[caption id="attachment_377186" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="(Image: Office of the Lt. Governor, State of Maryland)"][/caption] Come Nov. 4, the people of the great state of Maryland will be confronted with a big decision. Who will they choose to run their state through the next four years? They've got two choices. On the one hand they'll have the Republican, Larry Hogan, a real estate broker from Anne Arundel County; on the other, the Democrat, Anthony G. Brown, the Lieutenant Governor. So how will the Brown administration differ from that of the current governor---Gov. Martin O'Malley? The Lt. Governor tells Black Enterprise that he gets asked that question all the time. He says he didn't set out on this journey just to distinguish himself. He tells us the race is really about what's next for Maryland, saying that the key is about building on what has been accomplished by the former administration. He says, "Maryland has a strong business climate and a strong economy. One of the things that we will do in a Brown-Ulman administration, that we will establish as our first strategic goal, will be to position the Maryland business climate as the No. 1 in the nation. While we have a strong economy when we look at some of the rankings of state business climates, there are areas where Maryland needs to improve. They include our regulatory and licensing environment and our tax liability. The quality of our workforce is strong and our infrastructure is sound, but improving regulation and taxation is a priority as well as reducing the cost of energy in Maryland." He has a point. Maryland imports about 30% of its energy, more energy than surrounding states, a key reason why costs are high. Still, several African American businesses owners have complained that they feel as if they are getting only crumbs of the national pie. Brown sympathizes. He emphasizes the importance of not taking businesses for granted, and stresses the need to continue to work on attracting and retaining African American-owned businesses in the state. "I have a proposal to strengthen our M.B.E program. We have one of the most innovative economies in the country. In cyber-security, in life sciences, event communications, logistics management, a lot of states like to tout that they have innovative economies, but Maryland was ranked No. 1 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for our economy in innovation and entrepreneurship. And we do that not only through our M.B.E program but through other economic development tools, like our access to capital program or our small business loan program. We also do it by providing quality higher education for future entrepreneurs and business owners - quality education at Morgan State university and our flagship at College Park." He believes that businesses owned by African Americans and other minorities benefit when education, the state's M.B.E programs, and the work they do to promote small and entrepreneurial businesses are taken into consideration. Brown's conversation with Black Enterprise also touched on healthcare and the Affordable Care Act. Brown's work to improve healthcare and expand coverage to people in the state, including children, is well-documented, though the Washington Post begs to differ. The Post says that it is "yet to see his fingerprints on any major decisions or changes at the exchange." Brown was asked by Gov. O'Malley to guide the federal healthcare overhaul in the state. He conceded during the primary debate that he should have insisted on being a member of the board that directly oversaw the rollout of the health exchange, which crashed on its first day. And as we approach the month of November, the difficulties with open enrollment last year come painfully back to mind. Some supporters believe that backing Obamacare can be detrimental to his campaign. He disagrees. RELATED: Brown's Bold Bid to Become Maryland's Next Governor "I will say that as a general matter Marylanders appreciate the efforts of health reform to expand access to care and to drive down the cost of that care. Maryland, like every state, had troubles rolling out the health benefits exchange, but I think that for us and much of the country we are beyond that challenge. As we approach our second open enrollment we will do what we did in the first---which is to meet our goals and, in fact, exceed them as we improve the technology." [caption id="attachment_377192" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="(Image: Office of the Lt. Governor, State of Maryland)"][/caption] Brown uses the Affordable Care Act not only to expand access to quality healthcare but also as an opportunity to address the health disparities that exist in Maryland. He says, "I was the architect of a program called l-health enterprise zones, modeled after economic development enterprise zones where in an economic development context you incentivize employers to create jobs in areas in your state or community where you have high unemployment. Well, the health enterprise zone context is similar. We incentivize primary care providers to deliver greater services in those communities that are underserved and that experience higher rates of chronic diseases and illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and asthma---and much of those disparities are found not only in low income communities, or African American communities, but also in our urban communities and rural communities." It's commendable that the lieutenant governor sees that there is a geographic component to the state's internal disparities, and that he is using the Affordable Care Act as an opportunity to address them. Brown ties that into our query earlier about what is next for Maryland. "It's addressing the disparities that exist not just in healthcare but also in education. We have some of the best schools in the nation K-12, but not every child is educated. Not every child gets access to a world class education. That's why what's next for Maryland is Universal Pre-K. I've made that proposal and I've already begun the work to expand Pre-K to all Maryland 4-year-olds by 2018. It's also things like investing in career technology education recognizing that not every high school graduate is going to go to college or to an institution that awards a four-year degree. But every high school graduate needs a skill or something more than a high school diploma in order to compete in the workforce, and I think the answer is in career technology education. We used to call it voc-tech, but today we call it career technology education. Those are some of the things that are next in Maryland to address our health disparities and educational disparities,  and that's what's next for Maryland." Brown has also made it a personal crusade to stamp out domestic violence. His cousin was killed in 2008 by her estranged boyfriend. "Domestic violence doesn't discriminate. There's no family regardless of race, religion, or culture, ethnicity or nationality that's immune." He tells us. "The good news is that we've been driving it down over the last six years. We've given judges the authority to order domestic abusers to surrender their firearms when they issue a protective order. We've also made it easier for victims of domestic violence to get a permanent protective order. We have the highest standard in the nation. We require clear and convincing evidence. Every other state,  including the District of Columbia, had a preponderance of the evidence standard. This year we changed that, and I'm proud to have been able to work with some of the advocates in this field." He also touts the success the administration has had with the gaming industry and its transparency. "When we passed the gaming legislation in Maryland they expanded gaming to include both slot machines and table games. We set up a formula by which we can be held accountable. Maryland receives one of the highest percentages of the revenues generated from gaming than any other state. New Jersey and Las Vegas get 7% of the revenues that go into the state coffers. We are above 60%, and of that the lion's share goes to education." He adds that a certain percentage goes to the horse racing industry, something Maryland seems particularly proud of and what the lieutenant governor says is part of Maryland's proud tradition. The industry is on the rebound in Maryland, creating more than 20,000 jobs. Sounds like the man has big plans for the state. But will the public buy into them? We'll find out in November.