning I joined city officials, community members, and business leaders for the Vacants to Value Summit. This summit is part of our new initiative to reduce the blight caused by the 16,000 vacant properties in Baltimore.

Our detailed 6-point strategy to reduce blight will spur growth and reinvestment by streamlining the sale of vacant city property and strengthening code enforcement efforts in transitional blocks and emerging markets to promote rehabilitation. I talked about the targeted incentives for homebuyers and developers who invest in vacant homes, including:

• A new $5000 forgivable loan program for City police, firefighters, and teachers that purchase or rehabilitate vacant homes.
• Tax credit programs for qualifying individuals who purchase vacant homes-saving the homeowners 30-60% off their property tax bill for five years. 

Then this afternoon I traveled to Annapolis to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of two pieces of legislation that would create tougher penalties for gun offenders. In addition to many elected and community leaders from the city, I was honored to have been joined by Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks, Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels, and many other leaders from across the state.

The current state laws are too weak and support a culture that tolerates illegal, loaded gun possession on the streets of our city and state. With these two bills that we are proposing, and with your support, we can put an end to this culture, in which criminals believe it's acceptable to carry illegal, loaded firearms on the streets and violent offenders go on to commit crimes over and over again.

The first bill, SB239 / HB252, would create a minimum sentence of 18 months for all defendants arrested with an illegal, loaded firearm. The second, SB240 / HB241, would strengthen sentencing options for felons in possession of guns by creating a tougher sentencing range of 5 years minimum to 15 years maximum, giving judges more sentencing options when faced with a repeat gun offender.

The new social media website baltimorecity.gov/SaferCity contains information about the bills, links to related news articles, editorial commentary, and press releases as well as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube content. Maryland residents who support the legislation are urged to join a growing coalition of business, community, faith, government, and institutional leaders by signing-up with their e-mail address and linking with friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. The website provides a fact sheet and will provide updates on the status of the legislation as it moves through the legislative process.