Comptroller Franchot Talks Jobs with Montgomery Community College Students

Although Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot was a little late Friday when he visited the Montgomery Community College campus in Takoma Park to talk to the campus’ economic club, he quipped, “I’m going to make you guys a lot of money today.”

Franchot expressed frustration with the federal government debate on the economy. The government, he said, is too focused on austerity vs. taxing, yet neither is the absolute answer.

He also expressed his frustration with the state government and was critical of how his Democratic colleagues tout the jobs they’ve created, saying the state is lacking in private sector jobs.

“Where are the jobs?” Franchot asked.

Franchot spoke about the gifted people he has met—such as a high school student who came up with an idea for pancreatic cancer detection and a mother who started United Therapeutics to find medicine to help her daughter who had pulmonary hypertension.

“What would you say to a young person about to get a huge loan?” student Edith Leiva asked, referring to Franchot's financial literacy initiative.

Under Franchot’s financial literacy initiative, high schools would teach a half-credit course on preparing students for the financial responsibility that comes after graduating from high school, including taking out loans for college and filing taxes.

Franchot was also critical of the healthcare system, asking his audience, “Do you have any idea what is going on right now [with healthcare]?”

He said he believes that healthcare reform will be costly to the state and nation and that the system is currently still "broken."

Satarupa Das, economics professor at Montgomery Community College, contacted Franchot and asked him to speak to the campus’ economic club.

Franchot said he agreed because he believes in the logo at his office, “We serve the people.”

“[I wanted to talk to the youth] because the economic vitality and future of the state depends on it,” Franchot said.